More on Bondage

Pearl of Wisdom

My brother Husayn b. Muhammad narrated, saying, 'I had a friend who used to teach the child of Bagha or Wasif. He said to me, 'The governor, on his return from the Caliph's palace said to me, 'Today the commander of the faithful has imprisoned this person known as Ibn al-Rida [i.e. the son of al-Ria] and has handed him over to 'Ali b. Karkar, and I heard him say, 'I am dearer to Allah than the she-camel of alih so Enjoy yourselves in your homes for three days that is a promise not untrue/ What he meant by that verse or by his speech is not clear. [He said]: I said, may Allah increase your honour, he has made a threat, now see what would happen after three days. The next day the caliph freed Ibn al-Rida and apologised. On the third day Yaghiz, Yaghlun, Tarnish and a group of people with them assaulted him and killed him, and instated al Muntasir his son as the Calliph.'

Imam Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hadi [as]

Ibid. v. 50, p. 189, no. 1

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Library » The Lantern of the Path » More on Bondage

More on Bondage

Bondage is an essence, the inner nature of which is lordship (rububiyah). Whatever is missing in bondage is found in lordship, and whatever is veiled from lordship is found in bondage. As Allah said,

We will soon show them Our signs in the universe and in their own souls, until it will become quite clear to them that it is the truth. Is it not sufficient as regards your Lord that He is a witness over all things? (41:53)

This means He exists both in your absence and in your presence. Bondage means ridding oneself of everything, and the way to obtain this is to deny the self what it desires and to make it bear what it dislikes. The key to this is abandoning rest, loving seclusion and following the path of recognition of the need for Allah.

The Holy Prophet [s] said, 'Worship Allah as if you see Him. Even if you do not see Him, He sees you.'

The letters of the Arabic word for 'bondsman' ('abd) are three; 'ayn, ba' and dal. The 'ayn is one's knowledge ('ilm) of Allah. The ba' is one's distance (bawn) from other than Him, and the dal is one's nearness (dunuw) to Allah with the restriction of neither contingent qualities nor veil.

The principles of conduct have four aspects, as we mentioned at the beginning - click here.

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