Eternal Manifestations
Spirituality
Story n. 1
‘Allāmah was in a constant state of remembrance of the Almighty
(dhikr). When we would walk together, and our conversation would end,
he would busy himself with dhikr. He believed strongly in
supererogatory prayers (nawāfil) and sometimes he would even recite
them while on the road. He gave great importance to participating in
gatherings of mourning for the Ahlul-bayt (a) and shed many tears in
grief for Abā Abdillah [Imām Husayn] (a).
He spent many nights awake and in worship, and in the month of
Ramadhān, he would be awake, praying and busy with remembrance of the
Almighty (dhikr) between sunset and dawn. He was the personification
of the verse Men whom neither merchandise nor selling diverts from
the remembrance of Allah (Sūra Nūr:38).
Ayatullah Ibrāhīm Amīnī
Story n. 2
‘Allāmah Tabātabā’ī was not overly concerned with worldly matters. He
used to say God is the one who gives reputation. Human beings can never
attain status with worldly objects. He had a very exalted and sensitive
soul. Whenever God would be mentioned, his appearance would change.
Occasionally he would tell me,
“It is possible that sometimes a person becomes so unaware of God, that
God inflicts him with a severe and dangerous fever for forty days so
that he might once say from the depth of his heart Ya Allah, and fall
into the remembrance of God”.
In times of difficulty and pain he never displayed the smallest sign of
distress. He confronted problems with serenity and patience.
‘Allāmah’s daughter
Story n. 3
We were witness to the personification of asceticism (zuhd) in all
the time that we spent with ‘Allāmah. Occasionally he would speak about
the difficult years; the years when he was in Tabriz and his life was in
turmoil. It was a time of unrest in Azerbaijan, but despite this
situation and the fact that there was no outward peace for ‘Allāmah, he
had no fear; such a situation did not shake him the least, and he
remained firm [throughout].
Ayatullah Jawādī Āmulī
Story n. 4
In terms of spiritual perfection, ‘Allāmah Tabātabā’ī had reached such a
level of tajjarude barzakhi that he was able to see visions from the
world of the unseen which other regular individuals could not.
Years of spiritual exertion and endeavors on the path of
self-purification and practical Gnosis (‘Irfāne ‘Amalī) resulted in
[his complete] knowledge of theoretical Gnosis (‘Irfāne ‘Ilmī). That
is because the late ‘Allāmah Tabātabā’ī united intellectual ‘Irfān with
practical ‘Irfān, and thus was able to taste the reality of true ‘Irfān.
That which other mystics had written about in their books, he realized.
He had in reality traversed the many stages of ‘Irfān. In the end he
wrote a timeless and lasting account of this. His book Muhākemat bain
Mukātebat is a valuable text from whose valleys of knowledge many of
those inclined towards ‘Irfān have benefited from.
Shahīd Mutahharī