“How can one really recognize Allah?” The Prophet (peace and blessings upon him and his Family) replied: “By recognizing that He is unique, and there is nothing else like Him. That He is the Only God. He exists inwardly and outwardly. He is the First and the Last. There is no match for Him, and nothing is similar to Him. This is how one may really get to know Him.” (narrated in Mishkat al-Anwar, ch. 1, #10)

The Prophet (peace and blessings upon him and his Family), said: “A learned man among the ignorant people is like a living person among the dead. And everything, including the fish, the poisonous vermins, the wild beasts and the cattle pray for the forgiveness of the one who seeks knowledge. So, seek knowledge, for surely, it is a conducive mean between you and Allah, Most High. And surely, seeking of knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim.” (narrated in Al-Amali, ch. 4, #1)

Someone asked the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, about the timings of the Daily Prayers, and the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, replied: ‘Jibraeel came to me and showed me the timings. He prayed Zohr when the sun passed the meridian as it declined to his right, and then he showed me the time of Asr, when the shadows of every object become equal to its size. Then he prayed Maghrib when the sun set, and he prayed Isha when the twilight disappeared. And he prayed the Subh prayers in the last part of the night’s darkness (near dawn) as the stars flickered. So you say your prayers on these times, and remain constant on the known tradition and upon the clear path. (narrated by Imam Ali (AS) attributed in al-Amali ch. 31, # 3)

(comment: The more we depend on printed paper schedules the more we become distant from our ecology and environment. The time for fajr is not “between 5:03 A.M. and 6:25 A.M. standard time). The time is: “the last part of the night’s darkness (near dawn) as the stars flickered”. Yes, given our present circumstances it is difficult to be in touch with our natural environment that we are a part off - do we even know what the words of the Prophet mean, without looking at that schedule stuck on our refrigerator? But still, we can atleast try, to the best of our abilities, inshallah).

“he who feeds a hungry Mo’min, Allah will feed him from the fruits of The Garden; and he who quenches the thirst of a Mo’min, Allah will quench his thirst from the pure, sealed nectar (on the day of reward). And he who clothes a Mo’min, Allah will clothe him with green brocade (of heaven), and he will remain under the protection of Allah, Most High, as long as a thread of that cloth remains upon him (i.e. the Mo’min whom he clothed).” (Imam Zainul Abideen (AS))

And justice has four branches: subtle insight, abundant knowledge, being sensibly judicious and drilled in patience.

So he who has an insight, deserves the beauty of knowledge, and he who has knowledge, knows the ways of dispensing justice, and he who is judicious, never goes astray.

And he who is patient and enduring never neglects his affairs and thus lives among the people highly appreciated. (Imam Ali (AS))

Allah collected from hard, soft, sweet and sour earth, clay which He dripped in water till it got pure, and kneaded it with moisture till it became gluey. From it He carved an image with curves, joints, limbs and segments.

He solidified it till it dried up for a fixed time and a known duration. Then He blew into it out of His Spirit whereupon it took the pattern of a human being with mind that governs him, intelligence which he makes use of, limbs that serve him, organs that change his position, sagacity that differentiates between truth and untruth, tastes and smells, colours and species.

He is a mixture of clays of different colours, cohesive materials, divergent contradictories and differing properties like heat, cold, softness and hardness. (Imam Ali (AS))