Pilgrimage

Ali was born in the Kaaba. He had, therefore, a strong emotional attachment for the Kaaba. Ali observed that the Holy Kaaba was sited in a territory known for its stony wastes and wilderness where no water was available. God had ordained the Muslims to bear the hardships involved in a journey through such inhospitable land cheerfully so that these very privations might ultimately become a source of salvation. The pilgrimage is symbolic of the fact that whatever hardship one bears in the trials of life and endeavors to fulfill the will of God, he acquires goodness and righteousness by them. The darkest thing in the world is the beloved's house without the beloved. What is really important for a lover is the beloved and not the house of the beloved. According to Ali the spirit of pilgrimage did not lie in a bare visit to the Kaaba, it lay in developing the inner vision whereby one could see God, the Lord of the Kaaba.