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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Sacred Effusion Volume 1 Chapter 1: Peace be on you, O entirely obedient servant of Allah أَلسَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكَ يَا أَبَا عَبْدِ اللَّهِ Peace be on You, O entirely obedient servant of Allah Commentary أَلسَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكَ Peace be unto You Salam is an infinitive noun commonly translated as “peace”.
Its literal import, however, is: التَّعَرّي مِنَ الآفَاتِ الظَّاهِرَةِ وَالْبَاطنَةِ “to be free from calamities, whether apparent or hidden.”[^1] Therefore by saying “ Al-salamu ‘alayka ” in its invocative sense, we are seeking the state of freedom from every kind of calamity, whether apparent or hidden, for Imam al-Husayn (AS). It is clear that the Imam (AS) already enjoys the state of salam and is in fact one of the manifestations of Allah’s attribute al-Salam.
In one of the ziyarat when addressing him we say: أَلسَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكَ يَوْمَ وُلِدْتَ وَيَوْمَ تَمُوْتُ وَيَوْمَ تُبْعَثُ حَيّا، اَشْهَدُ اَنّكَ حَيّ شَهِيْدٌ تُرْزَقُ عِنْدَ رَبّكَ... You were at peace the day you were born, and will be at peace the day you die, and the day you will be raised alive.
Surely I bear witness that you are a living martyr receiving sustenance near Your Lord...[^2] Here the phrase ‘ Al-salamu ‘alayka ’ is taken as a declarative statement, and thus the difference of translation. Therefore we bear witness that Imam al-Husayn (AS) was and will always remain in the state of salam .
In a tradition about the nocturnal ascent ( al-mi’raj ) of the Holy Prophet (S) it is reported that when the Holy Prophet (S) encountered a group of Angels, Divine Apostles and Prophets, it was said to him: يَا مُحَمَّدُ سَلِّمْ عَلَيْهِمْ O Muhammad, convey your salutations to them.
So he (S) said: أَلسَّلامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ May the peace of Allah, His mercy and His blessings be upon you Thereupon Allah revealed unto him: أَلسَّلامَُ وَالتَّحِيَّةُ وَالرَّحْمَةُ وَالْبَرَكَاتُ أَنْتَ وَذُرِّيَّتُكَ “Peace, benedictions, mercy and blessings, are you and your progeny.[^3] Here the Holy Prophet (S) and his progeny ( dhurriyya ) are introduced as “al-salam” .
Hence, seeking salam for Imam al-Husayn (AS), would mean seeking higher degrees of the state of salam for him, since the levels of salam in the plane of contingent existence have no end. The level of salam in which there is no kind of imperfection whatsoever is that of al-Salam al-Mutlaq (the Absolute Peace) , which solely belongs to Almighty Allah.
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