The Great Migration — From the Self to God
Saturday, 14 February 2026
Ramadhan does not begin with an empty stomach — it begins with someone asking you to leave your own house. The Qur'an speaks of those who leave their homes, migrating toward God — read by the tradition as more than the history of the Prophet's companions leaving Makkah for Madinah. Imam Khomeini, in Adab as-Salat, the Disciplines of Prayer, draws a sharp line: with any attachment to the ego still standing, a person can perform every ritual with precision and remain hadir — present, stationary — rather than musafir, a traveller. You can fly to Makkah and go nowhere. The house you are asked to leave is not a building. It is the structure of habit and self-regard built up until the walls felt like the horizon. Ayatullah Jawadi Amoli names what guards the door: the nafs ammarah, the commanding self, an inner Pharaoh whose daily cry is "feed me, obey me, serve me first." If fasting is a departure, what exactly are we leaving, and what waits on the other side of the wall? What the evening covers The house you can't see. The Qur'anic verse on migration, and Imam Khomeini's distinction between being present in the ego and actually travelling. The idol with your face. Why the tradition calls the self "the mother of all idols", tracing a line from the temple of Prophet Abraham, peace be upon him, to the Pharaoh within. A map with four stages. Allamah Tabatabai's stages of the journey — surrender, faith, migration, struggle — mapped onto the shape of the month. The reward that isn't a reward. The narration in which God says fasting is for Him alone, and He Himself is its reward.
In this session
رَبِّ أَدْخِلْنِي فِي لُجَّةِ بَحْرِ أَحَدِيَّتِكَ وَ طَمْطَامِ يَمِّ وَحْدَانِيَّتِكَ وَ قَوِّنِي بِقُوَّةِ سَطْوَةِ سُلْطَانِ فَرْدَانِيَّتِكَ حَتَّى أَخْرُجَ إِلَى فَضَاءِ سَعَةِ رَحْمَتِكَ وَ فِي وَجْهِي لَمَعَاتُ بَرْقِ الْقُرْبِ مِنْ آثَارِ حِمَايَتِكَ مَهِيبا بِهَيْبَتِكَ عَزِيزاً بِعِنَايَتِكَ مُتَجَلِّلاً مُكَرَّما بِتَعْلِيمِكَ وَ تَزْكِيَتِكَ وَ أَلْبِسْنِي خِلَعَ الْعِزَّةِ وَ الْقَبُولِ وَ سَهِّلْ لِي مَنَاهِجَ الْوُصْلَةِ وَ الْوُصُولِ وَ تَوِّجْنِي بِتَاجِ الْكَرَامَةِ وَ الْوَقَارِ وَ أَلِّفْ بَيْنِي وَ بَيْنَ أَحِبَّائِكَ فِي دَارِ الدُّنْيَا وَ دَارِ الْقَرَارِ وَ ارْزُقْنِي مِنْ نُورِ اسْمِكَ هَيْبَةً وَ سَطْوَةً تَنْقَادُ لِيَ الْقُلُوبُ وَ الْأَرْوَاحُ وَ تَخْضَعُ لَدَيَّ النُّفُوسُ وَ الْأَشْبَاحُ يَا مَنْ ذَلَّتْ لَهُ رِقَابُ الْجَبَابِرَةِ وَ خَضَعَتْ لَدَيْهِ أَعْنَاقُ الْأَكَاسِرَةِ لا مَلْجَأَ وَ لا مَنْجَى مِنْكَ إِلا إِلَيْكَ وَ لا إِعَانَةَ إِلا بِكَ وَ لا اتِّكَاءَ إِلا عَلَيْكَ ادْفَعْ عَنِّي كَيْدَ الْحَاسِدِينَ ،
O Lord! Immerse me in the depths of the ocean of Your Oneness, and plunge me into the midst of the sea of Your Uniqueness, and empower me through the overwhelming force of the sovereignty of Your Solitary Dominion, so that I may enter the boundless expanse of Your mercy, while upon my face the radiance of the light of nearness shines from the traces of Your protection, and I am made majestic by Your grandeur, and honored by Your grace, and made great and noble through Your nurturing and cultivation. O Allah! Clothe me in the robes of honor and acceptance, and smooth for me the paths of connection and union, and crown me with the crown of dignity and majesty, and establish a bond between me and those who are devoted to You in this world and the Hereafter. And from the light of Your Name, bestow upon me such grandeur and strength that hearts and souls become obedient to me, and beings and bodies become humble before me. O You before whom the necks of the arrogant are humbled, and before whom kings have bowed in submission! There is no refuge nor escape from You except unto You, and there is no help except from You, and there is no reliance except upon You. O Allah! Remove from me the malice of the envious,
Mafatih al-Jinan, Supplications (Duas), Dua Sayfi Saghir (known as Dua Qamous), Line 2
