Why should he allow several opportunities during his life time to go to waste?

Why should he allow several opportunities during his life time to go to waste? Doesn't he yearn deep in his heart for the company of the Beloved? Doesn't he realize that it is high time he should go back home and enjoy the neighborhood of the only Beloved who intensely loves his company? Those who have tried to seek help by this vehicle of spiritual ascent may complain about its ineffectiveness, since it has not yet made them reach their destination.

To them must be said that ' No imaginary vehicle can transport you to your destination. ' If the human being prays observing the outer as well as inner etiquette of prayer he surely will attain success in comprehending his much longed abode. It is the negligence of the heart in prayer that makes the prayer devoid of its spirit and destroys the opportunity of the human being.

As we shall see in this small treatise, the presence of heart ( huduru'l qalb ) is one of the most fundamental conditions of prayer, without which the prayer lays a negative or no effect on the supplicant. Appreciating its importance, one should try to observe the same and always struggle in this noble venture.

Obviously the task is challenging and difficult in the beginning, but with continual struggle and steadfastness in bridling the faculty of imagination of the human being and detaching the human soul from temporal inclinations, one can slowly and gradually attain the state of complete absorption in prayer. This concise treatise is a humble attempt aimed at making us realize the necessity, possibility, and methodology of attaining this vital spirit of prayer.

May Almighty Allah enable us achieve the same, so that we can join the flocks who are busy soaring to the realm of their Beloved and are very anxious to meet Him. If we show laxity in this sublime aspiration, 'the state of perpetual regret' in the Hereafter would be of no use to us. All praises solely belong to Allah-the Absolute Perfect Being, The Lord of the World of Dependent Existence.

Utterly destitute to Almighty Allah, Abu Muhammad Zaynu' l `Abidin Holy Proximity of Bibi Ma'suma (`a) - Qum-al-Mugaddasa [^1]: Holy Qur'an, 84:6 [^2]: Reed Flute is a metaphor for the Human soul- See commentary of Mathnawi by H'aj Mulla Hadi Sabzawari- the great Shi'ite mystic-philosopher, vol. 1, p.17 [^3]: Holy Qur'an, 10:25 Previous…