Al-Siraj: The Lantern on the Path To Allah Almighty
Authors Introduction
In the Name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful
All Praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and the good outcome
belongs to the pious; Allah bless His chosen elite ones, the choicest
from among those whom He favors, the manifestation of His kindness to
the world, namely Muhammad (‘s) and his Pure Progeny (‘a).
The sinning servant of Allah (‘a), the perishing captive, Husain son of
Ali ibn Sadiq al-Bahrani, says that he is seeking help from his Lord,
relying on Him, soliciting all of that through the one whom He loves the
most from among His creation, to compile excerpts from the pieces of
advice of Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) to their followers so that they (‘a) may
thereby provide guidance to their servants, and so that the latter’s
hearts may live.
dark minds, because of indulgence in whims and desires which insinuate
the committing of sins and transgressions, may thus be enlightened. I
hope Allah will grant me His support and assistance and make this a
treasure for the Day of Returning to Him; He is the most Generous, the
most Giving. Upon Him is my reliance and dependence, and He suffices me;
how Great is the One upon Whom I rely!
Let us provide for this book an Introduction explaining the purpose of
confirming these statements and attracting attention to these niceties.
I used to often indulge my soul, which repeatedly inclines to what is
wrong, in the hope that I would compile useful legacies from Ahl al-Bayt
(‘a) so that such indifferent hearts may wake up, so that these dead
souls may come back to life after having turned away from Allah and
shunned Him. But my inactivity always stopped me from doing so. I took
to laziness, causing my own harm.
If knowledge is not applied, it will only cause the knowledgeable person
to get even further from Allah, and it cannot be expected to affect the
hearts. This is so based on what is transmitted about Ahl al-Bayt (‘a)
who advised that if a scholar did not implement his knowledge, his
admonishment would be removed from the hearts; such is stated in Vol. 1,
p. 44, of Al-Kafi.
When I saw how my life-span was approaching its expiration and how the
end was nigh, I was of the view that procrastination was of no avail and
excuses were futile. This led me to seek the opinion of some loved ones.
Because of the desire of some close friends of mine, I sought advice
from Allah, praise to Him, with the intention that this would be my own
self-admonishment, perhaps my soul would be reawakened.
I anticipated it would bring me goodness and a blessing because it is a
response to the wish of my brethren and a means of seeking nearness to
Allah, the Praised One, through serving the tales of Ahl al-Bayt, and I
hoped He would thus honor me.
I decided, with the will and power of Allah, to compile incidents
relevant to Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) in various chapters and from different
sources without mentioning the references or investigating the exact
text of statements, for their contexts are accepted by sound minds which
believe in them, and a straightforward nature testifies for them. What
is meant is mere reference; all help is sought from Allah; from Him
comes any action’s success; upon Him one must rely.
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