He was strongly opposed to all kinds of extreme asceticism...

He was strongly opposed to all kinds of extreme asceticism and self-mortification that are contrary to the traditions and practices of religious creeds. One of his devotees related: 'For a while I was engaged in self-mortification, living in seclusion away from my Alawiyya (descendant of Imam Ali (a)) wife in a separate room where I did my supplications and dhikr and slept there too. After four or five months, a friend of mine took me to see the reverend Shaykh.

At his doorstep, and as soon as the Shaykh saw me, he said to me outright: "Would you like me to tell... ?" I bowed my head in shame. Then the Shaykh continued: "Why are you treating your wife like that and have abandoned her? ...Do away with these self-mortification and adhkar and recitals! Go get a box of sweets and go back to your wife.

Say your prayers on due time with the common ta'qibat (the supererogatory supplications after each prayer)." Then the Shaykh stressed on the narrations from the (a) asserting that if a person acts sincerely and purely for forty days, the fountainheads of wisdom will spring up from his heart[^4], and pointed out: "According to these traditions if a person fulfills his religious obligations, they will definitely acquire certain illumination." Acting according to the Shaykh's recommendation, that person gave up self-mortification and returned to his normal life.

First Payoff Your Khums Dr. Hamid Farzam[^5] -a disciple of the Shaykh-describes the Shaykh in his devotedness in religious matters as follows: 'The Shaykh was equally dedicated to Shari'a (religious practice), tariqa (spiritual wayfaring), and haqiqa (the Divine Truth); unlike the Sufis who somehow reject the Shari'a. The first thing he said to me was: "Go and payoff your Khums!" He, then, sent me to the late Ayatollah Agha Shaykh Ahmad Ashtiyani (ra) for this purpose. And what a person he was!

A true man of God from whom I acquired so many blessings and saw so many wonders in...! Anyway, I went to him as the Shaykh had instructed and paid off my Khums for the mediocre house I had. [^1]: Translations of the Qur'anic verses are adopted from the English translation of "The Holy Qur'an" by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, revised edition, 1989. [^2]: The narrator has advised not to mention the name of the order. [^3]: A mountain near Shahr-i Ray, in which Bibi Shahrbano is said to be buried.

[^4]: See Mizan al-Hikmah, III, 1436: 1040; and "Al-'Ilm wal-Hikmah fil-Kitab", Ch. IV, Part III: 4, 2, "al-Ikhlas".