Also the recitations during the pilgrimage point out the...

Also the recitations during the pilgrimage point out the magnificent characters of the Imams, their sacrifices in defending the truth and elevating the religion, and their perseverance in obedience to Allah. They are written in the most excellent Arabic, full of great eloquence and easily understandable phrases, and they contain the best exposition of tawhid, and supplication and prayer to Allah.

Truly, among them is the greatest religious literature after the Qur'an, Nahj al-Balaghah and the other prayers of the Imams, because they have included in them summaries of their teachings on Islamic matters and morality. There are also teachings and guidance in certain pilgrimage ceremonies mentioned below for the spiritual progress of the Muslim, the cultivation of sympathy for the poor, and encouragement for fostering brotherhood, good behaviour and understanding between people.

These rites must be performed before entering the shrine and reciting the special prayer of pligrimage, and some others must be said during or after. Here we shall indicate some of them in order to make clear what we have already said. Firstly the pilgrim must wash himself (ghusl) as commanded in the books of Islam, and clean his body before beginning.

This is so that he may rid himself of dirt, prevent disease and suffering, so that his odour does not offend others,6 and at the same time to cleanse his spirit from moral impurities. Traditions have been narrated instructing that after completing this washing, and in order to fix his attention on these high aims, the pilgrim should say: O Allah!

Give me light and purity, and preserve me from all disease, sickness, calamity or corruption, and also through this washing purify my heart, my body, my bones, flesh and blood, my hair and skin, my brain and nerves and every place I touch the earth, and provide me with a witness on the Day of my poverty, necessity and requirement.

Secondly, the pilgrim should wear the best and cleanest clothes that he has, because in such in such days of gathering it causes people to love and be kind to one another, increases their dignity and thus enables them to understand the importance of pilgrimage.

It should be noted that the pilgrim should put on the best clothes that he can afford, not the finest that are obtainable, For not everyone can wear the best, and such a command would cause despair among the poor, and thus it would go against the favour of Allah. So it is said that there is a two-fold meaning, i.