The Disciplines of Salat (The Islamic Prayer), which was finished on the 2nd of Rabī' ath-Thānī, 1361 L.H. (Lunar Hijrī Year) [30th of Farvardīn, 1321 S.H. (Solar Hijrī year)], is a detailed explanation of the Salat's strict disciplines and moral secrets.
Three years before the writing of this work, the Imam had written a book under the title: The Secret of the Salat, which contained the same concepts, but it was concise and in the terms of the elect gnostics.
Nevertheless, the late Imām, believing that more people should benefit from the subjects of the book, set upon writing this book in a simpler language. He says:
Before this, I prepared a paper in which I wrote on the secrets of the Salat as much as was feasible. But as it was not suitable for the common people, I decided to write parts of the cordial disciplines of this spiritual ascension, so that my brothers in faith may have a remembrance, and my hard heart may be affected by it.
Formerly, the folds [matāwī] of the book Ādāb as-Salat, with explanations and revisions, had been published under the title: Flying in the Heavenly Kingdom.
Then the book itself was published. The former editions, however, were not agreeable, for some reasons. One of the reasons might probably have been the lack of a manuscript. Therefore, The Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imām Khomeinī's Works set forth to publish this work, with complete precision, faithfulness, and reference to the available copies, and collating them with the original MS (manuscript) copy which is within the reach of this Institute.
The book includes two prefaces, which the Imām wrote in 1363 S.H., dedicating this work to his respected son, Hujjatul-Islām wal-Muslimīn, Hāj Sayyid Ahmad Khomeinī, and to Mrs. Fātimah Tabātabā'ī (wife of Hāj Sayyid Ahmad Khomeinī).
Acccording to Imam Khomeini, one of the cordial disciplines of the worships and the spiritual duties of the traveler along the path to the Hereafter is paying attention to the Might of the Lord and to the humility of servitude. It is one of the important stages for the sālik (traveler).
The strength of everybody's sulūk (journey) is in proportion to the strength of this attention, or rather the perfection or the imperfection of humanity is connected to the perfection or imperfection of this matter.
The more one is overwhelmed by egoism, egotism, self-conceit and selfishness, the farther he will be from the human perfection and from the nearness of the presence of Allah. The veil of self-conceit and egotism is thicker and darker than all other veils.
To tear open this veil is more difficult than tearing all other veils, and tearing it is a preparatory step to tearing other veils. In fact, tearing off this veil is the master key for the invisible, the visible and the great door of the ascent to the perfect spirituality.
As long as man has his eyes on his own self, his imagined beauty and perfection, he will be veiled and discarded from the absolute beauty and pure perfection. The first condition for traveling to Allah is to leave this house.
Actually, it is the criterion for the struggle between right and wrong. So, every sālik, who travels with the steps of selfishness and self-conceit, and is wrapped in the veils of egotism, his sufferings would be in vain and his journey would not be to Allah, it would rather be to his self: “The mother of the idols is the idol of your self.”
Read more:
Imam Khomeini's Forty Hadtih, a source of divine knowledge and wisdom