(i.e. ‘I inverted something’ or ‘I put it means upside...

(i.e. ‘I inverted something’ or ‘I put it means upside down’). According to al-Sihah, الولد المنكوس means a baby whose feet (at birth) come out before its head (الذي يخرج رجلاه قبل رأسه).

Closely associated is the meaning of مكباً على وجهه in the noble verse cited by the Imam, for ikbab means falling on one’s face, and therein is a figurative indication of the fact that the hearts of the polytheists (mushrikun) are inverted and their course of spiritual movement is other than the Straight Path, as will be elaborated later on, God willing. Matbu’ means ‘sealed’ ( makhtum ) , and tab’ with sukun (of the ba’ ) , means ‘sealing’ ( khatm ) , and with its harakah (i.e.

taba’ ) means impurity ( danas, wasakh ) . If it be taken in the sense of ‘sealed,’ it would figuratively mean that the word of truth and Divine truths do not enter such a heart and it does not accept them-not that God, the Exalted, deprives it of His special grace, although this sense is also true. However the aforementioned sense is more appropriate. ‘ Azhar’ means ‘white’ ( abyad ) and ‘luminous’ ( mustanir ) , as mentioned in al-Nihayah.

[^2] According to a!-Sihah ‘azhar’ means ‘bright’ ( nayyir ), and the moon is called azhar . Ibn al-Sikkit says: al-azharan means the sun and the moon. Azhar [when spoken of a man] means a white man, of a bright face, and such a woman is Zahra’. To sum up, azhar means luminous and white; hence the sun and moon are called azharan; a white and luminous man is called azhar and a white and luminous women is Zahra’.

‘Ajrad’ is someone who has no hair on his body, and according to al-Sihah, al-jurd means a treeless (open) space. And this figuratively implies the absence of attachment to the world, or freedom from impurity and defilement. We shall expound that which needs explication in this noble tradition in the course of a preface and a few sections. Reforming The Heart It should be known that the term ‘heart’ has various meanings in the terminology of the Shari’ah , and that of philosophy and ‘irfan.

To discuss that and the related terminological differences, as well as the ranks and degrees of the hearts, is outside the scope of this discourse and is not very beneficial for us. Therefore, it would be better to take the matter in its unexplicated simplicity, as is done in the noble tradition, and discuss that which is important and essential for us.