The meaning of lā ilāha illallāh (There is no god but Allah)...

The meaning of lā ilāha illallāh (There is no god but Allah) is witnessing the Haqq 's (Allah's) effectiveness and power upon the creatures, and negating the individuations [ ta'ayyunāt ] of creation, and annihilating the state of their activity [ fā'iliyyat ] and their effect in the Haqq (Allah). The other is the negation of any worshipped other than Allah, and lā ilāha illallāh means: There is no worshipped except Allah.

Therefore, the state of tahlīl is the result of the state of tahmīd , as when the tahmīd is exclusively confined to the Holy Essence of Allah, servitude places its burden in that Holy State, and all the servitudes, which people do to one another for the purpose of being praised, become negated. So, it is as if the sālik says that since all praises are exclusively for Allah, servitude must also be exclusively for Allah, Who is to be the worshipped, and all the idols are to be broken to pieces.

There are other states for tahlīl , which do not suit this situation. The fourth rukn is the takbīr , which also means that Allah is greater than any description. The servant, by commencing the tahmīd and the tahlīl , denies the description of Allah, and, having finished that, he again denies describing Allah, and glorifies Him, accompanying his tahmīd and tahlīl with humbleness and confession of shortcomings.

Probably the takbīr , in this instance, is a takbīr of tahmīd and tahlīl , as they contain the blemish of multiplicity, as has already been said. Probably in tasbīh there is tanzīh (purification) of takbīr and in the takbīr there can be takbīr of tanzīh , where the servant's claims turn to be completely invalid, and he becomes in command of the Unity of Acts, and the state of obeying Allah becomes a habit in his heart, getting out of changing colors into a state of stability.

The sālik servant, in these noble recitations, which are the spirit of knowledge, should create in his heart a mood of devotion, supplication, dedication and humility, and by continual repetition give to his inner heart the form of remembrance, fixing the truth of remembrance into his heart such that the heart would be clothed with the clothes of remembrance, taking off its own wear, which is the wear of remoteness [ bu'd ] (from Allah).

Then, the heart becomes divine, truthful, in which will be fulfilled the reality and spirit of: “ Surely Allah has bought from the believers their lives.” [^5] [^1]: Poetry from Hāfiz Shīrāzī. [^2]: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 94, p.