All knowledge contained by the Glorious Quran is subsumed in its opening chapter, Sura Fatiha. This vast knowledge is perfectly condensed into the initial words of that all-embracing Sura: bismillah ir-rahman ir-rahim. This consummate knowledge is subtly yet completely manifest in the first Arabic letter of the bismillah and is compressed, as coal is compressed into diamond, as the single point placed below the Arabic letter b. By the permission of Allah, the noble Ali unequivocally proclaimed, “I am that point beneath the b of the bismillah. I am the gate to the city of knowledge.” The bearer of this exalted spiritual station was honored by the Prophet of Allah with the transmission of the outward dhikrullah, the ecstatic chanting in powerful tones of the beautiful Names of Allah, which Hazrati Ali would often practice alone in the wilderness—like a powerful desert storm, like the thunder of Allah’s Own Storm of Love. This most exalted among the exalted companions of Divine Love is the awesome trunk of the Tree of Tariqa, which grows from the root of Muhammad … – Atom from the Sun of Knowledge (Lex Hixon) All Things Sufi < PREVIOUS NEXT >