If we understand this truth…
There is a superior level in believing in God, which we have less access to. We don’t work on it very much. That is believing in God’s Kindness. If anyone says, “I know God is kind,” tell that person, “No, you don’t. If you knew this, you would have fainted now. You would have burned. You would have flown.”
If we understand God’s Kindness, there won’t be a need for God to pamper us in the verses of the Qur’an, and to say over eighty times, “I am Forgiving, and the most Merciful.” When you read the verses about punishment, you would say, “You are so kind.”
Imam Sadiq (‘a) said, “All the verses of the Qur’an warn us.” All the verses of the Qur’an warn, are firm, and make a person move away. They hit him! Have you seen this? “And, their inner meaning brings us closer.” But, this is the appearance of the Qur’an. What’s inside? Come to Me! Come. If God tells a person to come, won’t he melt? Won’t he cry? This Qur’an is a sign that we haven’t understood God’s Kindness. Otherwise, we would have enjoyed. Are we sick to go and sin? Are we sick to be unaware of God? Why do we forget Him?
Is God Someone we should be reminded about by force? God doesn’t like this! “Why have you brought My servant to Me by force?” If I force myself to pray, what will God give me?! God says, “Angels, look at My servant. He has stood here by force these two minutes. After this, what enjoyment is he seeking? What is he after? What? For example, is he after money? Is he being annoyed that he is poor? If he feels My Affection, he will say, ‘It’s not important that I am annoyed. Let this world go away! I like to be annoyed. It’s not important! I love God’s Affection.’ I have to tell this servant of Mine, ‘Go. Go to work. Go. Don’t stand here and constantly pray.’” The servant says, “Ok, God. Will you come with me?” “Yes, I’ll come. Let’s go.” He has to go to work by force and not come to pray by force.
What is all of this for? To understand and believe in God’s Kindness. It’s the peak of warmth and enjoyment! A tradition says, “A person is the servant of beneficence.” He is the servant, “Abd,” and slave of affection. When you believe in God’s affection, you will become His “Abd” (servant).
Do you know what’s the meaning of putting the Qur’an on your head during the Night of Power? The angels tell us, “Do you know what you are holding on your head?! The manifestation of God’s Kindness.” In each line of it, God is saying, “I want you. I love you. I don’t have anyone except you. I don’t have anything else to do in this world except you.” Let’s not just say something about God’s Kindness and leave. We have to receive His affection. If we do so, we won’t leave anymore. Our world will change.

This is how grateful servants enjoy their lives.

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Whenever we aren’t enjoying and aren’t happy we are being ungrateful. We should ask for God’s forgiveness because of all the moments when we haven’t been deeply happy. God and His angels don’t like a person who is not deeply happy. “Very few of My servants are grateful." [Qur’an, 34:13] [God says,] “Few of My servants are grateful.” The rest are low-spirited, depressed and sad.
I want to tell you a surprising tradition. It is said that the reward for thanking God for blessings is more than the reward for being patient in tragedies. We always think that being patient in tragedies is a very good thing to do. Let’s talk about some of the subjects that when the prophets talked about them, people mocked them.
I had gone to the seaside with one of God’s grateful servants. The waves of the sea would wash over his feet. He would say, “Please, please. Wait. Ok, ok.” He told me, “See how happy they are that we have come.” I knew you‘d laugh at how God’s grateful servants are! I told him, “But even when you aren’t here, they still come!” He replied, “They come after us and when they see we aren’t here, they go back.”
Grateful servants are happy for the blessings that are for everyone. Grateful servants don’t just become happy for the blessings that have only been given to them. They become happy for the blessings that God grants everyone as much as I, a selfish and arrogant person, become happy for the blessings that have been given to me. But a grateful servant becomes deeply happy when it rains since this is a blessing for all farmers, even if he is living in the city.
This is how grateful servants enjoy their lives. They aren’t only thankful for these general blessings. They are thankful for the blessings that God gave them in the past even though they hadn’t asked for them. It was God’s plan to grant them these blessings. They become happy for these blessings too. Interesting, right?
For example, have you seen how Aba Abdillah al-Husayn (as) thanks God in the Arafah Supplication? “God I thank You that You gave me eyes and all I needed in this world when I was in my mother’s womb. O God, how can I thank You?! Another thing to thank You for is that You made my mother kind to me. I was weak as a child and she took care of me. Then gradually You activated my senses. I see, taste, smell and walk. O God, how can I thank You?!” One is amazed when reading the Arafah Supplication! What blessings are you thankful for? [One replies,] “Do we need to be thankful for such blessings?!” We even feel God owes us!
Thankful servants thank for past blessings too. They think it’s their duty to say hello to the stars at night and to respond to their emotions. They say, “Hello stars. Thank you.” Such people believe in the verses of the Qur’an, the verses that say when they pass away, the heavens and the earth will cry for them. They have believed this! We don’t consider ourselves to be special. But grateful people have believed in God’s verses. They have believed in the verses where God says that when they pass away the heavens and the earth will cry for them. We don’t consider ourselves to be special. But this is how grateful servants enjoy their lives.

Are you ready to see a miracle?

This is an epic! See. All of you are wearing the same colour. Is this event something simple in the world?! This epic of mourning and reading eulogies. What do you think about this scene?
For example, if Prophet Moses (‘a) had split open the Nile River in front of you, you would have said, “Wow! What a prophet! See what he did! He parted the Nile River! O my God!” A tradition says, “Moving a heart is harder than moving a mountain from its place.” 1,400 years have passed. What is it that is moving your hearts? I know that you don’t do this for your mom and dad. It hasn’t been narrated in history that a person has worn black and cried like this for his parents for forty years! There isn’t a single example. Search in the legends!
So, what is your situation now? Where are you now? See. All of you are wearing the same colour. Is this event something simple in the world?! What do you think about this scene? Isn’t this a miracle? How do you see this?! You only have this information that everyone is wearing black?! So, how do you look at this?
In seeing this miracle, don’t you become excited? A tradition says, “Moving a heart is harder than moving a mountain from its place.” 1,400 years have passed. What is moving your hearts? I know that you don’t do this for your mom and dad. What do you think about this scene? Isn’t this a miracle? In seeing this miracle, don’t you become excited?

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“I’m not feeling too good. What should I do?” I start asking myself, “What should happen for you
to feel better? What news do you want to hear?” If you ask yourself, you will gradually hear the answer. Start talking with yourself. Tell yourself, “That’s it?! Then what?” “Then what” will nullify what was going to give you excitement. [You say,] “If I get accepted in the university exam in such and such field, that’ll be great.” You become excited. You know that thousands of people have been accepted in this field but nothing special happened to them. Or they’ve had a regular life and now they’re even depressed too. Ask, “Then what?”
“I don’t want to be outdone by that person.” “Aha. The university entrance exam isn’t important, right? Why don’t you want to be outdone by him?” “Because he humiliates me.” “What if he dies? Then what will be the purpose of your life? Imagine he isn’t around to bother you anymore. What will be your goal in life? Not being outdone by him. If he dies, what will you do next?” A person can talk to him/herself, and remove all the factors that bring [a hollow] happiness.
[One may say,] “But this will make him feel worse!” “If his desire was to reach these, he would have found some false motivation.” Don’t motive yourself like this. As soon as you aren’t feeling good, look for factors that can help you feel better. Even if these factors are very low things, you can analyze them. Find the true essence, which is God and the Imam of the Time (a.j.). For any matter and anywhere one is. Say, “God, I want You.”
I’m not saying we shouldn’t take care of our needs. I’m saying we shouldn’t think of just our needs. I’m not saying all of our worldly wishes are dreams. I hope you meet all of your worldly needs. But none of these worldly desires can make you deeply happy the way you think they will. You’ll lose your motivation again a couple days later. Let those wishes come and go. Think higher than these things.
That which is behind all the likings and all the factors that you think will make you happy is only one thing, and that is Him Himself. Imam Mahdi (a.j.) is the face, eyes and ears of God and His deputy
[as the traditions mention]. He intercedes with God and guides people. The Imam of the Time (a.j.) is something of His kind. He can be effective on the path for getting close to God.
Friends, let’s say some things that the prophets said that caused them to be mocked. All of us only want one thing, and that is God. Don’t procrastinate. The essence of everything that people want for becoming happy is God Himself. Don’t procrastinate. Think about it and you’ll come to this. You’ll want Him.

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In this chaotic world, remembering you soothes the heart.
Your name gives strength to our heart.
We salute you,
you whose shrine is like our father’s home.

Standing with respect,
Salam O Murtaza Ali, Salam O father.
Salam to the one who is a true man,
the one whom I have loved from the start.
Salam O you who are the cure for every pain,
the one whom even Lady Zahra circled around.

I argue with others. I’m bothered. I’m depressed. I bother others…

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The link for the book "How to Pray a Good Prayer," written by Ali Reza Panahian:
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How can we feel comfortable and relaxed when we are together?
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If one becomes busy thinking about his own good points, half of his relationships with others will be fixed. If one becomes busy thinking about his own bad points, the other half of his relationships with others will be fixed. He won’t be busy thinking about other people’s bad points. If people are busy thinking about their own faults, if they are busy thinking about their own good and bad points, they will have better relationships with others.
About our bad points too, when one is busy seeing his own bad points, he’ll abandon and forgive other people’s faults. He won’t look for other people’s faults. He won’t hold grudges. He will think, “I have more faults than anyone else.” This is one of the virtues that a person truly needs, especially in a community of believers.
Shall I read a few traditions for you? For example, it has been said, “The wisest people are those who see their own faults and are blind to the faults of others.” [Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 207] When a person becomes busy with his own faults, other people’s faults won’t be important to him anymore. [He’ll think,] “I have so many faults myself, now I want to look for other people’s faults!” In this way a person’s relationships with others will become beautiful, and he will look at everyone with kindness.
Only a mother can think that her children are flawless. She justifies her children’s faults. If one becomes busy seeing his own faults, he will act like a mother toward others. If one becomes busy with himself, he will act like a mother toward others. If one becomes busy with his own assets, he’ll behave with others like a kind, rich person. He’ll feel concerned about everyone. He will constantly think that God has given him some blessings that He hasn’t given to others. And he’ll feel a special affection for others.
There are many traditions about this. “A wise person is someone who expects much from himself, but has no expectations from others.” [Ghurar al-Hikam, vol. 1, p. 110] These are signs of a mental and emotional balance.
One of the signs of a person's mental health is that he sees his own good qualities and assets. If a person doesn’t see any of his own good blessings and only sees the good things that are in the hands of others, his outlook is distorted. If a person doesn’t see his own faults and only looks at other people’s faults, he will be out of balance. When people see their own faults, others feel comfortable with them. Those people don’t look for our faults. People who are busy thinking about their own faults are kind to us. Whether we have faults or not, they won’t judge us wrongly or negatively. They easily forgive. We are comfortable and feel calm when we are with them.
When a person is busy thinking about his own faults, other people’s faults aren’t important to him at all. And a person’s relationships with others become beautiful! He looks at everyone kindly. He will act like a mother toward others.

How can I understand if my problems are a test or a divine punishment?

Get to the main point.

Why should messages on ethics need a prophet or God? Aren’t you tired of these methods?! A human being’s existence is like a sea. He won’t become a yogurt drink with just one bowl of yogurt. Giving lessons on ethics and advising people about morals won’t help anyone or any society to attain felicity. It is as if you bring one bowl of yogurt next to the “sea like existence” of a person and say, “If this comes out right, it’ll be great!” One might say, “I’ll give this advice on morals. People should comply. Then gradually, everyone will comply. Then, everyone will have good morals.” You are putting yourself on!
Is self-sacrifice something bad? They show sacrifice in all the movies of the world. This is the moral message of the movie. This person becomes popular. Find a sacrifice in the world that is able to make a society self-sacrificing. Yes, a person sacrifices once in a corner of the world. Haven’t the movies in the world given many moral messages? Why should messages on ethics need a prophet or God? Everyone understands that morals are good! So people should become corrected! Why aren’t they?! Aren’t you tired of these methods? Have they had results? Is Imam Mahdi (‘a.j.) coming for these discussions on ethics? We have heard these but haven’t become real human beings!
Sacrificing needs the Imam! The Imam! The Imam is a being whom everyone loves and sacrifices for. A person sacrifices all he has at the roadside for those who love his Imam. He himself loves the Imam too. He pleads too, “Welcome pilgrim. For God’s sake, I plead you.” He doesn’t have any expectations. He begs you too.
The Imam fixes our morals. When you go to an ethics class, you are putting yourself on. If you see someone talking about ethics, say, “Don’t put us on. Get to the main point. Talk about the Imam! Don’t waste our time! The movies and TV serials know how to show these ethical points better than you do.” Some people are not fair when talking about feelings for Imam Husayn (‘a). They say, “Some people have become emotional. They’re walking in the streets and saying Husayn, Husayn.”
Actually, this is the philosophy of our creation! A person, who doesn’t understand these feelings, is not a real human being! A person, who doesn’t understand this love, is not wise. Is there any other love in the world, which creates such a wave? If there is, where? Show it! Even if it’s one million people, one year, or one time, where they make sacrifices for each other like this! There isn’t, wasn’t, and won’t be.

A human being’s existence is like a sea. He cannot become a yogurt drink with one bowl of yogurt. One should come make waves in this sea, and that is the Imam. Ethics without the Imam are impossible.


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The stars are circling because of you!

The stars are circling because of you! The stars talk together about you. They are happy that they are circling because of their love for you. They say to each other, “Is he there?” “Yes.” “Did you see him?” “Yes. He came to the yard and then went in. I saw him.”
Have you seen some people who are very much ridden with the illnesses of sadness and sorrow? When they meet their friends, they start to tell them of their sorrows. They say, “What’s up?” “Well, I don’t know what to say. There are so many difficulties that I don’t know what to say. Whichever direction you go someone is there to bother you. I don’t know.”
Shame on the way that such a rude person talks! Can’t you understand that you are in the presence of the God of the universe?
If you feel even a little sadness in your heart, it means that you have become a bad person. It means that you have moved away and are getting farther away. It means that you are ruining all of your worship acts. It means that your good deeds are being destroyed. It means that you are burning your assets.
God says, “Why is My servant upset? What’s wrong with him? Is he saying that I don’t have a God?!” “No God! I swear to God that he hasn’t become an unbeliever. He is sad for no reason.” “There is no reason for him to be sad. Is he announcing to others that I don’t have a God?” “No God. He was wrong. I will go and tell him.” This is disrespecting God!
I’m sorry that I talked in this way. I was telling that man. You are not like this at all! They ask you, “What’s up?” You say, “Well, today the sun rose. Since it is springtime, it has become a little warm.” “It is sunset now. What’s up?” “Well, what else should I say?! The stars will come out now, and all of them will twinkle at me.” Wave your hand for them. All of them. Billions of stars. Say hello to them. Say, “It’s good enough. Please. Go ahead and continue. I have work to do. It’s not like I don’t have anything to do so that I can watch over you all the time.”
Sorrow means unbelief. Sorrow means ingratitude. Sorrow means being without God; being irrational. Don’t let vitality and happiness go out from your heart for even a moment. These spiritual sorrows come up naturally in the heart. This means that you have to clean the sorrow from your heart every day. You have to clean the fear from your heart. You have to clean the regret from your heart. It is not possible to have a good spiritual frame of mind with this sorrow.
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