The Mystery of Prayer
THE ASCENSION OF THE WAYFARERS AND THE PRAYER OF THE GNOSTICS

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
Introduction and translation by Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi

The first volume in the Modern Shīʿah Library, The Mystery of Prayer: The Ascension of the Wayfarers and the Prayer of the Gnostics (Sirr al-Ṣalāt Mirʾrāj al-Sālikīn wa Ṣalāt al-ʿĀrifīn) by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, completed in June 1939, represents the author’s most original contribution to modern Shīʾī philosophy (ḥikmah) and gnosticism (ʿirfān), a work that draws upon scriptural sources and Shīʾī intellectual and mystical traditions to engage with the understanding of the higher pursuits of mankind’s reconnection with God. Taking the ritual of prayer as a vehicle for comprehending the nature of reality as a reflection, manifestation, and determination of the divine, The Mystery of Prayer elucidates the esoteric dimensions of each stage of the ritual prayer as the wayfarer ascends through degrees and theophanies to arrive in the presence of God. Although remembered today as a pivotal figure in the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini was in his early years an eminent scholar whose learned writings underpinned his world-view throughout his life, above all his enduring engagement with the concept of being (al-wujūd) in all its theological, philosophical, metaphysical, and mystical aspects and implications. Writing forty years before the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini demonstrates a formidable level of insight into the spiritual aspects of Islamic prayer. Through discussions on topics such as spiritual and ritual purity, the presence of the heart before God, and the stations of the spiritual wayfarer, The Mystery of Prayer stands as a testament to Ayatollah Khomeini’s astute grasp of the copious literature of an intellectual tradition stretching back to classical antiquity.

In The Mystery of Prayer: The Ascension of the Wayfarers and the Prayer of the Gnostics, the Dean of The Shīʿah Institute, Dr Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi, presents the first scholarly English translation and critical edition of Sirr al-Ṣalāt, along with a comprehensive 30,000-word introduction that explores the sources, influences, and development of Ayatollah Khomeini’s gnostic concept and taxonomies in his intellectual milieu, and furnished with an abundance of footnotes, annotations, and suggestions for further reading. Based upon decades of research into Islamic philosophy, mysticism, and theology, as well as a deep knowledge Persian and Arabic languages, Dr Shah Naqavi’s translation and critical edition of the Persian original gives an accurate, precise, and erudite edition that captures the subtleties of Ayatollah Khomeini’s unique use of language and philosophical and gnostical terminologies, and clarifies the dense and recondite register of The Mystery of Prayer, which has been described as the most complex work by Ayatollah Khomeini. This work has a broad appeal, and will be of interest to scholars and students of religion, philosophy, mysticism, history, and politics, as well any general reader interested in the modern Muslim world.

Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi’s English translation includes extensive explanatory footnotes and a twenty-eight-page introduction that explores the sources, influences, and development of Khomeini’s gnostic concepts and taxonomies in his intellectual milieu.

The Mystery of Prayer is available to purchase here.

ISBN: 978-90-04-29814-9 (Hardback)
ISBN: 978-90-04-29834-7 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-90-04-29831-6 (E-Book)