 قل مؤمنين والمؤمنات ثواب الفاتحة قول الله من الشيطان الرجيم اسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين الحمد لله الذي هدانا لهذاها وما كنا لنهدى لولاء هدانا الله والسلات والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء والمرسنين خاتم النبيين سيد الممجد بشير المصدق المستفى الأمجد محمود الأحمد أب القاسم محمد وعلى أهل بيته الطيبين الطاهلين المعسومين ولا عن الله ولا الظالمين من الأولين والآخرين أما بعد فكى قال الله سبحانه وتعالى في كتابه المجيدة وفرقانه الحميدة اسم الله الرحمن الرحيم والفجري واليال عشر والشفع والواتل والليل إذا يسر الفي ذلك قسم لدي حجر ألم تركى ففع ربك بعاد إرمذات العماد التي لم يخلق مثلها في البلاد وثمود الذين جابوا الصخر بالوال وفلعونذ الأوتاد الذين طغوا في البلاد فاكثر فيها الفساد فصب عليهم ربك صوت عذاب إن ربك رب من صال فأما الإنسان إذا مبتله ربه فأكرمه ونعمه فيقول ربي أكرما وأما إذا مبتله فقدر عليه رسكه فيقول ربي أهانا كلا بلا تكلمون اليتهم ولا تحاضون على طعام المسكين وتأكلون تراث أكلا لما وتحبون المال حبا جمال كلا إذا دكت الأرض دكا دكا وجاء ربك والملك صفا صفا وجئ يومئذ بجهنم يومئذ يتذكر الإنسان وأن له الذكرام يقول يا ليتني قدمت لحياته فيومئذ لا يعذب عذابه أحد ولا يثق وثاقه أحد يا أيتها النفس المطمئن إرجعي إلى ربك راضية مرضي فدخولي في عباده ودخولي جنة سلوات مانستة باراج أعظم الله وجولنا وأجولكم بمصابنا أبي عبدالله الحسين سيد الشخدى سلوات الله وسلم وعليه اليوم is the night of Ashura and therefore that makes tomorrow the day and the following night will be شامة غريبا which therefore brings us to the conclusion of these mournful periods of night being the first Ashura but therefore it also gives us an understanding that we are about to enter into a new phase of mourning thereafter as well we have many amongst us who are younger brothers and sisters and therefore it bears well that we spend the first couple of minutes tonight insha'Allah just mentioning some of the etiquettes of tonight and tomorrow because many of us will be experiencing this consciously for the first time and many of us will be making more and more efforts as the years go by to understand the movement of Karbala and therefore as that growth takes place within us as our appreciation comes to the point that this is not a ritual this is life and death itself then we will come to the understanding of the value of tonight and tomorrow insha'Allah so with tonight being the night of Ashura there will be much time insha'Allah for us to express our grief and understand what took place upon this blessed night as we just heard the announcement that the center will be available insha'Allah for us to mourn what happened to the master of the martyrs his blessed family his blessed companions upon these forthcoming hours I would humbly recommend as highly as possible that we participate in this particular program it does not necessarily just have to be in this one center of course we are here and we want to congregate with the brothers and sisters and make the most of this Hussainiyah but as we do depart as we do go home do not think that we can just go home to enter into our beds maybe there is more that we can do tonight to understand maybe there is a verse of Quran we can pick up and ponder deeply upon maybe there is that salat al-layl that I have wanted to be reciting many times throughout these last 10 nights and I have not found the opportunity to do it as such yet and therefore maybe there is no excuse tonight as tomorrow will be a great day when we are mourning we are not at work we are not at school and therefore an extra 20 minutes tonight may bring something new within us tonight is a night for deep reflection we will at one stage insha'Allah with my memory allowing us to mention a few things about the night of Ashura that has taken place 1400 years ago and we mentioned on a previous night that the night of Ashura was split up into four for the master of the martyrs the first quarter was that he spent it for his time between himself and Allah SWT the second quarter of the night was that he spent it between himself and his family members the third between himself and his companions and the fourth was that he insured that this night had time for his own self if on this night if on this night where the grandest night in history is about to proceed then we can understand that maybe we too can replicate what the master of the martyrs did upon this very same night that is the night tomorrow being the day we must adorn ourselves in true grief for this event that has taken place we must understand what it must have been like upon that day to have witnessed the closest friends and family to yourself one by one departing and therefore with that comes a true understanding of the level of the grief that the Imam must have been going through we should not spend tomorrow engaged in anything to do with dunya we should not engage in any way where we would be laughing joking, smiling at each other for my young brothers and sisters this is of imperative understanding when our Imams engaged upon this day on the 10th of Muharram there was nothing that could be seen other than floods of tears coming from the masters their companions would sit and ask them about this day and they would remind them of the great tragedy they would call speakers from afar they would pay poets to come and recite the tragedies of Aliyan Al-Aqbar of Aliyan Al-Asghar and so on and so forth the Imam did not engage in anything other than remembering the master of the martyrs tomorrow and therefore we too should ensure we replicate this in the very best of manners and that means updating our methodology in regards to us rejecting anything to do with the outside world on this day we have a new form of technology we have a new means to engage with the outer world we have Twitter we have our Facebook we have our email accounts we have our cell phones we have our text messages maybe just maybe on this one day we can understand that the grief of this master supersedes everything else that will take place tomorrow and therefore although we may have all these other forms of technology we may have all these other forms of communication with the outside world if we can if there is no need to be engaging with those other forms then indeed we should try to remove those impediments from remembering the master of the martyrs the last thing we want is to be engaging in the true death and life of that man and our text message being received from someone at school or work which does not have any bearing upon this day we have moved to the 21st century and therefore our grief must be understood in accordance with the realms of the 21st century so I ask my hunger brothers and sisters to take a real account of themselves tonight and tomorrow engage in this morning understand what it must have been like if you yourself had to give your 6 month old child tomorrow if you yourself saw your father having arrow upon arrow embedded into his body you would not be smiling you would not be greeting each other in the same way they would not be a moments respite that your heart would have and therefore my young brothers and sisters as tonight develops as you hear of the night that takes place as you hear of the martyrdom of أصغر as you hear what happens to أبا عبدالله bring yourself to Karbala allow yourself to be moved to the point where you close your eyes and you take a deep breath and it is as if you feel the gust of wind from the planes of Karbala take you to that point in which you are envisaging what took place having now said this we can move insha'Allah towards the verses and conclude our chapter of سرط الفجر we have done a lot of study insha'Allah on سرط الفجر and we started it with a tradition from our 60 مام مام جعفل الصالق صلوات الله وسلم وعليم in which he says to us that he who recites سرط الفجر in either his obligatory or in his mustahab prayers insha'Allah will be raised with the master of the martyrs on the day of judgment to be alongside him at the very same stage of paradise now here we almost become circular we started with this point but I want you to introspect at this moment when we stated those words and we said that the master himself the 60 مام says you will be raised alongside the master of the martyrs to be with him in the same level of paradise did you connect those words with إنه you see the Imam is called back at that point with those words enter into my heaven الله سبحانه وتعالى says not any other heaven enter into my heaven and therefore when you become circular in that understanding when you see the 60 مام says recite this surah in your prayers for you should be raised alongside him in that very same station it is not just an ordinary station we are going to die that death of مطمئنه we will be raised with the death we will be raised with the raising of نفس المطمئنه and therefore that heaven that we enter into is nothing short as the enough that is worthy of entering into the jannah for the one who is مطمئنه you see that whole chapter becomes circular now all of a sudden it bears a different weight of understanding when I go and stand and I recite that very same chapter how many of us thought and connected those two dots so clear so obvious yet maybe we can ponder more upon this chapter to have reached that conclusion if we ourselves did not when you look at the chapter broadly now broadly speaking you find that this chapter takes an interesting series of parallels what we mean by parallels is that there are mirror images here between one and another for example we find in the opening chapter and the opening part of the chapter it prevents us with a group of قسم group of oaths but yet these oaths we stated are in regards to the masters themselves it may be in regards to the 10 nights of محرم it may be in regards to the 14 infallibles but either way these قسم are in regards to the beautiful leaders that Allah has presented for us at the same time thereafter subsequent to those oaths Allah سبحانه وتعالى presents us with tyrannical leaders therefore at some stage you can recognize there is a parallel taking place there is one another looking at each other then as the verse continues we find that Allah سبحانه وتعالى presents us with that other parallel on another night we talked about the one that is tested with a risk being given to him and then there is another who is tested with a risk being taken away from him do you not see a parallel being presented between these two again one has been given one has been taken away let us see your reactions from both sides when you are strong and when you are weak there is a parallel here and then at the end of the chapter it now provides us with an issue about hell and heaven it says to us that on that day that the command of Allah سبحانه وتعالى will come that the angels will come forward hell itself will be brought forward and at that point then mankind will remember but oh man what good will it do for you now to remember the sins that you have committed why did you not remember them when we gave you your 70 years of life why did you not perform istighfar at that point why did you not do tober at that point why do you remember hell only when hell is brought in front of you but then having described hell and all of the atrocities placed within it all of the difficulties that will be bearing for those people who are flung into the pits of hell Allah سبحانه وتعالى presents us another parallel he says يا اي يتوه النفس المطمئنة إرجعي إلى ربك راضية مرضية look at the difference here on one side Allah سبحانه وتعالى shows you all the realms of hell but on another side he shows you all the realms of deep spirituality and the conclusion being the pearly gates of heaven itself another parallel for you and I to see so here we must understand this hell and we must understand نفس المطمئنة hell we want to give you just one tradition it's not we don't want to focus on hell we want to focus on نفس المطمئنة but one for the sake of clarity of this there is a tradition that is revealed or rather the tafsir of those verses of hell from the very chapter it is a story it is a hadith that says that on the day of judgment before Allah سبحانه وتعالى decides where to place people where to go and put people he will now want to show you what hell itself is really like this will affect everybody from all of us from the first to the last good, bad and all in between the hadith says that Allah سبحانه وتعالى will beckon for hell to be brought forward a thousand angels will use chains in order to pull the hell towards mankind from the first to the last at that point the hellfire will breathe and explode in such a way that its sound will destroy people it will make us become destroyed at that point and to the extent that right now that very hell that is in existence had Allah سبحانه وتعالى not covered that sound from the ears of humanity it will be destroying us right now continues and at that point the hellfire will circumambulate around all of mankind and mankind will cry out نفسي, نفسي, not I, not I save me, save me that is one description of the hellfire and may Allah سبحانه وتعالى protect us all from that and that point comes to understand that this is a real hellfire this is something that we are told will definitely take place this is the reality of what will be presented in front of us how will I bear on the day of judgment when I am told that my deeds were not worthy of being put into the other place and at that point we come to the realization that Allah presents us with the parallel He shows us that as much as there is this place and maybe, just maybe that place should be reserved only for the فرعون of each community but therefore the ones who object to the فرعون the ones who actively work against the فرعون if the فرعون is going to be flung into that place surely the one who objects to him the one who works against him will be placed within the parallel gates of heaven thus the beautiful parallel is presented to us نفس المطمئنة let us understand this and we want to present three facets of what it might be to have and own a نفس المطمئنة this soul that is purely contented by Allah سبحانه وتعالى مصري enough we find another parallel here do we not the fact that I am pleased with Him the means is another parallel that He is also pleased with me at the very same time there is a beautiful parallel system that is taking place within فجر فرصة see I am pleased with Him and He is well pleased with me my soul was completely content my soul was to the point where I am satisfied with everything and anything لقد كانت مكان before me لا يمكنني أن يكون هناك مكان where I'm corrupted لا يمكنني أن يكون هناك مكان where my mind is separated from Allah سبحانه وتعالى at that point I am nothing more than completely in unison with Allah سبحانه وتعالى Himself This is نفس المطمئنة We are told ألا بذكر الله تتمع إن القلوب that the way to reach this very lofty point surely by the remembrance of Allah سبحانه وتعالى are the hearts contented now think about this for a moment I would like to present you with a practical amal if you don't mind I would like to present you with something practical for you to take away inshallah with you you are all listening to me inshallah and there's a delayed reaction so maybe you're not listening inshallah you are all listening to me and I am speaking and at that point our minds inshallah are meeting we're not going to hermeneutics don't worry we are meeting at the point of understanding each other I am expressing certain facets of the Qur'an intimate details and you are trying to grasp and put them into your soul and flourish thereby but we are a multi-dimensional existence are we not there is more to me than just the flesh and the blood and the bones yes I am skin but at another point I am soul and soul is greater than the flesh and blood so now at this point because I am multi-dimensional because there is at least two parts to me at least there is these organs that are working in tangent but there is this soul that is also present I need to learn how to make both of these coexist at the same time I need to learn to make these work in a way in which both of them are in unison let us show you an أعمام I am speaking you are listening whilst you are listening to me right now talking and I am saying these particular words you can still be in the presence of Allah سبحانه وتعالى as well as being in the presence of this physical domain your physical may be sitting in whichever position you are sitting looking at me your mind is ticking away but the heart can be in another place with Allah سبحانه وتعالى at the same time let us work on this for a second and understand نفس المطمئنة practically now as I am speaking to you pick a ذكر of your own choice I will not burden you with one but let me show you different ذكر there is تحليل لا إله إلا الله لا إله إلا الله لا إله إلا الله the commander of the faithful has a narration whereby he says the greatest ذكر one can do is to recite 100 times in the day لا إله إلا الله the only thing better than to recite it 100 times is to recite it 101 times meaning that once you have done 101 you go to yes so the best ذكر is لا إله إلا الله then you can recite the salawat as a ذكر there is an evident tradition that shows us the value of going to salawat as a ذكر we have known that ابراهيم عليه السلام traverses the various degrees of stations before his lord he starts as an عبد he becomes a نبي he moves to being رسول he gets to the point of being خليل and then he rises to the station of being an إمام how did he get to the station of إمام where here by his sacrifice as to what he does with إسماعيل عليه السلام how did he get to the station of خليل brothers and sisters by reciting the salawat upon محمد نالي محمد constantly I will raise you to the point of being my خليل on the basis that you recite salawat constantly now pick this ذكر الحم سبحان الحمد لله right now do it in your minds and continue to do it don't stop continue to do it even though I am talking to you you are not losing anything from the discussion your mind is still capable of understanding what I am saying to you but there is still a point where you're able to converse with your lord at the very same time do you see that you are multi-dimensional you are not one facet to a human being right now if you're still carrying on and haven't forgotten to do it you are still listening to me but you are still engaging with your lord at all times now this to be in a constant momentum of ذكر at all times is not an easy thing to achieve but as with everything it takes practice did you not learn to walk and fall and graze your knee and stand up and take another step until you were able to run but it took you practice and practice until you were capable of doing it did you not ride that bike and fall off the first time did you not drive that car and hopefully didn't crash did you not drive that car and eventually learn how to perfect that skill did you not become accountants and doctors and engineers and pharmacists and lawyers and so on and so forth on the basis that you practice the knowledge that you were learning now are you still doing ذكر good masha'Allah yes there is two sides to you you can listen your brain is so capable it is greater than any supercomputer by Allah it is Allah who has created the brain and therefore surely it is greater than what we can create your brain is capable of listening and your heart is able to converse with your Lord at the same time now the challenge is to practice this until you get to the point where you're in constant sync with Allah سبحانه وتعالى how do you get there by improving when you go to the gym you start with just the bar or maybe I started with just the bar and then you add certain weights eventually you get to the point where you have all the weights sitting on there and you're able to push and push and push similarly you add slowly right now practice a little bit but later at some point when you are driving home tonight you know that there is a certain distance between the mosque and home you know you will have to go a certain number of stops you will have to go a certain number of red lights you will have to go a certain number of junctions on that very long road from Saffa to Marwa which we call up towards Long Island as you go through that particular road stop yourself and say I am now at junction 30 I am going to remain in a state of liquor until I am at junction 32 and once you get to 32 if you have forgotten and stopped then you need to repractice that and once you have perfected to the point of going that period of time then increase it and increase it and increase it until you are at the point that every part and parcel of you is in a constant state of liquor does that make sense? practical amal or it can take away I promise you I promise you sitting on this blessed pulpit with these blessed alams around us you practice this you will reach new heights within yourself that have never been fathomed let me share with you an example آيات الله العظم الشيخ محمد تقي بحجت may Allah bless his soul it is not in need of me to express to you how high شيخ بحجت really was but maybe if you have not heard this name if my youth have not come across this man I will say to you having concluded this story not only will you be in awe but it will be almost compulsory for you to find stories about him on the internet آيات الله بحجت is said to be the most foremost spiritual master of our generation maybe we cannot put a number and a rank on it but if there was a pyramid surely he would sit at the very peak of that pyramid آيات الله بحجت was a student at this point it is he is exit exam he is on the point of خارج he is learning to be a مجتهد he is at the very peak of jurisprudential lessons so at this point he would enter into his classroom and he would sit and of course his teacher would be sitting and discussing with him his other students would sit alongside him as per normal and they would sit in their درس they may sit in a circle and have their books and they would listen to the teacher they would engage in discussion and debate it got to the point where it was so evident that شخ بحجت was so far and high above in terms of jurisprudential caliber of the rest of his students that when he would speak he would always get the right answer he would always challenge and create a new angle the students noticed that they were so far behind that they didn't even understand a certain lessons so they decided amongst themselves rather than embarrassing ourselves in front of our teacher we will wait for the lesson to conclude we will go back to the house of عيط الله بحجت we will sit with him and ask him to explain the lesson to us so the story picks up at this point class has finished عيط الله بحجت goes home the students follow and of course you can imagine the house it is a large block of rooms people share rooms in multiplicity with each other so these particular groups of students enter into the room of عيط الله بحجت عيط الله بحجت is lying down a sleep on the bed عيط الله بحجت is where he is lying down a sleep on the bed unconscious a sleep on the bed the students engage with عيط الله بحجت they start asking him those questions what did شيخ اكس say about this we didn't understand this particular word we didn't know this particular rule can you explain it to us عيط الله بحجت is a sleep on his bed and he is responding to them giving them the answers at the end of that session عيط الله بحجت wakes up and he says what are you doing here students my fellow colleagues what are you doing here the students say we came to seek knowledge from you about the events that took place in the class we asked you questions and you gave us answers but I was asleep indeed عيط الله بحجت you were asleep but we asked and you gave the responses whilst you were asleep how did he get to this point where his body and his soul could be at this point of complete unison with الله سبحانه وتعاله his body his physical maybe in one stage but his soul is ascending to another stage do we not find that tradition from عائشة the wife of the prophet where she says that I used to see رسول الله sleep by Allah his eyes sleep but his heart does not sleep his eyes sleep but his heart does not sleep he was in a constant state of conversation with his Lord to the extent that even عيط الله بحجت may have just understood a drop within the ocean of what رسول الله was capable of imagine نفس المطمئنه imagine that contented soul where no matter what happens to you no matter what trial and tribulation there is nothing in front of you except الله سبحانه وتعاله does the commander of the faithful not say that wherever I turn I see my Lord in front of me there is nothing except that he is in it after it and before it how do we get there how do we strive to reach that stage of being enough that has completely مطمئنه we find that we need to traverse a number of stages of course and someone as lowly as me doesn't have the ability to express them to you but we will regurgitate what the scholars present to you إن شاء الله we find that the first thing we really need to assume and create within ourselves is a point of absolute trust between ourselves and الله سبحانه وتعالى there cannot be a moment where one, I'm not separated from him we've spoken about that now number two I get to the point that whatever comes whatever situation I find there is nothing except the answer is sitting with my Lord there is nothing except I am completely burning within the love that is الله سبحانه وتعالى there is and story that talks about this so beautifully فرعون ذي فرعون not يزيد this time ذي فرعون at the time of Musa عليه السلام imagine the scene imagine part of Banu Israel and they flee and they leave فرعون as we know the army of فرعون catch up to Banu Israel they now get to the banks of that sea which is about to be parted now most people only know at this point this story that the river that the sea parted that the Banu Israel went and then eventually closed in upon the approaching فرعون and his Al at this point there is another story there's a hadith that tells us another angle to this story it says to us that there was a woman she was also an enemy of فرعون a very elderly lady and she had gone down towards the banks of that sea and she was washing her clothes so she had a basket with her and she had her clothes with her and she's sitting in the or at the point of the bank of the sea and she's washing the clothes as she's washing the clothes she's doing the A towards Allah سبحانه وتعالى you see the point she's constantly in the state of remembrance of Allah سبحانه وتعالى even when washing her clothes maybe even when she was in our context ironing even when she is putting her child to sleep even when she's making dinner at all times she's in a constant state of remembrance of Allah so this woman is washing her clothes in the sea she is pushing them in and out at that point the narration says that she's making دعاء which دعاء to Allah she's saying my lord you know the tyrant that is فرعون I ask you to destroy فرعون for me فادعى may Allah destroy the tyrant and all tyrants indeed she's making this دعاء but imagine the scene now if you will imagine you were that woman you were not part of Banu Israel directly but yet you have been making this دعاء and Allah سبحانه وتعالى is so kind that he actually takes his mercy to the point where not only does he accept the دعاء he shows you the completion of that دعاء in front of you at that point the Banu Israel arrive at that sea موسى strikes the stick the sea parts he enters into it فرعون and his آل come approaching they enter in towards that sea it closes and engulfs upon them that woman is staring watching the entire scene before her eyes imagine that that takes place imagine how Allah سبحانه وتعالى reacted to that دعاء not only that he brings so many people's stories in that story all into one point how much of a great planner is Allah سبحانه وتعالى that not only will he accept for هارون and موسى not only will he accept for Banu Israel not only will he come to a conclusion and show the فرعون who is the real Lord but he will even do it in front of a person who is asking to see that destruction he brings so many lives together at one point and shows them the conclusion of that story in front of all of them now understand even us our own scenario every single day that we go through in our own lives look at our Lord take a step back and understand what our Lord really is that grand creator and sustainer of what he truly is we go and I've heard this from someone else so I'm regurgitating this but this is so wonderful the way he explains this scholar said imagine now when you go and you ascend a lofty mountain and you go up to that mountain and eventually you get to the point that that mountain is completely filled with snow even there even there there are still creatures that are living and having to create and live their own lives there are some creatures that when you ascend the mountains that they are created in such a format that they are blind they do not have the ability to see so what Allah has created with them is very long beaks and their very long beaks are created for the purpose of digging through the snow parting the snow in order to get to the underground insects in order to eat those very insects as sustenance now imagine Allah سبحانه وتعالى as a creator and as a sustainer is he not looking after every single one of those creatures has he not perfectly designed the system for that one insect to have a beak long enough to break through the ground has he not been the one who has placed below the ground that new insect in order so the one above the ground may feed from it I as an individual am so oblivious as to the reality of what takes place within the universe how Allah has constructed the system so finely I don't even know the name of those creatures those very creatures that live underneath the ground but each one of them is being looked after and sustained by Allah سبحانه وتعالى he knows every single ant individually he knows every single of those creatures individually at that point when I come to realize his knowledge of even those ants the fact that he looks after those ants how can I second for a think that he doesn't look after me at every second within my life imagine أبا عبدالله sits on the plains of عرافة and he recites that دعاء عرافة what does he say he says my lord you are the one who looked after me in the womb my lord when I was given birth to you insured that from that point in time they would be guidance for me so I would not go astray not only that you looked after me to the point that you insured that there was food and wholesome milk for me not only that my lord that you insured that the wet nurse was kind towards me and then you put me in the bosom of a mother who was compassionate towards me and then you made me grow up by age and by age and by age and then you continue to give me bounty after bounty and then you continue to bless me to the point where you completed me in strength at that point I was the one who rejected you I had the audacity to fling sin towards you and you continue to give and look after me not only that when I was the one who turned towards you and asked you gave when I was the one who requested you continue to give when I was the one who was saying thank you you were grateful for the thank you and you were the one who increased everything thereby if that is what Imam al-Hussain says about his lord and the way his lord really is how can I not have that complete and utter trust in my lord that whatever situation takes me no matter how good or how bad it gets I am completely at one with my lord because I know that he is dictating things in a way which can only complete my journey towards him that is the complete satisfied soul that no matter what takes place there is no complaint there is nothing other than he in front of me that is the complete satisfied soul that one is completely satisfied with everything that takes place and then eventually you break even that boundary eventually that becomes a norm and that you get to another point you get to the point where not only is your life covered by Allah SWT's hand and not only are you completely satisfied by him but you get to the point where everything in your life is dictated by Allah SWT's hand where every action that you perform is in conformity with how it ought to be to achieve absolute perfection within the self again another inspirational story for us to consider and appreciate there is a scholar by the name of Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Redar Shirazi may Allah bless his soul he passed away only a couple of years ago you can visit his grave in Karbala for those of us who have been may Allah take us this year and every year when you go and you stand imagine not for the sake of disrespect to the master of the martyrs but imagine your back is facing the grave of the master of the martyrs you are looking outwards now towards your left as the haram circulates as it goes around towards your left that is where Ayatollah Shirazi is buried Insha'Allah we go there and recite the Surat Al-Fatiha for him when you go there Ayatollah Shirazi has a story he says about his own father his own father was a grandmother of the time one of the highest people of emulation Sayyid Muhammad Redar Shirazi narrates he says my father had a particular attitude or a particular series to the day that he would perform he had a system to his day that every day he would have students coming at a particular time and he would teach them now obviously being grand manager he would only teach Haraj students or such he would teach the very highest of students so he narrates specifically even the book that he would be teaching so he says my father used to teach and it was his custom that before students came to participate in the lesson he would always spend maybe half an hour before the lesson preparing for that lesson so he would open the book and he would sit, pen, pad make notes know what he was going to speak on the angles and be prepared whilst he was sitting because the students knew that Sayyid Shirazi would be in this format that he would be preparing and be sitting available in that half an hour before class started a student of Ayatollah Shirazi burst through the door he's in a state of shock he's in a state of being unaware he doesn't know what to do with himself he's completely besides himself he burst through the door Samah had Sayyid your Eminence Sayyid I need to speak with you urgently no problem sit down what can I do for you he says to him I have a problem and the more I think about this problem the more entangled I get with this problem and the more entangled I get with this problem but the more I realize I do not have an answer for this problem therefore I've got to the point where it is defeating me and I need an urgent answer from you Sayyid says the Father ask if I can help you in any way I will give you an answer he says the question I have for you is if you had one day to live if you had 24 hours to live before Allah took your soul what would you do with those final 24 hours what a question what a question to ask someone who is of نفس المطمئنة here I'll break for a second and I want to pose the question to you you don't need to answer it think about it for a second be truthful to yourself what would you do if you had 24 hours to live would you have to perform قضاء many of us would would you have to perform استخفار many of us would would I have to put my will in order many of us would would I amend those broken relationships with my friends and family that I had cut off many years ago many of us would what would I do in these final 24 hours if I knew I had them and in fact there are some people who know that they only have 24 hours to live we have seen them sitting in their hospital beds knowing that they are about to be taken by their Lord what would you do right now if you had 24 hours to live so say شراسي is presented with this question say it if you had 24 hours to live what would you do give me an answer because I don't have a sufficient answer for myself what takes precedent what comes to the second priority what should I leave what should I hand to my eldest son what do I need to do now the student narrates that when we used to ask say شراسي a question it was his norm that he would stop bow his head think for a good long period of time and then raise his head to answer the question for those of us who have had the blessing of meeting say لخوة ايم الله bless his soul often did the same thing often did the same thing even a fairly simple question by his standard he wouldn't answer straight away why because he knew his tongue was going to be accountable for every letter in حراكة that it was going to express so say شراسي had this very same aptitude about him he would normally bow his head maybe take 15 seconds think of the answer construct it in his mind and then present it to his students the student who is asking this question says at this point in time say شراسي didn't bow his head he answered me straight away showing that he had already thought about this very same question had an answer prepared within his heart what answer did he give what answer did this master give to his student let me tell you he looks at his student straight away and says by الله you would not find me doing anything different as to what you find me doing right now you find me preparing to teach the students of محمد نالي محمد if I had 24 hours to live I would also be teaching the students of محمد نالي محمد now understand the deeper reality of it what was your answer and what was mine was mine that I had to make up قضاء say شراسي wasn't was it that I had to rewrite my will say شراسي wasn't was it that I had to go and seek forgiveness say شراسي wasn't I was prepared for death if death came took me 24 hours I would be ready if death took me in 2 hours I would be ready at that point I am ready to meet with my lord there is no obligation left upon my shoulders and that's how I can safely say I am نفس المطمئنة if I am still the one that has obligations upon my shoulders I cannot become a contented soul can I if I know that I still have to perform x, y and z if I still have to hand back this particular thing to this person if I haven't yet fulfilled this am I the contented and satisfied soul by Allah I am not how would I be in that last pan of death except in a state of utter regret I had not filled this I had not finished this I had not fulfilled those things I had wanted to since when I was a child I had wanted to go and see this place I had wanted to read that book I had wanted to go and sit with this person why did I procrastinate why did I sit in front of that TV why did I go to cause this particular thing why did I waste that time when Allah said to me I had a certain amount of time do I want to die in that state is that the death that I really want do I want the angels to come at that point and say I am taking your soul and at that point say I am not ready as opposed to saying my lord I have been waiting for you to come and take my soul what difference there is in approach when I am نفس المطمئنة it is completely different the outlook everything changes everything changes in my own way now here we conclude with a tradition from Allah سبحانه وتعالى حديث قدسي he describes what نفس المطمئنة means to him سبحان الله imagine we've described it from our angle our angle it's very easy for me to say become prepared for death when I'm the one who's not prepared for death by the way are you still doing zikr so here it becomes very easy for me to say that I can be ready for death and that we should be ready for death and what about Allah سبحانه وتعالى perspective on this same issue as a حديث قدسي about نفس المطمئنة you know what he says he says that when the angels are descending when molecule mote himself is descending to take the soul of the person who has reached the stage of نفس المطمئنة he says oh angel this is not your job for the one who has reached the station of نفس المطمئنة it is for me to come and take his soul at that point he continues and says I bring forth the heavens do you see the link that parallel in this verse we said Allah brings forth the hellfire in this side of the coin he says I bring forth the heaven I tell the heavens decorate yourself for this نفس المطمئنة I tell the heavens in the حور العين prepare yourself for the coming of this person and then I tell the trees within the heavens to adorn yourself with fruits I tell the gates all the gates of heaven to open and whichever one that نفس المطمئنة decides to enter into allow him to enter into that particular gate at that point I Allah take the soul of نفس المطمئنة and I tell him enter into my جنة فدخولي في إبادة I tell him enter into my جنة that is نفس المطمئنة that is the regions in which we are striving for there is no reason as to why any of us cannot achieve that don't for a second think that I hear that story by our بحجت and it's only for him and I hear Aya Shirazi and it's only for him no, no why would Allah سبحانه وتعالى create you and me unless he wanted all of us to reach that stage and therefore with his infinite justice and mercy would he not be calling all of us towards that very same path it only happens with the same level of effort that you and I put into all of our academia the same level of effort we put into our businesses the same level of effort I can put into my soul and imagine the response I will get from Allah سبحانه وتعالى this is نفس المطمئنة this is نفس المطمئنة where everything falls at the feet of the human being and instead of me saying paradise allow me to enter into you paradise opens its arms and says but we desire your presence to come into us this is نفس المطمئنة where everything changes where the game changes where the outlook changes where everything becomes for him and him alone him and him alone let us repeat that him and him alone the master of the martyrs tent of محرم is upon us the tent of محرم was upon the master of the martyrs on the tent of محرم نفس المطمئنة manifest itself like no other maybe this verse was revealed solely for him maybe they cannot be another نفس المطمئنة maybe we are all grasping at just the cloak of نفس المطمئنة and saying my master take me with you take me with you that very same master can we go with the lights that very same master he is on the tent of محرم that very same master is on the tent of محرم the swords are striking this individual the arrows are flinging itself at him and at one point he stops and looks towards the heavens and says my lord have I fulfilled my promise there is no response the heavens do not respond back to him أبا عبد الله again picks up that sword and fights on and again he stops a few minutes later and cries out my lord have I fulfilled my promise to you again there is no response a third time he continues to fight and fight and fight and again he looks to the heavens and says my lord have I fulfilled my promise again there is no response from the heavens so Hussein fight on fight on and continue fighting Hussein is engaged with the wolves of the فرق and they continue to strike at him with every sword and every spear one man comes and thrust a spear into his chest one comes with an arrow and thrust it into his abdomen one enemy takes a dagger and thrust it into the thigh of Hussein Hussein falls to the floor and at that point again he raises his head and says my lord have I fulfilled my covenant with you this time a voice can be heard from the very heavens at this time that response comes oh Hussein you have fulfilled your covenant with me but I am fulfilling my covenant with you that every man woman and child that falls in love with you I will forgive him and her this is Hussein بن علي نفس المطمئنة that even at that point he wondered about Allah even when the arrows were striking him he wondered about Allah before we move to علينا العزغر it is imperative we understand the tragedy of the night of عشورة burn in the pain that is with Hussein بن علي tonight understand what it must have been like on that night to be with him we start with a tradition that speaks of the anguish of Sayyida Zaynab on the night of عشورة she leaves her tent and she wants to head towards the tent of her brother Hussein and as she approaches the tent of Hussein she sees that there is no one guarding him you see normally there would be guards waiting in case the walls came and attacked during the night where are you Akbar where are you Abbas she looks towards the tent and she sees there is no one guarding it disappointed she walks in towards that tent what does she see she sees her brother Hussein in the state of Sajdah نفس المطمئنة she begins to cry at this scene of the intimate love that is shown between this master and his slave at that point she hears some murmurings she goes towards the tent where she hears the murmurings and she hears that it is Abu Fadr Abbas himself Abbas is surrounded by Banu Hashim it is as if that he is the son and they are the moon circumambulating Abbas on that night and at that point she begins to hear that Abbas is dictating a speech to them oh Banu Hashim oh sons of Ahl al-Bait tomorrow is the day of our شورة I am telling you that all of you must go out and defend Hussein ibn Ali your master none of you must survive but I also tell you that us as the sons of Muhammad must go out first into the battlefield even before the companions of Hussein because we do not want anyone in history to say that Hussein preferred his companions or preferred his family over his companions we must go out first زيناب is brought to tears again what loyal companions I have what loyal companions will be there for my brother tomorrow at that point she leaves and she goes past another tent and she hears murmurings within another tent look at how Nassal Mutma'imna is being presented by each and every one of these people and at that point she hears another tent this time it is Habibi ibn Madaher leading the discourse he has the companions situated around him they are listening to Habib Habib says almost the same words oh Ashab of Hussein oh great Sahaba tomorrow is the tent of Muharram we expect that all of you give your lives but all of you must give your lives first so that no one in history says that we did not give our lives before Banu Hashem again زيناب is brought to tears by this scene she leaves and en route back towards her tent she meets with her brother the master of the martyrs oh Hussein let me recount to you what scene I have just come across she begins to tell him oh Hussein are you satisfied with your family and your companions do you know their intention for tomorrow Hussein says oh dear sister shall I show you what the intention is of my companions Hussein stands aloft he calls out oh Banu Hashem come towards me Banu Hashem run out of their tent and stand in front of their master he calls out oh Ashab of Hussein come towards me I summon you all of the Ashab leave and come towards Abba Abdullah all the companions are standing before their master master why did you summer us what did you want from us what can we do from you what can we do for you he responds and says oh my family and friends I lift the oath of allegiance from each and every one of you depart in the night run as far as you can away they are only after my blood if they want me let them take me all of you can go each and every one of the companions each and every one of the family members unsheaths their sword and puts it towards their own neck by Allah we would rather strike off our own necks than desert you oh Hussein what will happen tomorrow tell me of your intentions then oh companions the first to raise his voice is Muslim Ibn Asaja Muslim responds by saying oh Hussein I tell you of my own stance that I swear that tomorrow we will attack the enemies with our swords and that when our swords break we will attack them with our spears when our spears break we will attack them with daggers when our daggers break we will attack them with our stones when we do not have any stones left we will attack them with our bare hands when they come towards us and cut off our arms we will come towards them and scream at them when they cut us dead we will still call out when they cut us into pieces we will still want to be with you if they cut us into pieces ما نريدون ان نكون معك او سيقوم اليس معك يجب على أن تصميمها الشوية مالذي يمكن ان تتصميمها المشهد في الع�taking وفي هذا الموقع سن embark بلسنا كس apply يجب ان نعيز هذا من نفس نفس المطمئ انه شخص وفي هذا الموقع سيكون هناك مع المساعدين يجب أن يذهبون إلى مقاوماتهم ويقاومون في ذلك one last night that they have with their Lord and their Creator رسان يترك مقاوماتهم رسان يترك إلى مقاوماتهم إنه مقاوماته وانه يستخدم time on his own إنه يجب أن يشاهد مقاوماته ومن المساعدين يتبعونه يتبع كل مقاوماته وفي هذا الموقف رسان يترك وخبره أخيه مقاوماته كيف يتأكد من يتبعني؟ The companion says أخيك لن يكون يتضعك في نهاية الأسلحة He says يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول يقول Why do you cry like this? Oh my master Hussein, why do you cry like this? I cry because at this point, this will be where Shah Qasim falls. And when he calls out for me, I will not be able to aid him. And at this point, when I see his body lying on the floor, the horses whose will trample over his broken body. Hussein continues to walk on. Again, he stops and he begins to weave. Oh Hussein, why are you crying at this point? He says, this is the place in which my akhbar will fall. They will thrust a dagger in towards his chest. The spearhead will break off and it will be embedded into his chest. How will I bear when my akhbar falls at this place? He continues to walk and he gets to another place. This time he falls towards the floor and cries out profusely. And then his companion says, where are we now? He says, this is the place where my abbas will be struck down. And then he comes to another. And he begins to cry like he has not cried before. Oh Hussein, why are you crying now? This will be the place in which they will thrust a three-headed arrow into the neck of my أزغر. And then he continues to walk. And he stops at a place and he looks down. إِنَّا رِلَّا وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَجَرُونَ Oh my master Hussein, why are you saying these words? Why are you crying here at this point? Oh my dear companion, this is the place in which shimmer will sit on my chest. This is the place in which he will remove my head from my shoulders. And this is the place in which he will lift my head up high. At that point, the companion says. At this point, the companion narrates that I heard the cries of a woman. I heard the cries of a woman so loudly. I began to hear her shriek and I began to hear her cry out. At that point, I turned towards my master Hussein and said, oh Hussein, what is this cry that I hear from the voice of a woman? Hussein says, oh my companion, that is my mother Fatima. She is here at this point in which I will fall. You are hearing the cries of my mother Fatima at this point. Imagine Hussein ابن علي alone now on the 10th of وحرم. His Qasim has gone. Own in Muhammad no more. Akbar has departed from him. Even Abu Fadil Abbas has left him now. He stands alone in front of the enemy ranks. He called out. هل من ناصر in ينسلنا. هل من مغيث في يغيثنا. Oh people, rise towards that call. Is there anyone out there who will come towards the aid of the grandson of رسول الله? Who will come to the aid of the women folk of the household of رسول الله? At that point, he hears that there is a cry that has not been heard before from the 10th. He turns round and says, oh Zaynab, due to the thirst has one of the children died within the 10th. Oh Hussein, your son has heard that very call and he is moving within his cradle. As if to say, oh Hussein, if you crawl out again for aid, I will fling myself towards you in order to assist you in your mission. Oh Hussein, he is the one who is so thirsty. Oh Hussein, take a look at this dear babe of yours. His tongue is so dry. He does not have the ability to even cry out. Oh Hussein, his eyes have sunk into the back of his own skull. Hussein, his mother does not have any milk to give to him. Take this child so he may be presented and get one sip of water for this young babe. At this point, Hussein ibn Ali takes this young child. He wraps him in his ABAA. Why? Because the heat of the Iraqi desert would have killed this young child. He takes this young babe out in front of the enemies. What do they do? They mock Hussein ibn Ali. They say, oh Hussein, have you now come in a desperate situation? Do you want to use the Quran to be a means of arbitration for us? Hussein says, no, this is not the Quran. This is the speaking Quran. This is bith ibn Ali. I am presenting in front of you. There is a narration that says that when Ismail was about to be slaughtered and that Ram was placed in front of him and when Ibrahim took off that cloth that was covering his eyes he looked down and saw that his young son was still alive. He smiled with joy at that point. Jibrael said to him, oh Ibrahim, do you want to know what it must have been like to give away your own child? He says, yes, let me understand at that point. He says, look between those two trees. At that point, the veils were lifted. At that point, he sees the vision of Hussein ibn Ali in his arms of the six-month-old babe Ali in the Luzgar. The arrow is flying through the air. At that point, Ibrahim knew what it meant to be giving his son in sacrifice. Hussein ibn Ali stands in front of the enemies. He brings that babe. This is not a Quran. This is a young innocent child. Oh enemies, if you have any quarrel with me, if you think that I have done you any injustice, then indeed your fight is with me. Why do you torture this young child? He is innocent of any crime. Give him some water. They did not give him any water. At this point, he says if that is the case, then I say to you, if you think I am going to drink the water, you come with your own hands, put it into the mouth of this young babe and quench his thirst. Again, they do not respond. He says, if that is the case, I will leave this child upon the burning planes of Karbarar. You come here and come and give him some water. I will stand away from this young babe. Even then, he did not give him any water. I say to you, Ismail, even if your feet have placed the grounds of Karbarar in the same way Ismail struck his feet and that water would have gushed forth. Even for your feet, the planes of Karbarar would have gushed forth with water. At this point, they continue to look at Hossein. They begin to cry. They begin to weep and understand that even they are fathers. Even they have young children. How can we allow this young child to go without water? At this point, there is a state of tumult in the army of Umar ibn Sa'ad. Umar realizes them just might be a riot within his own army. They might turn away from this. They are crying so much. At this point, he turns towards Hormala. He says, oh Hormala, cut off the speech of Hossein. Cut off the words of Hossein. Stop that movement that is taking place within our camp. At this point, we hear a maqtah that says that when Hormala, he was captured and he was about to be killed. They asked him, tell us about the arrows that you flung on the tent of Muharram. He says, I struck a number of arrows on the tent of Muharram. I struck the arrow that embedded the eye of Abu Fadal Abbas. I struck that arrow that entered into the chest of Abdullah ibn Hassan al-Mujtaba. I struck that arrow that embedded itself into the heart of Hossein ibn Ali. And I struck that arrow that entered into the neck of that six month old baby. Hormala, I want you to cut off the speech of Hossein ibn Ali. Hormala takes that first arrow. He begins to quiver and shake. Oh Hormala, You are the master marksman. Why do you shake and quiver at this time? I see a woman who is standing outside her tent. She is eagerly awaiting to receive the news of her child. Oh Hormala, set this aside. Put the arrow. He again puts the arrow again. He cannot strike it. I see this woman. She is running up and down. She is waiting to hear some news. Put this aside. Cast this aside. Hormala, Take the sharpest of arrows. Which arrow did Hormala take? He took a three pronged arrow. Do you know why they used to use three pronged arrows in Arabia? There were two reasons. The first one was when they wanted to break into a door. They would strike that arrow into the door knowing that it would pierce the door. The second reason is when they wanted to kill a camel. They would use a three pronged arrow to strike it at the neck of a camel. Oh brothers and sisters. Oh mothers and fathers. I ask you how big and strong is the neck of a camel. And how soft was the neck of Ali Azhar. How small was the neck of Ali in the Azhar. That babe. He is waiting for that thirst to be quenched. Hormala pulls back that arrow. He lines it up. He lets go of the arrow. The arrow flies through the air. Hussein Obnali watches on. He sees this arrow approaching. It lands into the tender neck of that babe. The neck of Ali Azhar is struck open. He is cut from ear to ear. The neck of Ali Azhar is bleeding upon himself. Ali Azhar's head falls back. His head is hanging from his own neck. His head is only attached by a little bit of skin from his own neck. That point is still with a moment of life left within him. As any babe would do. He struggles for that last bit of breath. His arms wail. His arms fling about. His arms are flapping like a bird. And that point he looks into the eyes of his father. As if to say, father. They did not quench my thirst. But with a three pronged arrow. Father, how will you bear at this point? Hussein Obnali loses all stage of consciousness. Oh, Azhar. Oh, Azhar. Oh, Azhar. He even calls out, why are you falling, Azhar? Or are you calling a falling multadah? Oh, Hussein. Even Ali al-Multadah cannot bear this scene. Even he cannot see. Azhar's neck falling from his own head. At this point, at this point, the arms begin to flail. At this point, the earth begins to shake. At this point, the skies begin to shake. The earth is trembling under this tragedy. At this point now, Hussein gets the blood of Azhar. He looks towards the sky. Oh, skies. May I give you this blood as sacrifice to take. The skies respond, oh, Hussein. We swear by everything that if one drop of blood reaches us, we will never rain again. There is no mercy from us for humanity. Oh, let me give you one drop of blood. Oh, earth, one drop of blood take this from this tragedy. The earth responds, oh, Hussein. We cannot bear this. We will never grow another crop again if this is the place. What can Hussein do? What can Hussein do except put his blood of his six-month-old babe upon himself? He wipes his face and his beard with that blood. He pours the blood upon his own self. He turns back. Oh, Hussein, there is a mother who is waiting to hear news of her six-month-old child. What news do you have of this young babe? At this point, he walks back towards the camp. He begins to recite Inna Lillah وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَجِرُونَ رَضَمْ بِكَذَا إِهِ He begins to walk and at this point, he cannot bear to see what this mother's reaction would be. He walks and turns back towards the enemies. Imagine, he now has to show the enemies again what they have done. He walks back towards the tents Inna Lillah وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَجِرُونَ He continues seven times back and forth, back and forth. How do I tell a mother that her son she does not have a son anymore? She has two parts to her son. How do I tell a mother that she has two parts to her son now to take? At this point, he walks back towards the camp. سَكَيْنَا سَكِينَا The young jilta سَكِينَا The four-year-old child runs out to greet her father. Oh father! Did they quench the thirst of my brother Asghar? Hussein falls to the floor. He extends his arms. Oh Sakinah! Look at what they did to your brother! Sakinah! Take your brother! I do not have the strength to bear this anymore! Take your brother from me! Allow me to grieve for my young son! Sakinah takes that babe. At that point, the women hear the crying of Hussein. They gather. They surround themselves. They look at this young babe. Oh Asgharah! What did they do to you, my young child? What did they do to you, my young child? How did they quench your thirst? At this point, we ask you how did Hussein أبنالي bear this? He now comes and he has to bury this young babe. Why did he bury this young babe? Why did he not bury the others? Because he did not want the spears to come towards his six-month-old child. He comes and I ask you how small must that grave have been? And how long did it take for him to bury? How long must it have taken for him to dig that very grave? He sits and he begins to dig within the sand. He puts that babe within the sand. But we hear in Makhtar. We hear in Makhtar that that babe is not resting alone. No, the young child always loves to be in the arms of his father. When it cries, the father extends its arms and says, come to papa. Come, let me be the one to put you to sleep. Oh, Asghar, you are asleep now. At this point, we hear that Asghar is lying on the chest of his father as to where he is buried because the six-month-old child loves to be in the arms of his father. الله لا نتو الله يلالقوم الظالمين وسيعلم الذين ظلموه أيوان قلبيان قلبون إِنَّ لِلَّهُ وَإِنَّ إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ مات من حسين يا حسين