The Imam begins, very significantly, by citing Qur'an, 34:46: "Say: I enjoin upon you one thing only -- that you rise up for God, in pairs and singly, and then reflect." This is the same verse that opens the chapter on awakening (bab al-yaqza) at the very beginning of Ansari's Manazil al-Sa'irin, the handbook of spiritual wayfaring beloved of the Imam since his days of study with Shahabadi. "Rising up for God" counts, then, as the essential point of departure for suluk; it is defined by Ansari as "awakening from the slumber of neglect and rising from the pit of lassitude."
Ansari narrates in Dhamm al-Kalam (3:192-193 #636) from Abu al-Jullas:
"I heard `Ali ibn Abi Talib say to `Abd Allah al-Saba'i [the founder of Shi`ism]: 'I heard the Messenger of Allah 
say that before the Last Hour there would be thirty big liars. Truly you are one of them.'"
say that before the Last Hour there would be thirty big liars. Truly you are one of them.'" As a contribution to remedying the situation, the Imam proposed that Gorbachev dispatch Soviet scholars to Qum to study inter alia the works of Farabi, Ibn Sina, Suhrawardi, Mulla Sadra, and Ibn 'Arabi.
Ibn `Arabi said in al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, chapter 93: "Know once and for all that there is not in the entire Umma of Muhammad anyone who is better than Abu Bakr except `Isa (as)."
anyone who is better than Abu Bakr except `Isa (as)." The above is actually mutawatir from`Ali in Kufa, in the wording: "The best of this Umma after its Prophet are Abu Bakr and `Umar."
No comments:
Post a Comment