Horizons of Thoughts

Preface

In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

And may Allah's Peace and Benedictions be on Muhammad, the most perfect personification of Almighty Allah's sublime Attributes and on his infallible progeny, the Ahl al-Bayt, who are rightfully known as the ships of salvation, whosoever boards in their ship, earns salvation, and whosoever lags behind and is indifferent would drown and perish.

Al-Qanduzi, the Hanafite narrator of traditions in his radiant collection Yanabi' al-Mawaddah (lit. Fountains of Stable Love) narrates that Abu Dharr is reported to have quoted the Holy Prophet (s) as having said:

The similitude of my progeny among you is that of the ship of Noah ('a); whosoever boards on it is saved, and whosoever does not would perish[^1] The ship of al-Hussein ('a), however, according to another tradition is swifter. Observe the following narrative:

Once Imam al-Sadiq ('a) was asked about the prophetic tradition "Surely Hussein is the lamp of guidance and the ship of salvation" saying: "aren't you [the Ahl al-Bayt ('a)] the ships of salvation [too]? The Imam ('a) replied:

"All of us are the ships of salvation, however the ship of al-Hussein ('a) is more spacious and faster.[^2] This tradition is also endorsed by great mystic scholars who can appreciate the sublime secrets of religion. The late Mystic scholar `yatullah Mirza Tabrizi in his monumental prayer manual al-Muraqibat says:

It should be known that the door of al-Hussein ('a) is the door of comprehensive mercy, rapid response and approval. And he would say during his life time: 'the similitude of doing good is rain water which covers both the virtuous and sinful.[^3]

Sayyid haddad al-Musawi a great Shi'ite saint and a contemporary of 'Allamah Tabatana'i, is reported to have quoted their mentor in practical gnosis, `yatullah Qazi Tabataba'i as having said:

My teacher, Marhum Qazi (may his spirit be sanctified) said to me that it is impossible for a human being to attain the station of tawhid [proximity to God] without the path of Sayyid al-Shuhada.[^4]

And'Allamah Tabataba'i is reported to have said:

That hazrat [i.e. Imam al-Hussein ('a)] has great attention towards the wayfarers of the path of God in removing the veil and impediments of the 'path of God'.[^5]

One of the excellent ways of establishing contact with Imam al-Hussein ('a) is through offering salutations to his exalted personality (ziyarah). This can be achieved either in front of his radiant tomb in Karbala, or in one's home observing some etiquette.

The secret however is that the za'ir who recites the ziyarah must yearn to the attain the apex of the meaning of what he recites and unite with the spirit of the mazur (the visited one). The grand `yatullah Jawadi Amuli in his masterpiece 'Adabe Finaye Muqarriban' says:

Ziyarah is the mystical presence of the fervent lover ('ashiq) in the dwelling of the Beloved; it is the visitor's passionate encounter of the abode of the visited One; it is the lover's expression of intense love and consideration for the Beloved; it is when the enamored one sincerely gives his heart in the alley of the possessor of the heart…[^6]

The present commentary tries to examine and reflect on one of the well-known ziyarat that many of the Muslims recite with great zeal and devotion. Most of the Shi'ite Muslims express their veneration and sorrow when they recite this sublime ziyarah on the day of '`shura'. However the Infallible Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt ('a) have taught us to recite it very often. Besides the ample merits that it contains, it is a program of revolution of the sleeping masses. The crux of the ziyarah is tawalla and tabarra', which can correctly be referred to as 'fleeing from imperfection' and 'seeking perfection' or in beautiful words of every Muslim La ilaha illa Allah -Besides Allah- the Only Beloved, there is no other ilah (beloved).

The Name Allah exemplifies all the perfect attributes of Allah, which the human being has been molded to appreciate and naturally seek. Therefore the ziyarah in reality is a call to the innate nature (fitrah) of the human being.

In expressing veneration and seeking the higher levels of peace for Imam al-Hussein ('a) we are trying to unite with the ideas, thoughts and towering volition of Imam('a), and in cursing his opponents, who overtly declared to be Muslims and believers, but were extensions of hypocrites, we are trying to flee from all their ideas, thoughts and actions. Hence this recital trains the reciter to overhaul himself and unite with the spirit of the sacred Imam ('a).

Understanding the aforementioned subtlety obliges every high-spirited seeker of truth to aim for the achievement of the crux of the ziyarah rather than being selfishly motivated to gain personal benefits. The rewards of the ziyarah which are both sacred and sublime should not be the only factor to lead us to recite it.

It is the natural love for the Imam ('a) who exemplifies the Divine Attributes in himself that should transport us to recite this humble presentation. In fact some traditions, as we shall soon consider, clearly state that whosoever visits Imam al-Hussein ('a) in Karbala is as if he has visited Allah in His Throne.

Another very important point to bear in mind is that because the reciter of this ziyarah has been guaranteed by the Imams ('a) to be availed with any need that he has, he/she must be very careful in understanding 'that which is a need" from that "which is not really a need". The great saint `yatullah haddad al-Musawi, a contemporary of 'Allamah Tabataba'i would see people clinging at the radiant enclosure where Imam al-Hussein ('a) is buried, and instead of seeking their real needs would ask for those things that would add to the burden that they already have accumulated. He is reported to have said:

When most of the people visit the holy shrines, they stand holding fast onto the enclosures of the graves and mediate with the Imam ('a) for the fulfillment of their material needs, thus adding a burden over their burdens, and they do not ask Imam to remove their burden which is 'attachment to the world'; rather they ask him to give them a house or an off spring or a wife or a car; and we never heard from anyone who entered at his service, and asked him: 'Take away so and so from me.[^7]

Before we begin this radiant ziyarah, which is reckoned to be among the sacred traditions [^8] (ahadith qudsiyyah) as well, and understand both its particular as well as its universal import, it is imperative to generally know the significance of ziyarah, and its exalted purpose.