ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Al-Siraj: The Lantern on the Path To Allah Almighty Chapter 4: Some Venues Leading to Allah Almighty Be informed that there are venues which lead to Allah and which number as many as the beings themselves[^1]. For each of Allah’s creation there are as many paths leading to Him as many as there are beings. A wretch is one who sees the mercy of Allah as straitened though it encompasses everything.

Be informed that there is no way bringing success than thinking well of Allah, for He is according to what His believing servant thinks of Him: good for good and vice versa. People are accustomed, by their evil-insinuating souls, and because of Satan, to think ill of their Lord. They are swift to have presentiments, to feel despondent at the mere witnessing of the signs of affliction.

They are frightened because of the severity of the affliction, feeling certain it is befalling them, so they fall into that from which they try to flee, and whatever affliction they were afraid of will come to pass; we seek refuge with Allah from any kind of such ill thinking. You have already come to know that such ill thinking qualifies a servant to be dealt with accordingly because of such ill thoughts except if Allah, the Praised One, forgives him.

The Prophet (‘s) used to always love to be optimistic and to hate pessimism ( Bihar al-Anwar , Vol. 92, p. 2). Pessimism is according to what a pessimist envisions: If he sees it as severe, so will it be, and if he sees it as light, so will it be, too. And if he does not pay any attention to it, it will be as though it was never there (Rawdat Al-Kafi , p. 197).

A believer who tries to follow in the footsteps of (‘a) must accustom himself to thinking well of his Lord, expecting Allah to reward him with plenty for the little that he does. He, Praise to Him, is the only One Who gives plenty for little. Whatever good things you expect of Him, and whatever you think of the norms of His generosity, He is more than what you think: Your mental scope is limited while His generosity, Praise to Him, has no limit.

He, Glory to Him, has already informed you that He is according to your good thoughts of Him. Our master, the Commander of the Faithful (‘a), has said, ‘Whoever thinks well of you, you should prove him right’ ( Bihar al-Anwar , Vol. 74, p. 212).