Observation

The Most High God says, ﴾If there be (but) the weight of a mustard seed and it were (hidden) in a rock, or (anywhere) in the heavens or on earth, God will bring it forth: for God understands the finest mysteries, (and) is well acquainted (with them)﴿¹

Soul Reformation

The human being craves, innately, towards being in the best form and towards achieving the highest possible degrees of perfection. In brief, man’s aim is to attain the infinite continuous happiness. This happiness can not be attained but through obeying and worshipping God because it is present with none but with The Most Glorified and High God. Moreover, this obedience and worship can not be achieved unless the human being reforms and cultivates himself. This is so because salvation, success, and attainment of happiness can be only by the purification and reformation of the soul.

The Most Glorified and High God says, ﴾By the soul and the proportion and order given to it * And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right * truly he succeeds that purifies it * And he fails that corrupts it²﴿

The Way of Self Reformation

The pure faithful human being is like the tree. When anyone wants to plant a tree in order that he will pick its fruits, he has to carry out several steps in order that it will turn into a tree carrying delicious and beneficial fruits. At first, he has to prepare the arable land. Secondly, he has to choose the good and useful seed. Thirdly, he must remove the obstacles from the land. Fourthly, he must continuously irrigate the land. Fifthly and most importantly, he must guard, watch, and protect the tree, so that it will not be neglected, attacked by disease, or exposed to decay, and then the tree will fall down before its growth even, with the work and labor turning to be in vain.

The Human Soul

Everything mentioned above concerning the cultivation of the tree is completely applicable to the human being. If we think about every term and try to apply it on ourselves, we will absolutely recognize the validity of this and recognize that the most important issue next to the belief in The Most High God is observing the soul and accounting it.

It is related that The Prince of the Believers (God’s peace bestowed upon him) said, “This world is the farm of the hereafter.”³ It is also related that he (God’s peace bestowed upon him) said, “Today is a work without account, yet tomorrow is an account without work.”⁴

What and Why to Observe?

When we have believed in The Most High God, we have already acknowledged to Him our slavery and our obedience; we have already believed in that reaching the happiness i.e. His Everlasting Heaven is but through our complete obedience to The Most High God; and we have already believed that misery lies in forsaking His obedience that is in turn equivalent to God’s Burning Fire with which He threatened us.

The Most High God says, ﴾Then shall anyone who has done an atom’s weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom’s weight of evil, shall see it﴿⁵

It is deduced that every act of obedience represents a step towards the divine happiness and heaven and towards The Most High God’s Pleasure. Also, every act of disobedience represents a step towards Hell and towards The Most High God’s Wrath.

The Most High God is the Owner of everything and is the Capable of everything. He says, ﴾It is ye that have need of God: but God is the One Free of all wants, worthy of all praise﴿⁶ Consequently, we must obey Him Alone and must not disobey His orders.

The Lack of the Feeling of Observation Is the Source of Sins

Man’s misery and unhappiness originate from his disobedience of God’s order and from his commitment of sins and disobediences. This is due to an obvious reason i.e. not strongly feeling that The Most Glorified and High God is observing him. The Most High God says, ﴾…those who forget God; and He made them forget their own souls!﴿⁷

Not feeling God’s Presence and Observation of us drive us, especially in the privacies, to commit disobediences and to do abominations.

God Is Present, Overseeing, and Close

The Most High God says, ﴾We know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him: for We are nearer to him that (his) jugular vein﴿⁸ Also, The Most High God says, ﴾And He is with you wheresoever ye may be﴿⁹

The extent of The Most High God’s Knowledge and Closeness to everything is obvious in Luqman’s recommendation to his son in the following verse: ﴾O my son! (said Luqman), “If there be (but) the weight of a mustard seed and it were (hidden) in a rock, or (anywhere) in the heavens or on earth, God will bring it forth: for God understands the finest mysteries, (and) is well acquainted (with them)﴿¹⁰

God knows about the mustard seed despite its small size wherever it is, whether in the sky or on the earth; and He is Capable to bring it forth. Therefore, all the deeds of the human being are recorded in a book, and The Most High God will bring them forth on the Day of Judgment in order to account him for them. The Most High God says, ﴾...and God doth watch over all things﴿¹¹

Man Has No right To Disobey God

So that the human being will be able to commit an act of disobedience, he must at first get out from the Dominion of The Most High God, and he must at second be in a place where The Most High God does not see him. Wise Luqman said to his son, “O my son! If you want to disobey God, go to a place where He does not see you.”¹² Yet, the entire dominion is to God, and God is with you wheresoever you are. Then, where to go?

A Beneficial Tale

One scholar used to prefer one of his students to the others. His students blamed him for that, so he wanted to illustrate the reason for them. He gave each one a bird and said to each one, “Slaughter it where no one sees you.”

Later, all of them came to him with their birds having been slaughtered. Still, the preferred student brought his bird without having slaughtered it. The teacher asked him, “Why did not you slaughter it?” He answered, “[I did not slaughter it] due to your saying not to slaughter it but in a place where no one sees me. And there is no place where The One The Irresistible The Only The Everlasting does not see me!” Then, the scholar said to him, “Well done!” and to them, “It is because of this I have raised him above you and distinguished him from you!”¹³

What Is the Observation Program?

So that we will be able to observe ourselves, reach finally the stage of attendance before God, and not be inadvertent to His Observation of us and our deeds, it is indispensable that we train ourselves by means of the daily observation program, from the morning till the evening.

And the account takes place at the end of the day and during the night when man accounts himself for everything he did during the day: If he adhered to the performance of duties and forsaking of forbiddances, let him praise The Most High God and ask from Him the successfulness to go on. On the other hand, if his calling for evil soul defeated him, let him blame it harshly, ask forgiveness from The Most High God, determine to go on, and not lose hope in God’s Mercy, for The Most Glorified God will surely grant him successfulness for this. The Most High God says, ﴾O ye who believe! Fear God and let every soul look to what (provision) He has sent forth for the morrow﴿ ¹⁴

Forsaking the Sins Is Possible

However great and deeply rooted are the sins in the soul, the human being is capable of forsaking them. The Most High God says, ﴾O my servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of God: for God forgives all sins for He is Oft- Forgiving, Most Merciful﴿¹⁵

One Man’s Tale with Imam Al-Hussein (God’s peace bestowed upon him)

It is related that one man had repeatedly committed sins, and whenever he tried to repent, his soul used to overcome him. He considered his disease and looked for the doctor whom he found to be none but Imam Abou Abdullah Al-Hussein (God’s peace bestowed upon him). He went to him and said, “O Son of God’s prophet! I have indulged myself in sins. Present to me what may restrain me or may rescue me.”

Imam Al-Hussein (God’s peace bestowed upon him) said to him, “If you are capable of the five attributes which I am going to present to you, the disobedience will be fine for you.” The man said, “Her is relief.”

Imam Al-Hussein (God’s peace bestowed upon him) said to him, “If you want to disobey The Most Glorious and Reverent God, do not eat from His Sustenance.” The man said, “How can this be? From where, then, will I eat, with everything on the earth being His Sustenance?!” Imam Al-Hussein (God’s peace bestowed upon him) then asked him, “Is it reasonable that you eat His Sustenance and disobey Him at the same time?” The man answered, “Ok, present the second one, for it may be a relief and an outlet.”

Imam Al-Hussein (God’s peace bestowed upon him) said to him, “If you want to disobey Him, do not dwell in any of His Countries.” The man said, “Glorified be God! This is graver than that one is. Where will I dwell, with the east and the west and what is between are all to Him?!” Imam Al-Hussein (God’s peace bestowed upon him) then asked him, “O you! Is it appropriate that you eat His Sustenance and dwell in His Countries and disobey Him at the same time?!” The man answered, “There is neither Might nor Power but in God. Present the third one, for it may be the easiest among the three.”

Imam Al-Hussein (God’s peace bestowed upon him) said to him, “If you want to disobey God, look for a place where He does not see you, and then there do whatever you want.” The man said, “What are you saying? Nothing can be hidden from God!” Imam Al-Hussein (God’s peace bestowed upon him) then asked him, “Do you eat His Sustenance and dwell in His Countries and then disobey Him in spite of that He sees and hears you?” The man answered, “Present the fourth one. And to God I raise my complaint.”

Imam Al-Hussein (God’s peace bestowed upon him) said to him, “When the Angel of Death comes to you to take your soul, tell him to postpone it till you repent.” The man said, “He will not accept to.” Imam Al-Hussein (God’s peace bestowed upon him) then said to him, “Oblige him to accept.” The man asked, “How can I, with me being helpless against him?!” Imam Al-Hussein (God’s peace bestowed upon him) answered, “If you are unable to keep him away from you, then repent before it is too late.” The man said, “Anyhow, there is still the fifth one, so present it.”

Imam Al-Hussein (God’s peace bestowed upon him) said, “If the Angels of Punishment [Al-Zabaneeya] come on the Day of Judgment to take you to Hell, do not go with them.” The man said, “I am sufficed! I am sufficed! I ask forgiveness from God, and I repent to Him! He will never from today and on find me in anything He hates.”

That man knew whom he was and to Whom he was repenting, so The Most Glorified and High God forgave him.

For Reading

It is related that Ali bin Al-Hussein (God’s peace bestowed upon him) said,
One man sailed with his family, yet the ship was wrecked. None on board, except the man’s wife, survived; and on one wood boards of the ship she reached an island.

There was, in that island, a brigand who left no sacredness for God without violating it. He suddenly found that woman next to him. He raised his head towards her and asked her, “Are you a human or a jinni?” She answered, “I am a human.” He then said nothing to her till he seated himself the seat of the husband with his wife. When he approached her, she trembled. He asked her, “Why are you trembling?” She answered, “I am afraid of Him” and signaled with her hand at the sky. He asked, “Did you have any share in any of this?” She answered, “By His Glory, No.” He asked her, “Then are you so afraid of Him while you have no hand in this? On the other hand, I obliged you to this. By God! I am the one who must be so afraid.”

Imam Zein Al-Abideen (God’s peace bestowed upon him) added,
Then, that man rose up as if nothing had happened, and he got back to his wife with nothing in his intention but to repent and to have a feedback. While he was walking, a monk coincided with him along the road. The sun, then, became hot above them. The monk said to the man, “Supplicate to God to shade us with a cloud, for the sun has become hot over us.” The man answered, “I don’t think that I have with God any good deed, so that I can dare and ask anything from Him.” The monk said, “Then I will supplicate, and you will say, ‘Amen’.” The man said, “Yes.”

The monk began supplicating and the man saying, “Amen.” As a result, how quickly did a cloud shade them, so they walked under it most of the day. When they reached a crossroad that branched into two roads, the man took one road and the monk took another; yet the cloud was with the monk. The monk then said to him, “You are better than I am: You were answered, yet I was not. Tell me about your story.” The man told him about that woman, so the monk said to him, “You were, because of the fear you felt, forgiven for everything which passed. Therefore, observe how you are in what is coming.”

1- The Noble Qur'an/ Luqman Chapter/ Verse 16
2- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Shams [The Sun] Chapter/ Verses 7, 8, 9, and 10
3- Awali Al-La’ali [The Highest Jewels]/ Part One/ Page 267
4- Nahej Al-Balagha [The Path of Eloquence]/ Part One/ Page 93
5- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Zalzala [The Earthquake] Chapter/ Verses 7 and 8
6- The Noble Qur'an/ Fatir [The originator] Chapter/ Verse 15
7- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Hasher [The Gathering] Chapter/ Verse 19
8- The Noble Qur'an/ Qaf Chapter/ Verse 16
9- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Hadeed [The Iron] Chapter/ Verse 4
10- The Noble Qur'an/ Luqman Chapter/ Verse 16
11- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Ahzab [The Federates] Chapter/ Verse 52
12- Al-Sayrou Ilal Lah [Walking towards God]/ Hassan Zadeh/ Page 148
13- Al-Sayrou Ilal Lah [Walking towards God]/ Hassan Zadeh/ Page 148
14- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Hasher [The Gathering] Chapter/ Verse 18
15- The Noble Qur'an/ Al-Zumar [The Groups] Chapter/ Verse 53