Among them...

Among them, in the Wasā'il , quoting Imām as-Sādiq (' a ), it is said: “Whoever performed the obligatory Salat s at the beginning of their times and observed their restrictions, the angel would raise them, white and pure, to heaven, and the Salat would say (to the performer): “May Allah preserve you as you preserved me and entrusted me to a generous angel.” But whoever performed them after their times, with no excuse, and did not observe their restrictions, the angel would raise them, black and dark, while the Salat shouting at the performer: “You have lost me, may Allah lose you, and may He not care for you as you did not care for me”.

[^6] It denotes that the Salat is raised by Allah's angels to heaven, white and pure, when it is performed at the start of its time and its disciplines are observed. In this case it invokes good for the musallī ; or it will be dark and black if it is delayed, without a reasonable cause, and its disciplines are neglected, in which case it will curse him.

This hadīth , besides denoting the fact that there are heavenly unseen images, it also denotes that they are alive, as evidenced by āyah s and narratives. Allah, the Most High, says: “ … and the next abode, most surely, is the life…” [^7] There are many Hadiths to the same effect, relating which would lengthen the subject.

Imām as-Sādiq (' a ) is quoted to have said: “When a believing servant is put into his grave, the Salat stands on his right and the zakāt on his left, his good deeds stand shadowing over him and forbearance stands aside. When the two angels in charge of interrogation enter the grave, forbearance tells the Salat , the zakāt and good deeds: “You have to help your friend. If you felt unable, I would be with him”.[^8] This noble hadīth is related in the noble al - Kāfī through two channels.

Shaykh as-Sadūq (may Allah have mercy upon him) has related this hadīth in Thawāb al - A'māl . It speaks clearly of the unseen images of the barzakh , and their life and common sense. The Hadiths about the heavenly images of the Qur'an and the Salat are numerous.

With regard to what has been said that the Salat and other forms of worship have, besides their outward disciplines, other inward disciplines without which the Salat would be incomplete or even unacceptable to Allah, the following pages will numerate and state those cordial (inward) disciplines, inshā' Allāh (if Allah wills).