A Letter to a Dear One — Page 74
74 Letter to a Dear One physical postures need to be in keeping with this mental attitude. Therefore, these postures affect the heart and indeed the heart’s humility affects the physical postures in turn. One begins the sal ā t standing respectfully with folded arms. As one’s humility increases for the true Beloved, one goes into the ruk ū ‘ posture. When further wrought with the state of meekness, one then prostrates before one’s Lord. Once a rak‘ah is finished, the worshipper begins to express his devotion and reverence anew. The different postures of the sal ā t are intrinsic to expressing humility. Indeed, sal ā t is the supreme fusion of all such correct expressions of worship from all the religions of the world. At times it is queried as to why are there several raka‘ ā t and why are some obligatory and some optional, etc? The brief reply to this is that it is universally accepted that repetition affects the human nature. When repetition is observed within reason, it deeply affects the condition of the heart. When sal ā t is observed properly, the human heart is extremely moved and this increases the humility and state of meekness. The obvious example for that is, if the sal ā t is the spiritual food for the human mind, then this ‘food’ should be in a given quantity that is plentiful for the heart and mind. That, it eliminates external effects from the human heart and refreshes and purifies it spiritually. At times, one cannot concentrate to maintain humility in one portion of sal ā t , but can make up for it in a latter portion. Just as a mouthful of a delicacy is not enough to satisfy our hunger and we need to eat a reasonable portion to do so, the spiritual food needs to be taken in a certain amount. The same principle applies to the repetition of sal ā t during twenty- four hours. Just as the human body is tired and fatigued at intervals and needs food, the human soul is similarly affected and requires spiritual food to refresh itself. The reason for the emphasis on the physical aspects of sal ā t is that although it is a spiritual exercise and it’s essence is to create heart-felt humility and longing, however, the human body is essential to sustain the human soul. Milk is a source of food for us. However, it needs to be put in a container to be stored and kept. If the container breaks, the milk cannot be kept. Similarly when the human body dies the soul cannot remain in the same state. Although you know the different prayers of sal ā t , I am not sure if