The Imam answered him that the general dislike of death is not a criterion...

The Imam answered him that the general dislike of death is not a criterion; rather, the criterion is the actual moment of death when one observes the signs of the malakut and the other realms. As to the words of the Imam (A): لَيْسَ ذَلِكَ حَيْثُ تَذْهَبُ this sentence does not have an exact equivalent expression in Persian.

The import of this expression here may be conveyed by such Persian expressions as گمانم رفت وگمان كردم or ذهنم رفت and so on, and the Arabic expression also implies a ‘going’ ( dhahab ) of the imagination ( wahm ) . Arabic is replete with such expressions.

Rather the common usage of ‘dhahab’ and expressions derived from it implies a dhahab of wahm, ‘aqidah ( belief ) and the like, and the word ‘madhhab’ (going, trend, opinion, religion, creed, ideology, school of law or thought) denotes a similar meaning, which is based on metaphor, for it is derived from external and outward dhahab.

As to the statement of the Imam (A) عند المعاينة mu’ayanah is a verbal noun pertaining to the form مفاعلة (The lexicographers explain its meaning as follows:) عايَنتُ الشَّيءَ عَياناً إذا رَأيتُهُ. The time of death is called mu’ayanah (viewing, examination, observation), because the dying person views the signs of the other world clearly. His hidden spiritual eye opens and a little of the reality of the malakut is revealed to him.

Then he sees glimpses of his own attainments, works and (spiritual) condition. We shall explain in the course of a few sections that which needs exposition in the sacred tradition, putting our reliance in God. Liqa’ Allah And Its Character Know that the number of verses and traditions which refer to liqa’ Allah, either explicitly or implicitly, is quite large and their full details cannot be contained in this brief exposition.

However, we shall briefly refer to some of them, and anyone seeking further details should refer to the Risaleh-ye liqa’ Allah of the marhum gnostic of God, al-Hajj Mirza Jawad Tabrizi (Q) wherein traditions concerning this theme have been gathered to a certain extent. Know that some ulama and exegetes have totally blocked the path of liqa’ Allah and denied (die possibility of) direct experience of the revelations ( tajalliyat ) of the Divine Names and Essence.