Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Short Treatise on The Divine Invitation The General Banquet This refers to the Divine banquet that every human being enjoys. Rather every created entity seeks advantage from its provisions. Every entity, both in its existence, as well as subsistence needs the All-Sufficient. Therefore, he always enjoys from the provisions of the All-Merciful.
“O servants of Allāh, surely your beings and what you aspire from this world are guests ( athwiyā’ )[^2] for whom a time for departure has been specified…[^3]” Therefore the human beings, rather every dependent entity, is a guest of Allāh (SwT). Appreciating this, al-Bayātī in his Adab al-Diyāfah says: ألضيافة في الدين خُلق من أخلاق الله سبحانه وتعالى الذي استضاف مخلوقاته في عالم الوجود بالمعنى الواسع للكلمة. وهو يستضيف عباده كل يوم في مملكته. ويدعوهم إلى طيب أرزاقه...
“Inviting a guest in religion is a trait among the traits of Allāh, the Immaculate and Exalted, Who entertains His creatures in the world of existence in the broad sense of the word.
[^2]: Athwiyā’ is the plural of thawī which in the Arabic is ‘a guest’ (Ibn Maytham al-Bahrānī, Ikhtiyāru Misbāh al-Sālikīn, pg. 287. [^3]: Nahj al-Balāghah, sermon 129. [^4]: Adab al-Siyāfah, pg. 13. [^5]: Holy Qur’ān, 7:156. Previous Next