of truth and reality of Islam —foremost Ja‘far al-Sadiq (May God be pleased with him), Gawth al-A‘zam (May God be pleased with him), and Shah Naqshband (May God be pleased with him)— were the fruits of the acceptance of this prayer for Muhammad’s (Peace and blessings be upon him) Family.

Second Aspect: The reason for benedictions of this sort being restricted to the ritual prayers is that they recall to one that he is on the way opened up and taken by the great caravan of the prophets and saints, who are the most luminous, perfect, and righteous of mankind and its eminent members. He has joined that vast congregation, which acquires strength through its hundredfold consensus and cannot confuse its way, and is accompanying it on the straight path. By recalling this, he is saved from satanic doubts and delusions. Evidence that the members of this caravan are the friends and acceptable creatures of the universe’s Owner, and its opponents and enemies are rejected, is that from the time of Adam, succour has always arrived from the Unseen for the caravan, while its opponents have always been visited by heavenly calamities.

Yes, just as opponents like the people of Noah, the Thamud and the ‘Ad, Pharaoh and Nimrod have all received blows from the Unseen that tell of Divine wrath and chastisement; so the sacred heroes of the mighty caravan, like Noah (Peace be upon him), Abraham (Peace be upon him), Moses (Peace be upon him), and Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), have wondrously and extraordinarily manifested miracles and received dominical bounties from the Unseen. A single blow demonstrates anger, and a single bestowal, love, so thousands of blows being visited on opponents and thousands of favours and instances of assistance arriving for the caravan testify and prove self-evidently, as clearly as daylight, the rightfulness of the caravan and that it is on the straight path. The verse: The path of those whom You have blessed in Sura al-Fatiha looks to the caravan, while the verses: Not those on whom Your anger has been visited, nor those who have gone astray6 looks to their opponents. The point we have explained here is clearer in the discussion about the end of Sura al-Fatiha.

Third Aspect: The reason for repeatedly asking for