Glimpses of the Nahj al-Balaghah
- Part 3
Martyr Ayatullah Murtada Mutahhari
Translated from the Persian by 'Ali Quli Qara'i
Suluk and
'Ibadah
'Ibadah, or service, of the One God and negation of everything else as
an object of service and worship, is one of the essential teachings of
God-sent apostles-a feature never absent from the teachings of any
prophet. As we know, in the sacred religion of Islam, too, worship
occupies a preeminent position, with the only difference that worship in
Islam is not regarded as a series of devotional rituals separate from
everyday life and as pertaining solely to another world. Worship in
Islam is located in the context of life and is an unalienable part of
the Islamic philosophy of life.
Aside from the fact that some of the Islamic acts of worship are
performed collectively, Islam has structured them in such a fashion that
their performance automatically ensures the performance of other duties
of life. For instance, salat is a complete expression of man's servitude
and surrender to God. It has been specified in such a manner that even a
man who desires to pray in a lonely corner is forced to observe certain
things of moral and social relevance, such as cleanliness, respect for
rights of others, observance of punctuality, possession of a sense of
direction, control over one's emotions, and expression of good-will and
benevolence towards other righteous servants of God.
From the point of view of Islam, every good and beneficial action if
performed with a pure, God-seeking intention, is viewed as worship.
Therefore, learning, acquisition of knowledge and livelihood and social
service, if performed for God's sake, are acts of worship. Nevertheless,
Islam also specifies a system of rituals and formal acts of worship such
as salat, sawm (fasting) etc., which have a specific philosophy for
performing them.
Levels of Worship:
Men have varying attitudes towards worship. Not all of them view it in
the same light. For some, worship is a kind of deal, a barter and an
exchange of labour performed for wages. Like an ordinary worker who
spends his time and labour for the benefit of an employer and expects a
daily wage in return, the devotee also endeavours for the sake of Divine
reward, which, however, he would receive in the next world.
Like the labourer, for whom his labour bears fruit in the form of his
wages and who would not work except for a wage, the benefit of the
devotee's worship, according to the outlook of this particular group of
devotees, lies in the wages and reward which shall be granted to the
devotees in the shape of the goods and comforts in the other world.
However, every employer pays wages in return for the benefit he derives
from his workers, but what benefit can the Lord of the heavens derive
from the labours of a weak and feeble servant?
Moreover, if we assume that the Great Employer does remunerate His
servants in the form of the blessings and rewards of the Hereafter, then
why does He not reward them without any effort and consumption of labour
and energy? These are questions which never occur to this class of
pious. From their viewpoint, the essence of worship lies in certain
visible bodily movements and oscillations of the tongue.
This is one attitude towards worship. Unrefined and vulgar it be, it is,
in the words of Ibn Sina, as he puts it in the ninth chapter of His al-'Isharat,
'the attitude of the unenlightened and God-ignorant, acceptable only to
the plebeians.' Another approach towards worship is that of the
enlightened. Here the aforementioned problems of worker and employer,
labour and wage, have no relevance. How can they be relevant when
worship is viewed by them as the ladder to attain nearness to God, as
the means of human sublimity, edification and upliftment of the soul and
its flight to the invisible sphere of spiritual greatness, as an
invigorating exercise of his spiritual faculties, and as a triumph of
the spirit over the corporeal?
It is the highest expression of the gratitude and love of the human
being towards his Creator and his declaration of love for the Most
Perfect and the Absolutely Beautiful, and finally, his wayfaring towards
Allah! According to this approach, worship has a form and a soul, an
appearance and an inner meaning. That which is expressed by the tongue
and the movements of other members of the body, is the form, the outer
mould, and the appearance of worship. Its soul and meaning is something
else. The soul of worship is inextricably connected with the
significance attached to worship by the devotee, his attitude towards
it, his inner motive that drives him to it, the ultimate satisfaction
and benefit he derives from it, and the extent to which he covers the
Divine path in his journey towards God.
The Approach of the Nahj al-balaghah:
What approach and attitude is adopted by the Nahj al-balaghah towards
worship? The Nahj al-balaghah takes an enlightened view of worship, or
rather, it is, after the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet
('s), the main source of inspiration towards the enlightened approach to
worship in the Islamic tradition. As we know, of the most sublime and
imaginative themes of Islamic literature, both Arabic and Persian, is
relationship between the ardent love of the devotee for the Divine
Essence expressed in delicate and elegant passages in the form of
sermons, prayers, allegories, parables, both in prose and verse.
When we compare them with the pre-Islamic notions prevalent in the
regions which subsequently constituted the domains of Islam, it is
surprising to observe the gigantic leap that was taken by Islam in
bestowing depth, scope, sweetness, and delicacy to human thought. Islam
transformed a people who worshipped idols, images, fire, or degraded the
Eternal God to the level of a human 'Father', and whose flight of
imagination prompted them to identify the 'Father' with the 'Son', or
who officially considered the Ahura Mazda to be a material form, whose
statues they erected in every place, into a people whose intellect could
grasp and evolve the most abstract of concepts, the most sophisticated
ideas, the most elegant thoughts and most sublime notions.
How was human intellect so radically transformed? What revolutionized
their logic, elevated their thoughts, refined their emotions and
sublimated their values? How did it happen? The al-Mu'allaqat al-sab'ah
and the Nahj al-balaghah stand only one generation apart. Both of those
generations of Arabs were proverbial in eloquence and literary genius.
But as to the content, they stand as far apart as the earth and the sky.
The former sing of the beauty of the beloved, the pleasures of love, of
gallantry, horses, spears, nightly assaults, and compose eulogy and
lampoon; the latter contains the sublimest ideas of man. In order to
elucidate the approach of 'Ali ('a) towards worship, now we shall
proceed to cite few examples from the Nahj al-balaghah, beginning with a
statement about the differences in various approaches of people towards
worship.
The Worship of Freemen:
A group of people worshipped God out of desire for reward; this is the
worship of traders. Another group worshipped God out of fear; this is
the worship of slaves. Yet another group worshipped God out of
gratitude; this is the worship of freemen. [1] Even if God had not
warned those disobedient to Him of chastisement, it was obligatory by
way of gratefulness for His favours that He should not be disobeyed. [2]
My God, I have not worshipped Thee out of fear of Thy Hell and out of
greed for Thy Paradise; but I found Thee worthy of worship, and so I
worshipped Thee. [3]
God's Remembrance:
The roots of all spiritual, moral, and social aspects of worship lie in
one thing: the remembrance of God and obliviousness towards everything
else. In one of its verses, the Holy Quran refers to the educative and
invigorating effect of worship, and says: The salat protects from
unseemly acts. (29:45) Adhere to salat in order that you remain in My
remembrance. (20:14) This is a reminder of the fact that the person who
prays remembers God and lives by the knowledge that He is always
observing and watching him, and does not forget that he himself is His
servant. The remembrance of God, which is the aim of worship, is
burnishing of the heart and an agency of its purification.
It prepares the heart for the reflection of Divine Light in it. Speaking
of the remembrance of God and the meaning of worship, 'Ali ('a) says:
Certainly God, the glorified, has made His remembrance burnishing of the
hearts, which makes them hear after deafness, see after blindness, and
makes them submissive after unruliness. In all periods and times when
there were no prophets, there were individuals to whom He spoke in
whispers through their conscience and intellects. [4] These sentences
speak of the wonderful effect of Divine remembrance on the heart, to the
extent of making it capable of receiving Divine inspiration and bringing
it in intimate communion with God.
Levels of Devotion:
In the same sermon are explained the various spiritual states and levels
attained by the worshippers in the course of their devotional search.
'Ali ('a) describes such men in these words: The angels have surrounded
them and peace is showered upon them. The doors of heavens are opened
for them and abodes of blessedness, of which He had informed them, have
been prepared for them. He is pleased with their struggle and admires
their station. When they call Him, they breathe the scent of His
forgiveness and mercy. [5]
Nights of the Devout:
From the point of view of the Nahj al-balaghah, the world of worship is
another world altogether. Its delights are not comparable with any
pleasures of the three-dimensional corporeal world. The world of worship
effuses movement, progress, and journey, but a journey which is quite
unlike physical travel to new lands. It is spiritual journey to the
'nameless city'. It does not know night from the day, because it is
always drenched in light. In it there is no trace of darkness and pain,
for it is throughout purity, sincerity, and delight. Happy is the man,
in the view of the Nahj al-balaghah, who sets his foot into this world
and is refreshed by its invigorating breeze.
Such a man then no longer cares whether he lays his head on silken
pillow or on a stone: Blessed is he who discharges his duties towards
his Lord, and endures the hardships they entail. He allows himself no
sleep at nights until it over whelms him. Then lies down with the palm
of his hand under head as his pillow. He is among those whom the thought
of the Day of Judgement keeps wakeful at nights, whose beds remain
vacant, whose lips hum in God's remembrance and whose sins have been
erased by their prolonged earnest supplication for forgiveness They are
the 'Party of God'; "surely God's Party-they are the prosperers!" [6]
The nights of the men of God are like shiny days, The gloomy nights do
not exist for the enlightened.
The Profile of the Pious:
In the last section we discussed the viewpoint of the Nahj al-balaghah
with respect to worship. We found that the Nahj al-balaghah does not
regard worship as a series of cut-and-dried, lifeless rituals. The
bodily movements constitute the apparent body of worship, while its soul
and meaning is something else. Only when endowed with meaning and spirit
is worship worth its name. Real worship means transcending the
three-dimensional world into the spiritual sphere, which is a world of
perpetual delight and sublimation for the soul and the source of vigour
and strength for the heart, which has its own pleasures.
There are many references to the characteristics of the pious and the
devout in the Nahj al-balaghah. Often the Nahj al-balaghah sketches the
profiles of the pious and the devout and describes their characteristic
fear of God, their devotion and delight in worship, their constant
sorrow and grief over sins and frequent reciting of the Quran, and their
occasional ecstatic experiences and states which they achieve in the
course of their worshipful endeavours and struggle against their
corporeal self. At times it discusses the role of worship in lifting
from the human soul the pall of sins and black deeds, and often points
out to the effect of worship in curing moral and psychic diseases. At
other times it speaks about the unadulterated, unsurpassable and pure
delights and ecstasies of the followers of the spiritual path and
sincere worshippers of God.
Night Vigils:
During the night they are on their feet reciting the verses of the Quran
one after the other, tarrying to deliberate about their meaning, and
thereby instilling gnostic pathos into their souls and by means of it
seek remedy for their spiritual ailments. What they hear from the Quran
seems to them as if they are witnessing it with their own eyes. If they
come across a verse arousing eagerness (for Paradise) they lean towards
it covetingly and their souls cling to it avidly as if they are
approaching their ultimate goal. And when they come across a verse that
instills fear, their heart's ear is turned in attention to it as if they
themselves hear the cracking sound of the flames of Hell Fire. Their
backs are bent in reverence and their foreheads, palms, knees and toes
rest on the ground as they beseech God for deliverance. But when the day
dawns, they are kind, patient, scholarly, pious and righteous. [7]
The Spiritual Experience:
He has revived his intellect and slain his self, until his body became
lean and its bulkiness shrunk, and stubborness turned into tenderness
(of heart). Then an effulgence, like a thunderbolt, descended his heart
and illuminated the path before him, opening all the doors, and led him
straight into the gateway of Peace. Now his feet, carrying his body, are
firmly rooted in the position of safety (on the Sirat) and comfort
because he kept his heart busy with good deeds and won the good pleasure
of his God. [8]
As we observe, this passage speaks of another kind of life, which is
called 'the life of intellect'. It speaks about struggle against the
carnal self (al-nafs al-'ammarah) and its destruction; it speaks about
exercise of the spirit and the body, about lightening, which as a result
of exercise illumines the being of the follower and brightens his
spiritual world; it speaks about the stages and targets that the
devotee's earnest soul reaches on his way until it attains the last and
highest stage of man's spiritual journey. The Quran says: O man! Thou
art labouring unto thy Lord laboriously, and thou shalt encounter Him.
(84:6)
'Ali ('a), in the passage cited above, speaks about the inner peace,
contentment and tranquillity of soul which a man's restless, disturbed
and anxious heart ultimately attains: Indeed, the hearts are at rest in
God 's remembrance. (13:28) In the sermon 228, 'Ali ('a) describes the
significance attached by this class of devotees to spiritual life-the
life of the heart: They see that the worldly people attach great
importance to the death of their bodies but they themselves attach much
greater importance to the death of hearts of those who are living.
(Sermon 230) 'Ali ('a) describes the ecstatic eagerness of the earnest
souls which impels them to move onwards on the path of spiritual
perfection in these words: They lived in society and participated in its
affairs with their bodies, while their souls rested in the higher
spiritual spheres. [10]
Had there been no preordained time of death for each of them, their
spirits would not have remained in their bodies even for the twinkling
of an eye because of their eagerness for the Divine reward and their
fear of chastisement. [11] He did everything only for God, and so God
also made him His own. [12] The esoteric knowledge and emanated insight,
revealed to the heart of the follower of the spiritual path as a result
of self-education and self-refinement, is described in these words: The
knowledge that bursts upon them and surrounds them is endowed with
absolute certainty, and their soul attains the highest degree of
conviction. They easily bear what the easy-going regard as harsh and
unbearable. They endear what makes the ignorant recoil with horror. [13]
Purging of Sins:
From the point of view of Islamic teachings, every sin leaves a black
stain and the effects of distortion in the human heart which in turn
weakens a person's aptitude for good and righteous actions, and
consequently further deviates him towards other sins and foul deeds. On
the other hand, worship, prayer and remembrance of God, develop a human
being's religious consciousness, strengthen his aptitude for virtuous
deeds and diminish his proneness to sin. This means that worship and
remembrance of God efface the mal-effects of sins and replace these with
fondness for virtue and goodness. In the Nahj al-balaghah there is a
sermon which deals with salat, zakat and delivering of trust; after
emphasizing the importance of salat, 'Ali ('a) further says: Certainly,
prayer removes sins like autumn strips leaves off from trees, and it
liberates you from the rope (of sins) tied around your neck. The Prophet
('s) likened it to a refreshing stream at one's door in which one takes
a purifying bath five times in a day and night. Will after so much
cleansing any dirt remain on him? [14]
Moral Remedy:
In the sermon 196, after referring to evil conduct such as disobedience,
oppression, injustice and pride, 'Ali ('a) says: It is on account of
these perils that God has encouraged His believing servants to perform
salat and zakat, to keep fast during the days when it is made
obligatory; these acts of worship give their limbs peace and rest, cast
fear in their eyes, soften their spirits, cultivate a sense of humility
in their hearts and purge them from pride.
Intimacy and Ecstasy:
My God, Thou, of all beloved ones, art the most attached to Thy lovers
and most ready to trust those who trust in Thee. Thou seest, Thou
lookest into their secrets and knowest that which lies in their
conscience and art aware of the extent of their inner vision.
Consequently their secrets are open to Thee and their hearts look up to
Thee in eager apprehension. In loneliness, Thy remembrance is their
friend and consolation. In distress Thy help is their protection. [15]
There are some people devoted to remembrance of Allah who have chosen it
in place of all worldly goods. [16]
In the sermon 148, 'Ali ('a) alludes to the coming times of the Promised
al-Mahdi ('a)-may God hasten his appearance-and at the end of his
discourse describes the courage, wisdom, insight and Then a group of
people will be made ready by God like the swords sharpened by the
blacksmith. Their sight would be brightened by revelations the inner
meaning of the Quran would be familiar to their ears and they would be
given to drink the cup of wisdom every morning and evening. [17]
Notes:
[1] Nahj al-balaghah, Hikam, No. 237
[2] Ibid, Hikam, No. 290
[3] Source of reference not indicated (Tr.)
[4] Ibid,. Khutab, No. 222
[5] Ibid,. p. 343
[6] Ibid,. Rasail, No. 45
[7] Ibid,. Khutab, No. 193
[8] Ibid,. Khutab No. 220
[9] Ibid, Khutab No. 230
[10] Ibid, Hikam, No. 147
[11] Ibid, Khutab No. 193
[12] Ibid, Khutab No. 87
[13] Ibid, Hikam, No. 147
[14] Ibid, Khutab No.199
[15] Ibid, Khutab No.227
[16] Ibid, Khutab No.222
[17] Ibid, Khutab No.150 |