ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Short Treatise on The Divine Invitation Have You Considered the Lovers in the Cave? Sometimes the Beloved invites His lovers to a banquet and hosts them for a very long duration in the state of ‘union’ in which state, nothing is beheld save the Beloved. The self also subsides. According to some leading mystics like the late Ayatullāh Shāhābādī - the mentor of Imām Khumaynī in mysticism, the companions of the cave were privileged with such union.

In volume 2 of his Rashahāt al-Ma’ārif , a collection of transcripts of his lessons, while describing a group of the muqarrabūn (those near to Allāh) he says: يک دسته از سلسله بشر که مقربين اند لباس بقاء در دار فناء پوشيده، برای تکميل مردم زندگی می کنند لکن دسته ديگر از همين سلسله در رياضات و مجاهده حالشان حال جذبه می شود ومثل اصحاب کهف، گمان کنند که مردگانند، نه، بلکه از شدت عشق مجذوب حق شده و از خود خبری ندارند از شدت عشق مدت سيصد و نه سال به آن حال باقيمانده اند و پروردگار بدن آنها را حفظ مينمود تا اينکه مشيت حق تعلق گرفت که از آن حالشان برگردند اين مقام ولايت و قرب تام است...

“A group among the human beings who are the near ones of God, clad in the attire of subsistence through God ( baqā’ bi Allāh ) in the world of annihilation ( fanā’ ), live to perfect other human beings; another faction among the same group (of human beings), however, in their spiritual struggle and exercises are overtaken by the state of Divine Attraction[^1] ( jadhbah ), and like the companions of the cave, are thought by people to be dead; no; rather, out of intense love for God they have been overtaken by Divine attraction and are unaware of themselves; out of extreme Divine love they remain for three hundred and nine years in that state; and the Lord protected their bodies, until He wanted them to come back to their previous state of attention.

This is the state of wilāyah ( nearness to God ) and complete proximity to God...”[^2] These men despite being politically aware and active, were so spiritually elevated, that they were overtaken by Allāh’s (SwT) attraction for more than three hundred years, in which state they saw nothing but Allāh (SwT). They were oblivious of themselves too. Some authoritative mystics like Imām Khumaynī opine that this state is no more ‘a banquet’. Here there is no more guest, host and a banquet.

Only the Host remains. Rather, the Host who only was, “is”.