Haj, in the Dictionary, is interpreted kaśed, “aspiring to,” and kaśed, in the law, means the house which Ibrahim the prophet (the blessing of God be upon him!) built in Mecca, and, in truth, this means the house of God, according to these words:
“Neither the earth nor the heavens can contain me, but only the heart of the believing servant.”
Besides, the Mobed says:
“At the time of prayer the dignity of man is shown;
Profit by this time, as perhaps fate may seize it.”
The sagacious Súfís said: Every action of the actions commanded by law denotes a mystery of the mysteries. Ghasel, “bathing,” means coming forth by resignation from foreign dependence. Waśu, “ablution,” indicates abandonment of great occupations. Mazmaza, “rinsing the mouth,” refers to the rapture caused by the sweetness of remembrance. Istinsak,[221] “washing the nostrils three times, by inhaling water out of the palm of the hand,” denotes inhaling the perfumes of divine bounty. Istinsar, “drawing up water through the nostrils and discharging it again,” signifies throwing off blameable qualities. Washing the face, has the meaning of turning our face to God. Washing the hand is withholding the hand from prohibited things. Washing the feet has reference to giving precedence to diligence upon the carpet of devotion. Standing upright signifies experience in the earthly station. To be turned towards the Kiblah is a sign of offering supplications to the divine majesty. Joining both hands denotes the bond of an obligatory engagement. Keeping the hands open during prayers means holding back the hand from all except what relates to God. The Takbír,[222] “pious exclamation,” signifies respect to divine commands. Kerát, chanting (the Koran or prayers), is perusing the divine signets upon the tables of fate, preserved in the heart by means of the interpretation of the tongue, and the renewal of information upon the boundaries of commanded and prohibited things. Rukuâ, “bowing the head with the hands upon the knees,” represents the state of resignation and submission. Sajúd, “prostration,”[223] indicates investigation of the divine Being, and dismissal of all pretension. Tashahhud, “ritual profession of religion,” refers to the state of resignation and humility. To sit down and to stand up before God five times means understanding and appreciating the five majesties, which are: divinity, grandeur, dominion, power, and love of humanity. Two rikâts,[224] “attitudes of devotion in “the morning,” are indicative of God’s absolute being and of reality. Four rikâts relate to four effulgencies, which are impressiveness, agency, inherence of attributes, and substantiality. Three rikâts, imply separation, union, and union of unions, viz.: separation, in viewing the creatures without God; union, in viewing God without the creatures; and union of unions, in viewing God in the creatures, and the creatures in God; so that the view of the one may not to the heart be a veil to the view of the other. Keeping the fast refers to the purity of the interior. The sight of halál, “the new moon,”[225] is seeing the eye-brows of the perfect spiritual guide. Aíd, “a feast,” is the knowledge of God. Kurban, “sacrificing”[226] (killing victims), denotes annihilating the brutal spirit. Rozah, “fasting,”[227] has three degrees. The first degree is guarding the belly and the sexual organs from what is improper; the second degree is guarding one’s self from unbecoming words and deeds; the third degree is guarding the heart from whatever is contrary to God. Jahad, “holy war upon unbelievers,” signifies combating the spirit of deceit. Múmen, “right faith,” implies adherence to whatever is essential to the true worship of God, and tendency to it by any way which God wills, for—
“The road towards the idols is formed of the great number of sighs of the creatures.”
The lord Aín ul-Kazat said, he has learned upon his way, that the essence of all creeds is God, and that of all creeds of the sophists is this:
“All shall perish except his countenance (that is God’s); all that is upon the earth is perishable.”
And the meaning of the verse of the merciful is, that at a certain time he will be nothing, because on that very day all is nothing and this very opinion is the principal part of the creed of sharp-sighted men. In the takwiyat mâni, “the strengthening of sense,” the lord Aín ul Kazat, saheb-i zúkí, “possessor of delight,” said that the mood of the verbal noun is in progressive efficiency at all times, whilst perdition of all things at all times is also constant, but has no determined future time: consequently this perdition, which is an indetermined tense, does not imply that the contingent efficiency is perdition in a future time.