The Spiritual Life: Prayer and Supplication
For the Muslim, the necessary personal concomitant of professing God'sUnity is devotion to Him. The outward dimension of this devotion is shapedby the Shari'ite injunctions concerning worship: the canonical prayer,whether mandatory or recommended, fasting, pilgrimage, almsgiving, etc.But the inward dimension of Muslim devotions is much more difficult tograsp. Unlike the outward dimension, it cannot be defined in so manysentences. It can only be perceived through studying the lives andspiritual radiance of holy men and saints. Some of the most intimateglimpses of the pious Muslim soul are to be found insupplications.
Prayer in Islam can be divided into four basic forms: canonical prayer(salat), supplication (dua'), litany (wird) andinvocation (dhikr). One can say that the first, especially in itsmandatory form, corresponds to what is implied in Christianity by mass orholy communion. The second is equivalent to "personal prayer", or simplyto what the Christian often understands by the term "prayer" as such. Themandatory canonical prayer must be performed at specific times every dayand according to strictly defined rules, while the recommended form alsofollows the same strict pattern (standing, bowing, prostrating, sitting,etc.). But one may "supplicate" God at any time and in any circumstance,without any set pattern or formulae. Supplications are strictly voluntaryand "free". As for litanies and invocations i.e., the recitation ofQuranic formulae or one or more of the Names of God, like supplicationthese are voluntary, although they are not so "free" since they follow setpatterns, and like the canonical prayer, must be in Arabic. Litanies maybe performed by any pious Muslim, whereas invocations are recited almostexclusively by the Sufis.
Although supplications left by the great saints of early Islam are ofthe type of "free prayer", invariably they have one element in common:since they were recited in Arabic (although they may be made in anylanguage), they are largely inspired by Quranic images and incorporateQuranic verses and formulae. Also, they are usually rhythmic and veryoften, as in all four prayers translated here, employ rhymed prose(saj'). Hence in this part I have divided the lines of thetranslation in keeping with the rhythm of the original in order to give abetter idea of the style.
The author of the first supplication is Imam Husayn, the Third Imam,who was martyred at Karbala and is probably the most important Imam inpopular Shi'ite devotion. Certainly the days of mourning for him (inparticular tasu'a and 'ashura, the ninth and tenth ofMuharram), are still the most solemn and carefully observed holidays inthe Shi'ite calendar. Imam Husayn made his supplication-one of the mostfamous in Shi'ite annals, one year during the pilgrimage to Mecca on theDay Of Arafah (the ninth of Dhu-l-hijjah), and it has been recited bypious Shi'ites ever since. On that day pilgrims pass the time at MountArafat occupying themselves with canonical prayer, reciting the Quran,litanies, invocations and supplications. The spirit of the day is wellrepresented in the Imam's prayer.
The second and third prayers are taken from theFourth Imam's al-Sahifat al-Sajjadiyyah, referred to in theintroduction.
As for the fourth and final prayer, it was given by the Twelfth Imam tohis second "deputy" (na'ib), Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Uthman ibnSaid, who acted as the Imam's spokesman for many years until his death in304/916-7 or 305/917-8. Here it is important for those not familiar withShi'ite doctrines to understand that after the Twelfth Imam went into"occultation" at a young age in the year 260/873-4 and thus disappearedfrom the eyes of men, he maintained contact with four persons insuccession until the last of them died in the year 329/940-1. Then his"greater occultation" (al-ghaybat al-kubra) began. He will notreveal himself again until the end of time.
A. al-Husayn, the Third Imam
Prayer for the Day of Arafah
Praise belongs to God
whose decree none mayavert, and whose gift nonemay prevent.
No fashioner'sfashioning is like His fashioning, and He is the Generous, theAll-embracing.
He brought forth the varietiesof unprecedented creatures and perfected through His wisdom all He had fashioned.
Hidden not from Him areharbingers, nor lost withHim are deposits.
He repays every fashioner, feathers the nest of all who arecontent and has mercy uponall who humble themselves.
He sends downbenefits and theall-encompassing Book inradiant light.
He hears supplications, averts afflictions, raises up in degrees, and knocks down tyrants.
For there is no god other than He, nothing is equal to Him, "Like Him there is naught, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing" (XLII, 11),
the subtle, the Aware, and "He is powerful over all things" (V, 120 etc.).
O God, I make Thee my quest and bear witness to ThyLordship, acknowledgingthat Thou art my Lord and to Thee is my return.
Thou originated me byThy blessing before I was a thing remembered.
Thoucreated me from dust, thengavest me a place in the loins (of my fathers),
secure from the uncertainty ofFate and the vagaries of the ages and the years.
I remained atraveller from loin to womb in a time immemorial of past days and bygone centuries.
In Thy tenderness,bounty and goodness toward me Thou didst not send me out into the empire of the leaders of disbelief, those who broke Thy covenant and cried lies to Thy messengers.
Rather, Thou sentestme out to that guidance which had been foreordained for me, the way which Thou madest easy for me and in which Thou nurtured me.
And beforethat Thou wert kind to me through Thy gracious fashioning and abundant blessings.
Thou originated mycreation from a sperm-drop spilled
and madest me to dwellin a threefold gloom among flesh, blood and skin.
Thou gavest me not to witness my creation,
nor didst Thou entrustme with anything of my own affair.
Then thousentest me out into the world for the guidance that had been foredained for me, complete and unimpaired.
Thou watched over me in thecradle as an infant boy, provided me with food, wholesome milk, and turned the hearts of thenurse-maids toward me.
Thou entrusted myupbringing to compassionate mothers, guardedme from the calamities brought by the jinn and kept me secure from excess and lack.
High art Thou, O Merciful! O Compassionate!
Then when I began to utter speech Thoucompleted for me Thy abundant blessings.
Thounurtured me more and more each year until,when my nature was perfected and my strengthbalanced, Thou madest Thy argument encumbentupon me by inspiring me with knowledge ofThee, awing me with the marvels of Thywisdom, awakening me to the wonders of Thycreation which Thou hadst multiplied in Thy Heaven and Thy earth,
and instructing me in Thy thanks and remembrance.
Thou madest encumbent upon me Thy obedience and worship, madest me to understand what Thy messengers had brought and madest easy for me the acceptance of Thy good pleasure.
Thou wast gracious to me in all of this, through Thy succour and kindness.
Then, since Thoucreated me from the best soil,
Thou wert not satisfied, my God, that I should have one blessing without another.
Thou provided me with varieties of sustenance and kinds of garments and Thy tremendous, mosttremendous, graciousness to me and Thy eternalgoodness toward me.
Andfinally, when Thou hadst completed for me every blessing and turned awayfrom me all misfortunes, Thou wert not prevented by my ignorance and audacity from guiding me toward that whichwould bring me nigh to Thee or from giving mesuccess in that which would bring me close to Thee.
For if Iprayed to Thee Thou answered, if I asked of Thee Thougavest, if I obeyed TheeThou showed Thy gratitude, and if I thanked Thee Thou gavest me more.
All of that was to perfect Thy blessings upon me and Thy goodness toward me.
So glory be to Thee;Glory be to Thee, who are Producer andReproducer,
Laudable, Glorious.
Holy are ThyNames and tremendous Thy bounties.
So whichof Thy blessings, my God, can I enumerate by counting and mentioning?
For which of Thy gifts am I able to give thanks ?
Since they, O Lord, are more thanreckoners can count
orthose who entrust to memory can attain by knowledge.
But the affliction and hardship,O God, that Thou turned and averted from me is morethan the health and happiness that came to me.
And I witness, my God, by the truth of myfaith, the knotted resolutions of my certainty, my pure andunadulterated profession of Unity, the hiddeninwardness of my consciousness, the places towhich the streams of light of my eyes areattached, the lines on my forehead's surface, the openingsfor my breath's channels, the parts of mynose's soft point, the paths of myears' canals, what my lipsclose upon and compress, the movementsof my tongue in speaking, the joint atthe back of my mouth and jaw, the sockets ofmy molar teeth, the place whereI swallow my food and drink, that whichbears my brain, the hollowpassages of my neck's fibers, that which iscontained in my breast's cavity, the carriers ofmy aorta, the places where my heart's curtain
is attached, the smallpieces of flesh around my liver, that which theribs of my sides encompass, the sockets ofmy joints, the contractionof my members, the tips of myfingers, my flesh, my blood, my hair, my skin, my nerves, mywindpipe,
my bones, my brain, my veins, and all of my members, what was knitted upon them in the days when I was a sucklingbaby, what theearth has taken away from me, my sleep, my waking, my being still, and the movements ofmy bowing and prostrating, that had I takenpains and had I striven for the duration ofthe epochs and ages were my life to beextended through them to deliver thanks forone of Thy blessings, I would not have beenable to do so, except by Thy grace, which alone makes encumbent upon me never-ending and ever renewed gratitude to Thee, and fresh and everpresent praise.
Indeed, and were I and thereckoners among Thy creatures ever so eager to calculate the extent of Thy bestowal of blessings, whether past or approaching, we would fail to encompass it through numbers or to calculate its boundaries.
Never How could it ever be done!
For Thou announcest in Thy eloquent Book and truthful Tiding, "And if you count God's blessing, you will never number it" (XIV, 34).
Thy Book, O God, Thy Message, has spoken the Truth!
And Thy prophets and messengers delivered Thy revelation that Thou hadst sent down upon them and the religion that Thou hadst promulgated for them and through them.
And I witness, my God, bymy effort, my diligence, and the extent of my obedience and mycapacity, and I say as a believerpossessing certainty, "Praisebelongs to God, who has not takento Him a son"
that He might havean heir, "and who has not anyassociate in His dominion"
whomight oppose Him in what He creates, "nor any protector out of humbleness"(XVII, 111)
who would aid Him inwhat He fashions.
So glory be to Him, glory be to Him!
"Why, were there gods in earth andheaven other than God, they would surely go to ruin" (XXI, 22)and be rent.
Glory be to God, theUnique, the One, "the EverlastingRefuge" who "has not begotten, nor has He been begotten, and equal to Him there is none" (CXII,2-4).
Praise belongs to God, praise equal to the praise of theangels stationed near to Him and the prophets sent by Him.
And God bless Hiselect, Muhammad, the Seal of theProphets, and his virtuous, pureand sincere household, and give them peace.
Then he began to supplicate. He occupied himselfwith prayer as tears ran from his blessed eyes. Then he said:
O God,cause me to fear Thee as if I were seeing Thee,
give mefelicity through piety toward Thee, make me not wretched by disobediencetoward Thee, choose the best forme by Thy decree (qada')
and bless me by Thy determination (qadar),
that I may love not the hastening ofwhat Thou hast delayed, nor the delaying of what Thou hasthastened.
O God, appoint for me sufficiencyin my soul, certainty in myheart, sincerity in myaction, light in my eyes, and insight in my religion.
Give me enjoyment of my bodilymembers, make my hearing and myseeing my two inheritors, help meagainst him who wrongs me, showme in him my revenge and my desires, and console thereby my eyes.
O God, remove my affliction, veil my defects, forgive my offence, drive away my Satan,
dissolvemy debt, and give me, my God, thehighest degree in the world tocome and in this world.
O God, to Theebelongs the praise, just as Thou created me and made me to hear and to see;
and to Thee belongs the praise, just as Thou created me andmade me a creature unimpaired as a mercyto me, while Thouhadst no need of my creation.
My Lord, since Thou created me and then madestraight my nature;
my Lord,since Thou caused me to grow and made goodmy shape;
my Lord,since Thou didst good to me and gavest mewell-being in my soul;
my Lord,since Thou preserved me and gavest mesuccess;
my Lord, since Thoublessed me and then guidedme;
my Lord, since Thou chosestme andgavest me of every good;
my Lord,since Thou gavest me to eat anddrink;
my Lord,since Thou enriched me and contentedme;
my Lord,since Thou aided me and exaltedme;
my Lord, since Thou dothed mewith Thy pure covering and smoothedthe way for me by Thy sufficient fashioning:
Bless Muhammad and the householdof Muhammad, aid me againstthe misfortunes of time and the calamities ofnights and days, deliver mefrom the terrors of this world and the torments of theworld to come and spare mefrom the evil of that which the evildoers do in theearth.
O God, as for what I fear,spare me from it, and asfor what I seek to avoid, guard me against it.
in mysoul and my religion watch over me, in mytravelling protect me, in myfamily and my property appoint for me a successor, in whatThou hast provided for me bless me, in mysoul humble me, in theeyes of men magnify me, from theevil of jinn and men preserve me, for mysins disgrace me not, for myinward secrets shame me not, for myaction try me not, of Thyblessings deprive me not and toother than Thee entrust me not.
My God, towhom wouldst Thou entrust me ?
To arelative ? He would cut me off.
Or to astranger ? He would look at me with displeasure.
Or tothose who act toward me with arrogance ?
But Thouart my Lord and the sovereign over my affair.
I wouldcomplain to Thee of my exile and the remoteness of my abode, and thathe whom Thou hast made sovereign over me despises me.
My God,so cause not Thy wrath to alight upon me.
If Thoubecomest not wrathful with me I willhave no care,
glory be to Thee But Thyprotection is more embracing.
So I ask Thee,O Lord, by the Light of Thy Face by which the earth and the heavens areilluminated, shadows areremoved, and the affairs ofthe ancients and the later folk are set aright, not to cause me todie when Thy wrath is upon me,
nor to send down upon me Thy anger.
The pleasure is Thine The pleasure is Thine, to be satisfied with me beforethat.
There is no god but Thou,Lord of the Holy Land,
the Sacred Monument,
and the Ancient House,
upon which Thou caused blessing to descend and which Thou madest a sanctuaryfor mankind.
O He who pardons the greatest sins by His clemency!
O He who lavishes blessings by His bounty!
O He who givesabundance by His generosity!
O Sustenance tome in my adversity!
O Companion tome in my solitude!
O Aid to me inmy affliction!
O Benefactor tome in my blessing!
O my God and God of myfathers, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac and Jacob!
Lord ofGabriel, Michael and Israfil!
Lord ofMuhammad, the Seal of the Prophets, and hishousehold, the chosen ones!
Revealer of theTorah, the Gospel, the Psalms and the Criterion,
and Sender downof Kaf Ha' Ya' Ayn Sad, Ta' Ha',
Ya' Sin,and the Wise Quran!
Thou art my cave (ofrefuge) when the roads for all their amplitude constrict me and the land for allits breadth is strait for me.
If not for Thy mercy, Iwould have been among the perishing, and Thou annullest myslip.
If not for Thycovering me,
Iwould have been among the disgraced, and Thou confirmest mewith help against my enemies.
And if not for Thy helping me, I would have been among those overcome.
O He whoappropriated loftiness and exaltation to Himself, so His friends (awliya')are mighty through His might!
O He beforewhom kings place the yoke of abasement around their necks, for they fear His overwhelming power!
"He knows the treachery of the eyes and what the breasts conceal" (XL,19)
and the unseen brought by time and fate.
O Heabout whom none knows how He is but He!
O He about whom none knows whatHe is but He!
O He whomnone knows but He!
O He who squeezed theearth onto the water and held back the air with the sky!
O He to whombelong the noblest Names!
O He who possesseskindness which will never be cut off!
O He who assigned the cavalcade to Joseph in the barren land, brought him out of the well and made him a king after slavery!
O He who returned him to Jacob after "his eyes were whitened with sorrow that he was suppressing" (XII, 84)
O He who removedaffliction and tribulation from Job
and restrained Abraham's hands from the sacrifice of his son after he had reached oldage and his life had passedby!
O He who answeredthe prayer of Zachariah and bestowed upon him John, notleaving him childless and alone!
O He who broughtJonah out from the stomach of the fish!
O He who parted thesea for the Children of Israel, then saved them and drowned Pharoah and hishosts!
O He who sends windsheralding His mercy!
O He who does nothurry (to act) against those of His creatures who disobey Him!
O He who rescued thesorcerers after (their) long denial!
They had early benefittedfrom His blessing, eating His provision and worshipping other than Him;
they had opposed, deniedand cried lies to His messengers.
O God!
O God!
O Beginner, O Creator with no compeer!
O Everlasting whohas no end!
O Living when nothing wasalive!
O Quickener of the dead!
O "He Who is awareof the deserts of every soul"
(XIII,33)!
O Hetoward whom my gratitude was little, yet He deprived menot!
My transgressionwas great, yet Hedisgraced me not!
Hesaw me committing acts of disobedience, yet he made me notnotorious!
O He who watched over me inchildhood!
O He who provided for me in myadulthood!
O He whose favors toward me cannotbe reckoned and whose blessings cannot be repaid!
O He whohas confronted me with the good and the fair, and I have confronted Himwith evil and disobedience in return!
O He who led me to faith before I had come toknow gratitude for His gracious bestowal!
O Heupon whom I called when I was sick and Hehealed me, when naked and He clothedme, when hungry and He satisfiedme, when thirsty and He gave me todrink, when abased and He exaltedme,
when ignorant and He gave meknowledge, when alone and Heincreased my number, when away and He returned me, when empty-handed and He enriched me, when in need of help and He helpedme, and whenrich and Hetook not from me.
I refrained from (callingupon Thee in) all of that and Thou caused meto begin (to call).
Thine are the praise andthe gratitude!
O He who overlooked myslip, relievedmy distress, heard my prayer, covered mydefects, forgave my sins, caused me to reach mydesire, and helped me against my enemy!
If I were tocount Thy blessings, favors and generous acts of kindness I would not be ableto reckon them.
O myProtector!
Thou artHe who was gracious, Thou art He who blessed, Thou art He who workedgood, Thou art He whowas kind, Thou art Hewho was bounteous, Thou art He who perfected, Thou art He whoprovided, Thou art Hewho gave success, Thou art He who bestowed, Thou art He whoenriched, Thou art Hewho contented,
Thou art He whosheltered,
Thou art He whosufficed, Thou art Hewho guided, Thou artHe who preserved (from sin),
Thou art He who covered (mysins),
Thou art Hewho forgave, Thou artHe who overlooked, Thou art He who established (in the earth),
Thou art He whoexalted, Thou art Hewho aided, Thou artHe who supported, Thou art He who confirmed, Thou art He whohelped, Thou art Hewho healed, Thou artHe who gave well-being, Thou art He whohonored - blessed artThou and highexalted!
So Thine is the praiseeverlastingly, and Thine isgratitude enduringly and foreverl Them I, my God, confess my sins, so forgive me for them.
I amhe who did evil, I am hewho made mistakes, I am hewho purposed (to sin),
I amhe who was ignorant, I amhe who was heedless, I amhe who was negligent, I amhe who relied (upon other than Thee),
I am he who premeditated, I am he who promised, I am he who went back on hisword, I am he who confessed (my sins)
and I am he whoacknowledged Thy blessings upon me and with me and then returned tomy sins.
So forgive me for them, O He who is not harmed by thesins of His servants norneeds He their obedience.
He gives success through His aid and His mercy to whomsoever of them worksrighteousness.
So praise belongs to Thee, MyGod and My Lord !
My God, Thoucommanded me and I disobeyed and Thou forbade me and Icommitted what Thou hadst forbidden.
I became suchthat I neither possessed any mark of guiltlessness that I mightask forgiveness nor anypower that I might be helped.
Then by what means shall I turn toward Thee, O my Protector ! ?
What, by my ears ?
Or my eyes ?
Or my tongue ?
Or my hand ?
Or my leg ?
Are not all ofthem Thy blessings given to me ?
And with all of them I disobeyThee, O my Protector!
Thineis the argument and the means against me.
O He who veiled me (my sins) from fathers andmothers lest they drive me away, from relatives andbrothers lest they rebuke me, and from kings lestthey punish me!
If they had seen, O my Protector, what Thou hast seen from me, theywould not have given me respite, they would haveabandoned me and cut me off.
So here I am, O my God, before Thee O Lord, humbled, abased, constrained, despised, neither possessing guiltlessness that I might ask forgiveness nor possessing power that I mightbe helped.
There is noargument with which I might argue, nor can I say I committed not(sins) and worked not evil.
And denial, wereI to deny-my Protector!-could hardly profit me.
Howcould it ever do that ?
For all of my membersare witness against me for what I have done.
And Iacted with certainty and without any doubt that Thou wilt ask me about great affairs, and that Thou art the equitable Judge who does no wrong.
Thy justice is deadly for me and I flee from Thyevery just act.
If thou chastisest me, O my God, it isfor my sins after Thy argument against me;
and if Thoupardonest me, it is by Thy clemency, generosity and kindness.
"There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one of thewrong-doers" (XXI, 87).
There is no god butThou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one ofthose who pray forgiveness.
There is no godbut Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one ofthose who profess Thy Unity.
There is no godbut Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one of thefearful.
There is no god but Thou, glory beto Thee!
Truly I am one of those who are afraid.
There is nogod but Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one of thehopeful.
There is no god but Thou, glory beto Thee!
Truly I am one of those who yearn.
There is no godbut Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one ofthose who say "There is no god but Thou".
There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one of thepetitioners.
There is no god but Thou, glorybe to Thee!
Truly I am one of the glorifiers.
There is nogod but Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one ofthose who magnify.
There is no god but Thou,glory be to Thee, my Lord, and the Lord of my fathers, the ancients!
My God, this is my praise of Thee exalting Thy majesty, my sincerity inremembering Thee by professing Thy Unity, and my acknowledgment of Thy bounties by enumeration, even though I acknowledge that I cannot reckonthem for their multitude, theirabundance, their manifestness and their existencefrom ancient times until a present inwhich Thou hast never ceased to care for me through them from when Thoucreated me and brought me into existence in the beginning of (my) life, by enriching frompoverty, relieving affliction, bringing ease, removinghardship, dispelling distress, and (giving me)well-being in body and soundness inreligion.
Wereall the world's inhabitants, both the ancients and the later folk, to assist me in attempting to mention Thy blessing, I would not be able,nor would they, to do so.
Holy art Thou andhigh exalted, agenerous, mighty, merciful Lord.
Thybounties cannot be reckoned, nor Thy praiseaccomplished, nor Thy blessings repaid.
Bless Muhammad andthe household of Muhammad, complete Thyblessings upon us and aid us in Thyobedience.
Glory be to Thee! There is no godbut Thou.
O God, truly Thouhearest the destitute, removest the evil,
succourest the afflicted, healest the sick, enrichestthe poor, mendest thebroken, hast mercy upon theyoung and helpest theold.
There is no Supportother than Thee and nonepowerful over Thee.
AndThou art the Sublime, the Great.
O Freer of the prisoner inirons!
O Provider of theinfant child!
O Protectionof the frightened refugee!
O He who has no associate and no assistant!
Bless Muhammad and the householdof Muhammad, and give methis evening the best of what Thou hast given toand bestowed upon any of Thy servants, whether a blessing Thouassignest, abounty Thou renewest, a trial Thouavertest, anaffliction Thou removest, a prayer Thouhearest, a gooddeed Thou acceptest or an evil deed Thouoverlookest.
Truly Thou art gracious, Aware of what Thouwilt, andPowerful over all things!
O God, truly Thou art the nearest ofthose who are called, theswiftest of those who answer, the most generous of those whopardon, the most openhandedof those who give and themost hearing of those who are asked of.
O Merciful and Compassionate inthis world and the next!
Like Thee none is asked of;
and other than Thee none is hoped for.
I prayed to Thee and Thou answered me, I asked of Thee and Thou gavest tome, I set Thee as my quest andThou hadst mercy upon me, Idepended upon Thee and Thou delivered me, I took refuge with Thee and Thousufficed me, O God, so bless Muhammad, Thyservant, messenger and prophet, and his good and pure household, all of them.
And complete Thy blessings upon us, gladden us with Thy gift and inscribe us asthose who thank Thee and remember Thy bounties.
Amen, amen, O Lord of all beings!
O God, O Hewho owned and then was all-powerful, was all-powerful and thensubjected, was disobeyedand then veiled (the sin of disobedience),
and was prayed forgiveness andthen forgave.
O Goal of yearning seekers and utmost Wish ofthe hopeful!
O He who "encompasses everythingin knowledge" (LXV,12)
and embraces those who seek pardon in tenderness, mercy and clemency!
O God, truly we turn towards Thee thisevening, which Thou honoredand glorified through Muhammad, Thy prophet and messenger, the elect of Thy creation, the faithful guardian ofThy-revelation which bears good tidings and warning and which isthe light giving lamp
which Thou gavest to those who surrender (al-muslimin)
and appointed as a mercy to theworld's inhabitants.
O God, so blessMuhammad and the household of Muhammad, just as Muhammad is worthy ofthat from Thee, O Sublime!
So bless him andhis elect, good and pure household, all of them, and encompass us in Thypardon, for to Thee cryvoices in diverselanguages.
So appoint for us a share thisevening, O God, of everygood which Thou dividest among Thy servants, every light by which Thouguidest,
every mercy which Thou spreadest,
every blessing which Thou sendest down, every well-being with which Thouclothest and everyprovision which Thou outspreadest.
O Mostmerciful of the merciful!
OGod, transform us now into men successful, triumphant, pious, and prosperous.
Set usnot among those who despair, empty us not of Thy mercy, deprive us not of that bounty ofThine for which we hope, and set us not amongthose deprived of Thy mercy, nor those whodespair of the bounty of Thy gift for which we hope.
Reject us not with thedisappointed, nor those driven from Thydoor.
O Most Magnanimous of themost magnanimous !
O MostGenerous of the most generous!
Toward Thee we have turned havingsure faith, repairing toand bound for Thy Sacred House.
Sohelp is with our holy rites, perfect for us ourpilgrimage, pardonus, and give uswell-being, for we haveextended toward Thee our hands and they are branded with theabasement of confession.
O God, so give usthis evening what we have asked of Thee and suffice us in that in whichwe have prayed Thee to suffice us, for there isnone to suffice us apart from Thee and we have no lord other thanThee.
Put into effectconcerning us is Thy decision, encompassing us is Thyknowledge
and just for us is Thy decree.
Decree for us the good and place us among the people ofthe good!
O God make encumbentupon us through Thy magnanimity the mightiest wage, the most generous treasure and the lastingness ofease.
Forgive us our sins,all of them, destroy us notwith those who perish,
and turn not Thy tenderness and mercy away from us, O Most Merciful of themerciful!
O God, place us in thishour among those who ask of Thee and to whom Thou givest, who thank Thee and whom Thouincreasest,
who turn to Thee in repentance and whom Thou acceptest
and who renounce all of their sins before Thee and whom Thou forgivest, O Lord of majesty and splendor!
O God, purify us, show us the right way and accept ourentreaty.
O Best of those from whom isasked!
And O Most Merciful of those whose mercy is sought!
O He from whom is not hidden the eyelids'winking, the eyes'glancing, that whichrests in the concealed, and that which is enfoldedin hearts' hidden secrets!
What, has not allof that been reckoned in Thy knowledge and embraced by Thyclemency ?
Glory beto Thee and high indeed art Thou exalted above what the evil-doerssay!
The seven heavens and the earths and allthat is therein praise Thee, and thereis not a thing but hymns Thy praise.
So Thine is thepraise, the glory and the exaltation of majesty, O Lordof majesty and splendor, of bounty andblessing and ofgreat favor!
And Thou art the Magnanimous, the Generous, the Tender, theCompassionate.
O God, give me amply of Thylawful provision, bestowupon me well-being in my body and my religion, make me safe from fear
and deliver me from the Fire.
O God, devisenot against me,
lead me not on step by step,
trick me not
and avert from me the evil of the ungodly among jinn and men.
Then he lifted his head and eyes toward Heaven. Tears were flowingfrom his blessed eyes as if they were two waterskins, and he said in aloud voice:
O Most Hearing of those who hear!
O Most Seeing of those whobehold!
O Swiftest ofreckoners!
OMost Merciful of the merciful!
Bless Muhammad and the householdof Muhammad, the chiefs,the fortunate.
And, I askof Thee, O God, my need.
IfThou grantest it to me, what Thou holdest back from me will cause me no harm;
and if Thou holdest it back from me, what Thou grantest me will not profit me.
I ask Thee to deliver me from the Fire.
There is no god but Thou alone, Thou hast no associate.
Thine is the dominion,. and Thine is the praise, and Thou art powerful over everything.
O my Lord!
O my Lord!
Then he said "O my Lord" over and over. Those who hadbeen gathered around him, who had listened to an of his prayer and who hadlimited themselves to saying "amen" raised their voices in weeping. Theystayed in his company until the sun went down, and then all of them loadedtheir mounts and set out in the direction of the Sacred Monument.
B. 'Ali Zayn al-'Abidin, the Fourth Imam
1. In Praise of God Praise belongs to God, the First, without a first before Him, the Last, without a last behind Him.
and depicters' imaginations fail to describe Him.
He originated the creatures by His power with an origination and fashioned them according to His desire with a fashioning.
Then He made them walk the path of His will and incited them
in the way of His love.
They have no power to keep back from that to which He has put them forward, nor can they go forward to that from which He has kept them back.
He appointed to every soul (ruh) from among them a known and determined sustenance from His provision.
No diminisher can diminish (the portion of)
whomsoever He has increased, and no increaser can increase whomsoever He has diminished.
Then He set for every soul a fixed term in life and appointed for him a determined end.
He walks towards it in the days of his life and overtakes it through the years of his destiny until, when he accomplishes his final act and closes his life's account, He seizes him for that towards which He had Willed him, either His abundant reward or His terrible punishment, "That He may reward those who do evil with that which they have done, and reward those who do good with goodness"
(LIII, 31),
as justice from Him.
Holy are His Names and manifest His bountiesl "He shall not be questioned as to what He does, but they will be questioned" (XXI, 23).
And praise belongs to God, for, had He held back from His servants the knowledge to praise Him for the repeated favors with which He tries them
and the abundant blessings which He lavishes upon them, they would have made free use of His favors without praising Him and taken ease in His provision without thanking Him.
And had it been so, they would have left the conditions of humanity for those of beastliness.
They would have been as He described in the clear text of His Book:
"They are but as the cattle -
nay, but they are farther astray !" (XXV, 44).
And praise belongs to God for what He has made known to us of Himself, for the gratitude towards Him which He has inspired in us, for the doors of the knowledge of His lordship which He has opened for us, for the sincerity towards Him in professing His Unity to which He has guided us, and for the heresy and doubt concerning Him
which He has averted from us;
a praise whereby we may be given long life among those of His Creatures who praise Him and outstrip those who outstrip toward His good pleasure and pardon;
a praise whereby the darkness of the Interval
may be lit for us, the Path of the Resurrection
smoothed for us and our positions at the Stations of the Witnesses
made eminent -
on the day when "every soul will be compensated for what it has earned;
they shall not be wronged" (XLV, 22);
"the day a master shall avail nothing a client, and they shall not be helped" (XLIV, 41);
a praise which will ascend from us to the most exalted of the cIlliyun,
in "a book inscribed, witnessed by those brought nigh" (LXXXIII, 2o-2I);
a praise whereby our eyes may be at rest when vision is confounded
and our faces whitened when skins are blackened;
a praise whereby we may be delivered from God's painful Fire unto God's noble proximity;
a praise whereby we may rival the angels stationed nigh unto Him and join the prophets sent by Him in the Abode of Everlasting Life which does not remove, and in the place of His Honor which does not change.
And praise belongs to God, who chose for us the good qualities of creation and granted us the good things of provision.
He assigned to us excellence through domination over all creation.
Each of His creatures submits to us through His power and becomes obedient to us through His might.
And praise belongs to God, who locked to us the door of need except toward Himself.
So how can we voice His praise?
And when can we thank Hun?
Nay, when ?
And praise belongs to God, who set in us the organs of expansion, appointed for us the instruments of contraction,
gave us to enjoy the spirits of life,
set firm within us the limbs of action, nourished us with the good things of provision, enriched us with His bounty and contented us with his favors.
Then He commanded us in order to test our obedience and prohibited us in order to try our gratitude.
So we deviated from the path of His command and journeyed in the trackless wastes of His prohibitions.
But He hastened us not to punishment
and sped us not to His vengeance.
Nay, He was patient with us in His mercy, through kindness, and He awaited our return in His tenderness, through clemency.
And praise belongs to God, who guided us to repentance, which we never would have gained save through His bounty.
Were we to count as His bounty it alone, our benefit
from Him would have been fair, His goodness with us great and His bounty toward us vast.
And such was not His wont with repentance in the case of those who went before us.
Assuredly He lifted from us that which we have not the strength to bear
and He charges us not save to our capacity.
He imposes upon us only ease
and has left none of us with an argument or excuse.
So perished is he among us who perishes in spite of Him
and felicitous is he among us who lets Him be his quest.
And praise belongs to God to the extent of all that He is praised by those of His angels nearest to Him, His creatures noblest in His sight and His praisers most pleasing to Him, a praise which surpasses other praises as our Lord surpasses all of His creation.
Then to Him belongs praise in place of His every blessing upon us and upon all of His servants, those gone and those remaining, to the number of all things His knowledge encompasses, and in place of every one of these blessings, whose number will be doubled and redoubled always and forever until the Day of Resurrection;
a praise whose confines have no limit, whose number has no reckoning, whose extremity is never reached and whose term is never interrupted;
a praise which may prove a way to reach His obedience and pardon, a means to His good-pleasure, a cause of His forgiveness, a path to His Paradise, a guard against His vengeance, a sanctuary from His wrath, an aid to obeying Him, a barrier against disobeying Him and a help toward carrying out our duties and obligations toward Him;
a praise which may give us the good fortune to be among His felicitous Friends,
and by which we may enter the ranks of those n,artyred
by the swords of His enemies.
Surely He is a protecting Friend, Praiseworthy.
2. Prayer for the Morning and Evening Praise belongs to God, who created the night and the day by His strength, differentiated them by His power and appointed for each of them a determined limit and an extended term.
He makes each of them enter into its companion and makes its companion enter into it,
as an ordainment from Him for His servants in that which He feeds them and with which He causes them to grow.
So He created for them the night that they might repose in it from toilsome movements and fatiguing activities.
He made it a garment that they might clothe themselves in His rest and His sleep,
that it might be for them refreshment and strength, and that they might attain in it pleasure and passion.
And He created for them the day to see that they might seek something of His bounty within it,
gain access to His provision and spread freely on His earth searching for that wherein lies the attainment of the immediate things of this world and the acquisition of the deferred things of the wond to come.
With all of this He sets them aright, tries their tidings,
and observes how they are in the times (set apart) for obeying Him, the stages of what He has obligated (upon them) and the situations in which His laws apply, "That He may reward those who do evil with that .
which they have done, and reward those who do good with goodness"
(LIII, 31).
O God, so to Thee belongs the praise for the sky which Thou splittest into dawn for us,
the light of the day which Thou givest us to enjoy thereby, the places for seeking sustenance Thou makest us to see and the striking of maladies from which Thou protectest us therein.
We and all things, all together, enter upon the morning belonging to Thee - the heaven and the earth, what Thou hast scattered in each of them,
whether at rest or in motion, stationary or journeying, what ascends into the air and what is hidden beneath the ground.
We enter upon the morning in Thy grasp.
Thy dominion and power encompass us and Thy will embraces us.
We conduct ourselves according to Thy oommand
and we go about our business under Thy direction.
Nothing belongs to us of the matter except as Thou hast"
decreed, and nothing of the good except as Thou hast given.
This is a fresh, new day, and it is a ready witness over us.
If we do good, it will bid farewell to us ia praise, and if we do evil, it will part from us in blame."
O God, bless 11Xuhammad and his household, provide us with the fair companionship of this day and protect us from parting with it badly, whether. by committing an offence or perpetrating a minor or major sin.
Within it grant us abundant good deeds and empty us of evil deeds.
Between its two extremes cause us to be filled with Praise, thanksgiving, reward, provision (for the world to come),
bounty and good-doing.
O God, ease our burden on the Noble Writers,
fill our pages with our good deeds,
and abase us not before them with our evil deeds.
O God, in each of the hours of the day appoint for us a portion of Thy servants,
a share of thankfulness toward Thee and a faithful witness from Thy angels.
O God, bless Muhammad and his household, and safeguard us from before us and behind us and from our right hands and our left hands and from all directions,
with a safeguarding that will protect against disobedience to Thee, guide unto Thy obedience and engender Thy love.
O God, bless Muhammad and his household, and give us success today and tonight and in all of our days to work for good, abandon evil, give thanks for blessings, follow traditions (sunan),
avoid innovation, enjoin the right, forbid the wrong,
defend Islam, diminish falsehood and abase it, aid the truth and exalt it, guide those who are astray, help the weak and extend a hand to the distressed.
O God, bless Muhammad and his household, and make this day the most blessed day we have known, the most excellent companion we have accompanied and the best time we have passed.
Place us among the most satisfied of all Thy creatures whom night and day have passed by, the most thankful for the blessings Thou has vouchsafed, the firmest in the injunctions Thou hast promulgated and the most scrupulous in what Thou hast warned against in Thy prohibitions.
O God, surely I call Thee to witness - and Thou art sufficient witness -
and I call to witness Thy heaven and Thy earth and whomsoever Thou makest to dwell in them of Thy angels and Thy other creatures, on this day, at this hour, in this night and within this my abode that I testify that Thou art God, there is no god but Thou, upholding justice,
equitable in judgment, tender to servants, Master of the dominion,
merciful to creatures;
and that Muhammad is Thy servant and Thy messenger and he whom Thou hast chosen from among Thy creatures.
Thou didst charge him with Thy message and he delivered it,
Thou didst command him to counsel his community and he counselled it.
O God, so bless Muhammad and his household the most Thou hast blessed any of Thy creatures.
Bestow upon him on our behalf the most excellent of what Thou hast given any of Thy servants, and recompense him in our stead with the most excellent and generous recompense that Thou hast given any of Thy prophets on behalf of his community.
Truly Thou art All-gracious with immense blessings, the Forgiver of great sins, and Thou art more compassionate than every possessor of compassion.
So bless Muhammad and his household, the virtuous, the pure, the most excellent and noble.
C. Muhammad al-Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam
Prayer for the month of Rajab Shaykh al-Tusi has related that this noble writing came out of the Sacred Precinct on the hand of that great Shaykh, Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Uthman ibn Said
- may God be pleased with him. Recite it on each day of the month of Rajab.
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate O God, I ask Thee by the meaning of all that by which Thou art called upon by those who govern with Thy authority:
those who are entrusted with Thymystery, welcome Thycommand, extol Thy power, and proclaim Thy majesty.
I ask Thee by Thy will which speaks within them, for Thou hast appointed them mines for Thy words, and pillars of the profession of ThyUnity, Thy signs and Thy stations, which are neverinterrupted in any place.
Throughthem knows he who knows Thee.
There is no difference between Thee and them, save that they are Thy servants and Thycreation, their doing and undoingis in Thy hand, their origin isfrom Thee and their return is to Thee.
They are aides, witnesses, testers,defenders, protectors andsearchers.
With them Thou filled Thy heaven and Thy earth until it became manifest that there is no god but Thou.
So I ask Thee by (all of) that, and by the positions of Thy mercy's might and by Thy Stations and Marks that Thou bless Muhammad and His household and increase me in faith and steadfastness.
O Inward in His outwardness and Outward in His inwardness and hiddenness!
O Separator of light and darkness!
O described by other than (His) Essence and well-known in other than (His) likeness!
Delimitator of every delimited thing!
Witness of all that is witnessed!
Bringer into existence of every existent!
Counter of everything counted!
Depriver of all that is deprived!
There is none worshipped but Thou, Possessor of Grandeur andGenerosity!
O He who is not conditioned by "how" ordetermined by "where" !
O veiled from every eye!
O Everlasting!
Oeternally Self-subsistent and Knower of all that is known!
Bless Muhammad and his household and Thy elect servants, Thymankind in veils,
Thy angels brought nigh, and the untold multitudes (of angels) set in ranks and encircling (the Throne).
And bless us in this our veneratedand honored month and the sacred months that follow it.
In it bestow blessings upon us copiously, make large ourportions, and fulfill for us (our) oaths, by Thy mosttremendous, most tremendous, greatest and noblest Name, which Thou placed upon the day, and it brightened, and uponthe night, and it darkened.
And forgive us that of ourselveswhich Thou knowest and we knownot, preserve us from sins withthe best of presentations, suffice us with the sufficiencies of Thy determination, favor us with Thy fair regard, leave us not to other than Thee, hold us not back from Thygoodness, bless us in thelifespans Thou hast written for us, set aright for us the inmost center ofour hearts, give us protectionfrom Thee,
causeus to act with the fairest of faith, and bring us to the month offasting
andthe days and years that come after it, O Lord of Majesty and Splendor!
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Author: Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai
