Bless Muhammad and his Household...

Bless Muhammad and his Household, raise me not a single degree before the people without lowering me to the same extent in myself and bring about no outward exaltation for me without an inward abasement in myself to the same measure…”[^2] With regard to what has been cited, the Prophet (S) states to Abu Dharr that if your knowledge does not give rise to humility and modesty and does not bring forth crying in you, know that that knowledge is not beneficial to you.

Knowledge is beneficial and rewarding which adds to man’s yielding before his Lord. As Allah describes the intellectuals in the Qur’an that when the divine verses are recited to them, they at once fall prostrating on the ground and make humble entreaties and supplications [to their Lord]. This is a sign of man’s submissiveness to Allah.

Even if it is considered an outward act but still it arises from the transformation of the heart and inside; until man’s heart has not become sorrowful and man has not become humble in his heart, the state of crying does not come about in man. In continuation of the hadith , the Prophet (S) states: “O Abu Dharr!

Every person can make himself cry because of fear of Allah and not every person can make his hearts acquainted with sorrow and force himself to cry because a hard heart is far from Allah; but they do not perceive this denotation.” As has previously been mentioned, the crying which has been recommended in the hadith s, one of which is this hadith , is weeping as a result of fear of being deprived of the prosperity of the hereafter and getting polluted by sin and/or lamenting because of spiritual deprivations and due to the absence of the Imam of the Age—may Allah hasten his reappearance—and higher than all these is lamentation because of deprivation from the beatific vision of Allah [ liqa’ Allah ].

Those who are lovers of Allah and cognition of the divine guardianship weep as a result of fear of being deprived of the beatific meeting with Allah, in the same way that Imam ‘Ali ( ‘a ) states in Du‘a’ al-Kumayl : “I am at crossroads O my Allah O my Master!

I could bear your fire with patience, but how can I bear separation from Thee!” If it is not possible for someone to cry, then at least one ought to inculcate his hearts with topics that cause sorrow and/or meditate upon his spiritual privations and reflect upon his sins in order to make his hearts grieved. If his heart still does not become sorrowful, then he ought to at least dissemble to be anguished.