ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Elixir of Love Spiritual Perfections There is a renowned hadith that the experts call "hadith-i qurb-i nawafil" (the hadith of proximity in supererogation). Both Shi'a and Sunni scholars of hadith quoted, with a slight difference, the Holy Prophet (s) as saying:[^1] "قال الله عز وجل: ...

ما تقرب إلي عبد بشيء أحب الي مما افترضت عليه، وانه ليتقرب الي بالنافلة حتى أحبه، فاذا أحببته كنت سمعه الذي يسمع به، وبصره الذي يبصر به، ولسانه الذي ينطق به، ويده التي يبطش بها، ان دعاني أجبته، وإن سألني أعطيته" "The Almighty Allah said: No servant is drawn nigh to Me except by means of what is more favorable to Me than what I have made obligatory to them.

Verily, he approaches to Me by nafila (supererogatory prayers) to the extent that I get to love him; in that case, I will become his ears to hear with, his eyes to see with and his tongue to speak with, and his hand to strike with.

If he calls Me, I will answer him and if he makes a request from Me I will grant him"[^2] What is meant by "nafila" in the ahadith-i qurb-i nawafil, which follow the obligatory prayers, consist of good and righteous deeds, which expedite man's flight toward absolute perfection and the Sublime Destination of humanity.

One can, accordingly, through performance of good deeds for God's sake get closer and closer to absolute perfection; and at the peak of servitude, his eyes would not see except for the sake of God, his ears would not hear except for the sake of God, his tongue would not talk except for the sake of God, and his heart would not yearn except for the sake of God.

In other words, by submerging your will in the Will of Allah (swt)--as put in the *ahadith-i qurb-i nawafil--*God will become your eyes, ears, tongue and heart; and you will eventually attain the essence of servitude and Divinity.

According to the reverend Shaykh: "If the eye works for God, it becomes Eye of Allah , if the ear works for God it becomes Ear of Allah , if the hand works for God, it becomes Hand of Allah , and so forth to the heart of man, which is God's place; as narrated: "قلب المؤمن من عرش الرحمن" "The heart of a believer is the Throne of Allah, the compassionate.[^3]" And as Imam Husayn (a) says: "جعلتَ قلوبَ أوليائكَ مسكناً لمشيتك" "O Lord!