The Path to Paradise: Three Spiritual Directives
An exploration of Ayatollah Khamenei's commentary on the profound conditions for achieving eternal honour and divine guardianship.
In a deeply reflective commentary delivered in 2006, Ayatollah Khamenei explores a well-known Hadith in which the Prophet Muhammad (S) poses a profound question to his companion, Abu Dharr: “O Abu Dharr! Do you wish to enter Paradise?” When Abu Dharr responds with a resounding yes, the Prophet outlines three foundational practices required to achieve this ultimate spiritual goal. These directives are not just about avoiding wrongdoings, but about fundamentally shifting how one views life, death, and self-awareness.
Here is a breakdown of the three conditions for entering Paradise, as explained in the lecture:
1. Curtail Worldly Ambitions
The Prophet’s first instruction is to “reduce your [worldly] hopes.” This directive is not a call to abandon societal responsibilities or to stop planning for a righteous future. Rather, it is a warning against letting distant, purely material ambitions become life’s ultimate aim. When a person’s primary focus becomes fixed on acquiring a certain type of house, a specific lifestyle, or superficial material wealth, their life takes on a purely material orientation. By shortening these worldly desires, a person prevents many evil deeds and lays the groundwork for virtuous ones.
2. Keep Death in Plain Sight
The second condition is to “place death before your eyes.”
Operating under the illusion that we have an endless amount of time—assuming we have another 40 or 50 years left—is described as a “tremendous tragedy.” True spiritual awareness requires recognising that the border between life and death can be crossed at any moment. By keeping this reality in mind, an individual is constantly motivated to correct their actions, refine their behaviour, and prepare for what awaits them on the other side.
3. Cultivate True Modesty Before God
The final directive is to “be modest before God with true modesty.” When Abu Dharr remarks that they already practice modesty by avoiding sin, the Prophet clarifies that true modesty requires a much deeper level of vigilance. It encompasses three specific areas of awareness:
Remembering Mortality: Never forgetting the cemetery and the inevitable decay of the physical body. Acknowledging that the vibrant, living body will eventually return to the earth is central to true humility.
Guarding the Body: Being intensely mindful of your physical interior. This means monitoring the food you consume, understanding that it fuels the blood and cells of your body.
Guarding the Mind: Protecting the head and what it contains. This requires constant attention to your thoughts, intellect, traits, and inner dispositions.
The Ultimate Reward: Attaining Taqwa and Divine Guardianship
The lecture concludes by emphasising that anyone who desires honour in the Hereafter must learn to abandon the superficial allurements of this world. Maintaining this constant, rigorous vigilance over one’s body, food, thoughts, and heart is the very essence of Taqwa (piety).
While achieving this level of self-awareness is not easy, those who manage to live by these principles elevate themselves to the station of divine Guardianship, becoming a true Wali (friend or guardian) of God.