MISBAHUL-HUDA The Guidance Light in the Attitude and Mystic Process of Men of Love Compiled by Mahdi Tayyeb Translated by Zahra Agha Muhammad Shirazi A Member of Academic Staff of Alzahra University In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate Contents The Translator’s Preface 6 The Abreviations used by the translator 8 To the Reader 10 Tawhid 18 Sustenance 48 Contentment 55 To See Oneself as God’s Guest 63 Shortcomings, Afflictions, Sorrows and Worries 66 Submission 92 Satisfaction 102 Gratitude 112 Death and Annihilation 117 Belief and Certitude 136 Love 142 Reminder 171 The World and the Hereafter 177 Heaven and Hell 206 God’s Promises Being Cash 213 The Absence of the Pious Originating from Their High Manifestation and Our Negligence 220 Everything Being inside You 225 The Return 228 God’s Proximity 230 Trust and Favorable Opinion about God and the Ahl al-Bait (A.S.) 232 The Route of Spiritual Journey toward Allah 246 Visitation and Meeting 272 Desiring Only God 275 Inspiration Unveiling and Miracle 278 Intention 280 Recognition of God and His saints 287 Incapability, Poverty and Considering Oneself Empty-handed 289 The Servant’s Struggle and Agency Having No Role in Purification and Spiritual Journey toward God 298 Appreciating Opportunity 304 The Character of the Wayfarer 307 Companionship 332 The Leaders of the Way, the Divine Saints 334 Some of God’s Saints 339 The Accompanying Friend 345 The Circles of the Men of Insight 347 Asking Forgiveness 351 Getting Rid of the Credits and Debts 358 Instructions 360 The Ahl al-Bait (A.S.) 369 Karbala, Ashura, Imam Hussain, Crying, and Lamenting 395 Pilgrimage of the Ahl al-Bait (A.S.) 412 Imam Zaman (May Allah, the Exalted, expedite his glorious advent) 420 Fulfilling the Right of Faith and Worshipping Acts 430 The Religious Laws 435 Prayer 438 Fasting 445 Pilgrimage to Mecca 447 Abstinence from Sanctimoniousness and Pretending to Be Religious 449 Knowledge and Ignorance 450 The Divine Knowledge 456 Keeping away from Useless Discussions and Scientific Arguments 459 Truth 462 Supplication 468 Asking Only from God and Relying on Him 477 Ethics 483 Modesty and Politeness 493 Unification and Abstinence from Disunion 496 Having Favorable Opinion about Creatures 499 Good Conduct 504 Family 510 Command to the Good, Training and Improvement 517 Donation and Self-sacrifice 526 The Believer 529 The Faithful’s Disobedience 543 Willingness and Reluctance 552 Soul Insight 557 Meditation, Intellection and Reminding 565 Read Your Soul Book 571 The Holy Quran 576 Nahjal-Balaghah 583 The Beneficial Books 584 Satan 586 The Enemies of the Ahl al-Bait (A.S.) 590 Different Secrets and Facts 592 Hope and Good Tiding 618 Fear and Warning 621 Society and Social Jobs 623 Management 624 Appendix 627 The Arabic Version of the Tradition of the Insight to Luminosity of the Commader of the Faithful (A.S.) 628 The English Translation of the Tradition of the Insight to Luminosity of the Commader of the Faithful (A.S.) 635 The Translator’s Preface I should thank God Almighty for giving me the opportunity to translate this invaluable book which includes parts of the lectures of the great contemporary Gnostic, the late Haj Ismail Doulabi. He was knowledgeable about God, the Prophet (S.A.) and the Imams (A.S.) and guided many people during his blessed life. I attended some of his lectures and I really enjoyed his faith, love of God, knowledge, sincerity, and influential utterances. The late Haj Ismail Doulabi changed people’s attitude toward life, death, afflictions, heaven, hell, etc. by expressing God’s love toward man. His emphasis was on monotheism and man’s submission to God. Improving moralities by following the Prophet (S.A.) and Imams (A.S.) was the other important point on which he focused. He believed that all the creation is the fruit of love and man should never be disappointed because he has a Merciful and Compassionate God. The first time I read Misbahul-Huda (The Guidance light) which is a collection of parts of the lectures of Haj Ismail Doulabi, categorized by subject by Engineer Mahdi Tayyeb, it had a very positive effect on my life. That is why I decided to translate the book into English because I thought the English The Translator’s Preface 7 speakers should not be deprived from reading this significant book. I hope, in the near future, the book be translated into languages other than English and all the people benefit from the sincere words of this great Gnostic. I would like to express my very great appreciation to Mrs. Shadi Ghaffari who edited one hundred pages of the book. I would also like to offer my special thanks to Mr. Hamed Safarnavadeh for the pagination of the book. To make the text more understandable, the translation includes more than 600 footnotes. The translator tried to find most of the sources of the traditions. In some cases, the sources were not found and just the Arabic version of the tradition has been written in the footnotes. It should be mentioned that the present book is free but I would appreciate if the readers donate as much as and in any way they want to a charity institution to help the orphan children, sick people, the retarded or any person in need in their own country. Zahra Agha Muhammad Shirazi December 2017 8 MISBAHUL-HUDA The Abreviations used by the translator: (A.S.) = /’Alaihe Salam/ “Peace be upon him” and also /Alaihemu Salam/ “peace be upon them” which has been used for Imams (A.S.), the Ahl al-Bait (A.S.) and the Prophets other than Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) (S.A.) = /Salamullah ‘Alaiha/ “Peace be upon her” which has been used for Zahra (S.A.) (the daughter of the Prophet (P.B.U.H.), and the wife of Ali (A.S.))and Masoumah (S.A.), (The daughter of Imam Musa Kazim (A.S.) and the sister of Imam Reza (A.S.)) (P.B.U.H.) = “Peace be upon him” which has been used for the last prophet, Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) 9 To the Reader At the beginning of 1360s, the Exalted God succeeded me in understanding one of the contemporary great Gnostics of the Shi’ites. This success, with His Grace, continued up to 1381 A.H. when he passed away. That great man in his brief reference to his mystical path said: In my youth I made a pilgrimage to the holy Najaf. At that time I had a thirst for religious knowledge and science and I wholeheartedly liked to reside in Najaf and study in seminary (religious school); but my father who was old and had no other son to help him in his works didn’t agree with my residing there. I pleaded Imam Ali (A.S.) to help me reside in Najaf and study and so much I beseeched and pressed my breast to the holy shrine that its hairs were cut and it was injured. I felt so bad that I didn’t believe to be able to come back to Iran. I told myself either I stay in Najaf and study or if I am obliged to return, I will die here. When I spoke about the problem with the scholars of Najaf to be permitted to stay there, they told my duty To the Reader 11 was to satisfy my father and to come back to Iran to help him. As a result neither my pleas to Imam Ali (A.S.) nor my recourses to the scholars helped me. With that disturbed mood my father and I made a pilgrimage Karbala. In the holy shrine of Aba ‘Abdillah (A.S.) everything was resolved and whatever I asked was fulfilled in a way that at the time of returning, I even walked faster than my father and we returned to Iran. In Iran, the first persons who came to visit me as a pilgrim of the holy shrines were two sayyeds (descendants of Imam Ali (A.S.)). I directed them to the room and I went to bring something to entertain them. Returning to the room, the curtains were removed and I had a mood of inspiration/mystical unveiling. Holding the table cloth in my hand, I halted in my place for twenty minutes. I saw myself over the holy shrine of Aba ‘Abdullah (A.S.) and they made me understand that I could take whatever I asked for. Those two sayyeds were speaking to each other and told that I was in a spiritual ecstasy. It was the beginning of the way and that room became the above part of the holy shrine of Aba ‘Abdillah and there became the mourning place for Aba ‘Abdillah for thirty years and the people who came there cried without hearing the mourning rites. As a grace of Aba 12 MISBAHUL-HUDA ‘Abdillah, many of the great men including the late Haj Molla Agha jan, the late Muhammad Taghi Bafghi and the late Shahabadi came to that place without my request and because of their own interest. After that mystical unveiling, I encountered four people successively. The first was Sayyed Muhammad Sharif Shirazi. I was with him until he died. When we carried his corpse to ‘Shah Abd al-’Azim, Muhammad Taghi Bafghi came and prayed for him. I saw that he prayed for my dear and he was also more admirable than the late Shirazi, so I was attracted to him to the extent that I didn’t go to Ghom. I found Sheikh’s house and visited him from that time until he made me familiar with Gholam Ali Ghomi nicknamed Tanoumasi.