Dedications
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Dedications
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Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
In the Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful
I dedicate Adabus Salat -the book from which I had no benefit except regret because of my failure and negligence of the days during which I could have made myself, and except contrition and remorse during old age, being empty-handed, with a heavy burden, and a long way to go, with a lame leg, while the call of departure is ever resounding in my ears -to my dear son, Ahmad. He is in the prime of life, and thus, he may, insha' allah ta'ala (if Allah, the Exalted, wills), avail himself of its contents, which are taken from the Glorious Book, the Noble Sunnah (The Prophet's traditions) and the statements of the distinguished. Haply he will succeed in finding his way to the real ascension through the guidance of "the people of knowledge" [ahl-i ma'rifat], and tear off his heart from this dark dungeon, and head for the original destination of humanity, along the road on which the great prophets, the noble "holy men" [awliya'] -may Allah's blessing and peace be upon them all and the "people of Allah" [ahlullah] trod, and to which they invited the others.
O my son! Hasten to comprehend yourself, which is fermented in "the divine disposition" [fitratullah]. Save yourself from the ruining whirlpool of the formidable waves of self-conceit and selfishness. Get on board Noah's Ark, which is the light of "Allah's guardianship" [wilayatullah], because: " Whoever got on board it was safe, and whoever stayed behind it perished."
O my son! Try hard to be moving along the Straight Path -which is the path of Allah -even with a limping leg. Try to tinge the movements and the stillness of your heart and body with the divine spiritual tint, and to serve the creatures (just) because of their being Allah's creatures. The great prophets and the close friends" [awliya] of Allah, despite their daily works like others, were never on good terms with the world, because they worked with Allah and for Allah. The Last Messenger may Allah bless him and his household and give them peace is quoted to have said: "My heart is sometimes covered (as if with unmindfulness), so I ask forgiveness from Allah seventy times every day." [3] He probably regarded discerning Allah in multiplicity as opacity with respect to Allah.
O my son! Prepare yourself, after me, to face unkindness from those who will burden you with the worries they had on my part. If you settle your accounts with Allah and take refuge in remembering Him, you need not fear any creature, as the reckoning of creatures is transitory, while the reckoning before Allah is eternal.
My son! After me you may receive an offer for service. If you intend to serve the Islamic Republic and dear Islam, then do not refuse it. But if your intention is -Allah forbid! - to serve your sensual desires or to satisfy your passions, eschew it, for the worldly positions are too trivial to deserve perishing yourself for their sake.
O Allah! Make Ahmad, his offspring and family, who are of your servants and of the offspring of the Holy Messenger, happy in this world and in the Hereafter, and cut off the hands of the accursed Satan, so that he may not hurt them!
O Allah! We are weak, unable and lagging behind the caravan of the devotees on the road to you. O Allah! You Yourself help us. O Allah! Treat us with Your grace and do not treat us with Your justice. Peace be upon the righteous servants of Allah.
23 Rabi'ul awwal,
1405 25 Adhar, 1363
Ruhullah al-Musawi al-Khomeini
In the Name of Allah
Alas! My life has passed in vain,
Loaded with sins, with no devotional gain;
Tomorrow when I am brought to the Scene of Judgement,
They will say that repentance chance did not remain.
The book Adabus-Salat, which I present to my dear daughter (in-law), Fati [4], whom may Allah make one of the musallim (salat performers), was finished more than forty years ago. A few years before that, I had completed the book of Asrarus-Salat (The Secrets of the Salat) .From that time till now more than forty years have elapsed, while I have neither perceived the secrets of the Salat nor applied its disciplines, for " perceiving " is other than "conceiving", and "forming" is different from "performing". These books are as a proof [hujjat] from the Lord on this poor servant. I take refuge in Allah from being among those referred to by these back-breaking noble ayahs (Qur'anic verses): "0 you who believe, why do you say what you do not do? It is most detested in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not do". (Surah 61:2-3). I have no refuge but His vast mercy.
O my daughter, I hope you will be successful in applying the disciplines of this grand divine ascension, and be guided by this divine Buraq (the Prophet's heavenly horse) through a migration from the dark room of the self to Allah. I entrust you to Allah's custody lest reading these papers should increase your sensual longings, or make you -like the writer -a plaything in Satan's hands.
Dear daughter, although I found in you, thank Allah, such a spiritual fineness that I hope you will be guided by Allah, the Glorified and High, favoured with His patronage, and be saved from nature's deep pit to the straight path of humanity, yet do not be heedless of the deceit of Satan, and of that of your own soul, which is even more dangerous. Take refuge in Allah, the Great, for He has mercy upon His servants.
My daughter, if there was no result from reading these pages -Allah forbid! -except self-conceit, pretence and intrusion, it would be better to forgo reading them, or rather beware of them, so that you may not, like me, be subject to remorse and regret. But if you -Allah willing -prepare yourself to be benefited by the subject-matters of this book, which have been taken from the Book, the Sunnah, the hadith of the infallible Ahlul Bayt (The Prophet's progeny) and the statements of the people of knowledge, and to make use of your delicate God-given talent, then here you are! Here is the ball and here is the ground! I hope you will, by this human ascent and divine mixture, empty your heart from others, rinse it with the water of life, say four takbirs (Allahu Akbar = Allah is Greater!) and release yourself from selfness in order to reach the Friend: "And whoever leaves his home migrating to Allah and His Messenger, and then death overtakes him, his reward is indeed with Allah." (Surah 4:100).
O Allah! Make us of the immigrants to You and to Your Messenger, and take us to "annihilation" [fana]. Grant Fati [Fatimah] and Ahmad your assistance to serve (Your servants), and let them attain to happiness.
Was-Salam
2nd of Safar al-Muzaffar, 1405
Ruhullah al-Musawi al-Khomeini
Notes:
[3]. Mustadrakul Wasail, "Book of As-Salat", chs. on "Invocations", ch. 22, 521 hadith No.1.
[4]. Fatimah Tabataba'i, wife of Hujjatul Islam wal Muslimin Haj Sayyid Ahmad Khomeini.