On Turning The Soul Away From The World

So, O seeker of the truth and traveller to Allah, as you have tamed the bird of imagination, chained the Satan of fancy, given up the love of wife, children and other worldly affairs, got familiar with the attraction of the fire of the natural divine love and said: "Lo! I see a fire [afar off]",¹ seen yourself with no barriers in the way and prepared the requirements of the journey, get up, then, leave this dark room of nature and the narrow passage of the world, break off the chains of time, save yourself from this prison and let the bird of sanctity fly to "the meeting place of intimacy." [mahfil-I uns].

A whistle is calling you from the turret of the' Arsh,

I wonder what keeps you into this place of traps!²

So, be resolute and strengthen your will, since the first condition of suluk is resolution ['azm], without which no distance can be covered and no perfection can be reached. The great Shaykh, Shahabadi,³ (may my soul be his ransom) called that to be the core of humanity. It can also be said that one of the great points of fearing Allah, avoiding the desires of the appetitive soul, the lawful austerities, and the divine worship and rituals, is strengthening the resolution and defying the worldly powers under the sovereignty of the soul, as has already been mentioned. We now close this discourse with praising and glorifying the Sacred Essence of Allah, the Exalted, and with praising the attributes of the Chosen Master, the elected Prophet, and his pure offspring (AS). We ask the help of the holy souls of those sacred personalities in our spiritual journey and faithful ascension.

* Book: Adabus Salat "The Disciplines of the Prayer". By: Imam Khomeini.

1- A part of Moses conversation with his people. "When he saw a fire, he said to his people: 'Stay here! Lo! I see a fire [afar off]."' Surah Ta Ha: 10, and surah an-Naml: 7.
2- A poem by Hafiz Shirazi.
3- The late Ayatullah Mirza Muhammad Ali Isfahani Shahabadi, a jurist, methodist, gnostic and prominent philosopher, son of the late Ayatullah Mirza Muhammad Jawad Husayn-abadi Isfahani, was born in Isfahan in 1292 L.H. After finishing his preliminary learning in Isfahan and Tehran, he traveled to study in the theological circles of Najaf Ashraf and Samarra' (in Iraq). There his tutors were great scholars, such as the late writer of al-Jawahir, the Akhund Khurasai and Shari'at Isfahani. He soon attained to the degree of ijtihad. He reached a high position of fiqh, philosophy and gnosticism, and he taught these branches of knowledge. His class was one of the most powerful scholarly circles in Samarra'. After returning from Iraq, he settled first in Tehran, then he moved to the sacred town of Qum, where he dwelt for seven years. During his stay in Qum, Imam Khomeini (may Allah be pleased with him and send peace upon him) benefitted so much from his lessons on ethics and gnosticism. The Imam of the nation in many places in this book and in his other books and writings refers to his great teacher with utmost respect and esteem, and relates his scholarly, emissions. Besides teaching different branches of knowledge and educating his distinguished disciples, the late Shahabadi wrote many books in different fields. At the age of seventy-seven years, that man of knowledge and action died in the year of 1369 L.H. in Tehran, and was buried in the neighbourhood of the shrine of 'Abdul 'Azim al Hasani, in the graveyard of the late Shaykh Abul Futuh ar-Razi. May Allah resurrect him together with the Prophet Muhammad and his pure progeny.