How to get closer to the Imam of the time

An important lesson from Sheikh Hassan Ali Isfahani

The Sheikh had engaged himself right from his youth with his worships and Islamic devotion, and endured a lot of inconveniences in order to attain some spiritual ranks. He wrote up a compilation that comprised of mysteries and which he did not expose or divulge to the general public.

My late father Muazzam (may Allah raise his position) told me about this write-up of Sheikh:
'Verily Sheikh Hassan Ali Isfahani towards the end of his life has given this book to late Ayatullah Sayyid Ali Ridawi.'

Our reason for reporting this issue was the important point mentioned by Sheikh Hassan Ali Isfahani at the end of his book, which is incumbent for those who wanted to pass through the spiritual stages to benefit from it, as follows:

'I wish all I would have done in my readings, litanies and so on, for the purpose of reaching spiritual ranks, should have been done for the purpose of nearness to my master, the leader of the time (may Allah hasten his reappearance).'

Take note of the speech of this religious and divine man who was well known among the Sunni and Shiah, how he has shown his regret for all the good jobs he has put forward hoping to have done that for the purpose of nearness to the Imam of the time.

There is no doubt that Sheikh Hassan Ali Isfahani was possessing spiritual strength and it is hard to get these type of states; with all this he is still having the notion that all he has done throughout his life was just for the nearness to the chief of this world of existence.
The great example for anyone (in any field he belongs to) is to copy from the experience of the great men of that field and to benefit from their struggles throughout their life and from what they have achieved most specially to focus on the last period of their life.

Be very careful of this point: to benefit from the important experience of the great men increases the spiritual value in ones life.

Try in your deeds what Sheikh Hassan Ali Isfahani has experienced which he has written in his book.
Offer your prayers, supplications and other aspect of your worship in nearness to Allah (swt) so that you can be closer to his caretaker, our master, the Imam of the time (aj) and cast off little ambition. This is a reality which will benefit you a great deal.

Sahifah al-Mahdiya
Sayed Murtada Mujtahidi Sistani

Ayatollah Tabrizi's secret to Ayatollah Isfahani

Ayatollah Muhammad Husain Isfahani known as Kompani was an outstanding Muslim Jurist and philosopher of his time.  In a letter to Ayatollah Tabrizi - known as ‘The Beauty of Wayfarers’ - he requested him to write a practical prescription for his spiritual perfection.
I quote parts of the prescription from my teacher Ayatollah Hasan-Zadeh (pictured) who quoted it from his teacher Allamah Tabatabaei:

“ … The beneficial way in knowing the self is to endeavour in reducing your animality by the following disciplines:
1. Reducing your meals in that you don’t have more than two meals a day and not to have meat more than two or three times in a week.
2. Reducing your sleeping hours in that you don’t sleep more than six hours.
3. Endeavour in safeguarding your tongue and abstaining from heedless people. These three will be very helpful in reducing the animality of man.

As for accelerating and reinforcing your spirituality:
1. Have permanent grief of the heart (not facial) in fear of not reaching your destination.
2. Dhikr (remembrance of Allah) and Fikr (to think and ponder) as these two are the wings of flying to the heaven of knowledge. As for the Dhikr, the Dhikr of Yunusiyah (Laa Elaaha Ellaa Ant Sobhanaka Enni Konto Mena dhalemin) in the morning and at night is very much experienced and brings about many blessings. The minimum times of reciting it is 400 times. As for the Fikr for a beginner the best is to ponder upon death.”

Ayatollah Hasan-Zadeh, 1001 Words, Word 301