ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Adab as-Salat: The Disciplines of the Prayer Second Revised Edition A Brief Exegesis Of The Blessed Sūrah Of Al-Hamd And Some Disciplines Of Praising And Recitation Scholars differ about the relation of “ bā' ” [ب] in the Bismillāh 'ir-Rahmān 'ir-Rahīm. Each one of them says something about it according to his way of thinking, knowledge and Gnosticism.

For example, men of letters relate it to the entry “beginning” [ ibtidā' ] or “seeking help” [ isti'ānat ] .

As to some narratives to the effect that Bismillāh means: “I seek help [from Allah],” it is either in accordance with the common taste, as is very much current in the hadīth s, and the difference of many hadīth s is ascribed to this predicate, and it is thus that Imām ar-Ridā (' a ) explained Bismillāh to mean: “I put on myself a simah (mark) of Allah's,”[^1] or “seeking help” denotes too delicate a meaning to be understood by the common people, as it includes the secret of tawhīd in a subtler way.

Some people of knowledge say that it refers to “appeared” [ zahara ] , that is: “Existence appeared by Bismillāh. ”[^2] This is in accordance with the people of knowledge, sulūk and Gnosticism, who say that all beings, the atoms of existence and the invisible and visible worlds are the manifestations of the all-embracing Name of Allah, i.e.

“The Greatest Name.” Consequently, “name,” which means a sign, a mark, or height and elevation, is Allah's effusive and actual manifestation, which is called “Effusive Emanation” [ fayd-i munbasit ] and “luminous annexation” [ idāfa-i ishrāqī ], because, according to this conduct, the whole of the House of Realization, as from the abstract intellects down to the lowest degrees of existence, are the phenomenalizations [ ta'ayyunāt ] of this emanation [ fayd ] and the descents [ tanazzulāt ] of this grace [ latīfah ] .

This conduct is supportable by many noble divine āyah s and honorable hadīth s of the infallible and purified (' a ), such as the noble hadīth in al-Kāfī which says: “Allah created the Will [ mashiyyat ] through the Will itself, then He created all the things through Will*.*”[^3] This honorable hadīth is interpreted according to the opinion of each interpreter's creed.