Imam al-Husayn (AS)] has great attention towards the...

Imam al-Husayn (AS)] has great attention towards the wayfarers of the path of God in removing the veil and impediments of the ‘path of God’.[^5] One of the excellent ways of establishing contact with Imam al-Husayn (AS) is through offering salutations to his exalted personality ( Ziyarat) . This can be achieved either in front of his radiant tomb in Karbala, or in the environs of one’s house observing some specific etiquettes.

The secret however is that the za’ir , one who performs the Ziyarat , must yearn to the attain the apex of the meaning of what he recites and unite with the spirit of the mazur (the visited one).

The grand Ayatullah Jawadi Amuli in his masterpiece ‘ Adabe Finaye Muqarraban ’ says: Ziyarat is the mystical presence of the fervent lover ( ‘ashiq ) in the dwelling of the Beloved; it is the visitor’s passionate encounter of the abode of the visited one; it is the lover’s expression of intense love and consideration for the beloved; it is when the enamored one sincerely gives his heart in the alley of the possessor of the heart...[^6] The present commentary tries to examine and reflect on one of the well-known ziyarat that many of the Muslims recite with great zeal and devotion.

Most of the Shi’a Muslims express their veneration and sorrow when they recite this sublime Ziyarat on the day of ‘Ashura`. However, the Infallible Imams of the (AS) have taught us to recite it very often. Besides its ample merits, it is a program of revolution for the sleeping masses.

The crux of the Ziyarat is al-tabarri’ and al-tawalli , which can correctly be translated as ‘fleeing from imperfection’ and ‘seeking perfection’, or in the beautiful words of every Muslim La ilaha illa Allah -Besides Allah- the Only Beloved, there is no other ilah (beloved). The Name Allah exemplifies all the perfect attributes of the Divine Essence, which the human being has been molded to appreciate and naturally seek. The Holy Qur`an says: ’...

the innate nature of Allah, upon which the human beings were molded.. .’(30:30). Therefore the Ziyarat in reality is a call to the unsullied innate disposition ( fitra ) of the human being.

In expressing veneration and seeking the higher levels of peace for Imam al-Husayn (AS) we are trying to unite with his ideas, thoughts and towering volition, and in cursing his opponents, who overtly declared themselves to be Muslims and believers, but were extensions of the hypocrites, we are trying to flee from all their ideas, thoughts and actions.