The Tenth Whispered Prayer
It is better known as the Whispered Prayer of those Asking for Mediation. In it the Ima`m, peace be on him, asked Allah, the Exalted, for mercy and good pleasure. It is as follows:
"O Allah, I have no mediation with You but the tender acts of Your clemency, nor any way to come to You but the gentle favors of Your mercy, and the intercession of Your Prophet, the prophet of mercy, who rescued the community from confusion. Make these two my tie to attaining Your forgiveness and let them take me to triumph through Your good pleasure! My hope has dismounted in the sacred precinct of Your generosity, my craving has alighted in the courtyard of Your munificence. So actualize my expectation from You, seal my works with good, and place me among Your selected friends, those whom You have sent down in the midst of Your Garden, and settled in the abode of Your honor, whose eyes You have gladdened by gazing upon You on the day of meeting You, and whom You have made heirs to the sure stations in Your neighborhood! O He none more generous than whom is reached by the reachers and none more merciful than whom is found by the aimers! O Best of those with whom the lonely are alone, O Tenderest of those with whom outcasts seek haven! Toward the expanse of Your pardon have I extended my hand, upon the skirt of Your generosity have I fastened my grasp! Show me no deprivation and afflict me not with disappointment and loss! O Hearer of supplications! O Most Merciful of the merciful!"
In this whispered prayer the Ima`m, peace be on him, pleaded to Allah to provide him with the tender acts of His clemency, and the intercession of His Prophet, (Allah bless him and his Household), to make these two his tie to attaining His forgiveness and good pleasure, to seal his life with good, to settle him in the abode of His honor, and to place him among His chosen servants.
( 484 )
The Eleventh Whispered Prayer
It is better known as the Whispered Prayer of the Utterly Poor. In it the Ima`m showed his poverty and neediness before Allah, saying:
"My Allah, nothing will mend my fracture but Your gentleness and loving care, free me of my poverty but Your affection and beneficence, still my fright but Your security, exalt my abasement but Your sovereignty, take me to my hope but Your bounty, remedy my lack but Your graciousness, accomplish my need other than You, relieve my distress other than Your mercy, remove my injury other than Your clemency, cool my burning thirst but reaching You, quench my ardor but meeting You, damp my yearning but gazing upon Your face, settle my settling place without closeness to You, allay my worry but Your repose, cure my illness but Your medicine, eliminate my grief but Your nearness, heal my wound but Your forgiveness, remove the rust on my heart but Your pardon, banish the confusing thoughts from my breast but Your command! O Utmost Hope of the hopers! O Ultimate Demand of the askers! O Furthest Request of the requesters! O Highest desire of the desirers! O Patron of the righteous! O Security of the fearful! O Responder to the supplication of the distressed! O Storehouse of the destitute! O Treasure of the pitiful! O Helper of the help-seeker! O Accomplisher of the needs of the poor and the miserable! O Most Generous of the most generous! O Most Merciful of the merciful! To You is my humble subjection and request, to You my pleading and imploring! I ask You to let me attain the repose of Your good pleasure, and to make constant toward me the favors of Your kindness! Here am I, standing before the gate of Your generosity, opening myself up to the breezes of Your goodness, holding fast to Your strong cord, clinging to Your firm handle!
"My Allah, have mercy upon Your lowly slave of silent tongue and few good works, obligate him through Your plentiful graciousness, shelter him under Your plenteous shade! O Generous, O Beautiful, O Most Merciful of the merciful!"
( 485 )
The Ima`m, peace be on him, adored His Lord, the Creator of the universe and Giver of life. He set all his hopes on Him, asking Him to accomplish all his affairs.
The Twelfth Whispered Prayer
It is better known as the Whispered Prayer of the Knowers, and it is as follows:
"My Allah, tongues fall shorting of attaining praise of You proper to Your majesty, intellects are incapable of grasping the core of Your beauty, eyes fail before gazing upon the glories of Your face, and You have assigned to Your creatures no way to know You save incapacity to know You!
"My Allah, place us among those within the gardens of whose breasts the trees of yearning for You have taken firm root and the assemblies of whose hearts have been seized by the ardor of Your love! They seek shelter in the nests of mediation, feed upon the gardens of nearness and disclosure, drinks from the pools of love with the cup of gentle favor, and enter into the watering-places of warm affection. The covering has been lifted from their eyes, the darkness of disquiet has been dispelled from their beliefs and their innermost minds, the contention of doubt has been negated from their hearts and their secret thoughts, their breasts have expanded the verification of true knowledge, their aspirations have ascended through precedent good fortune in renunciation, their drinking is sweet from the spring of devotion to good works, their secret thoughts are delicious in the sitting place of intimacy, their minds are secure in the place of terror, their souls are serene through the return to the Lord of the worlds, their spirits have reached certitude through triumph and prosperity, their eyes have been gladdened through gazing upon their Beloved, their settling place has been settled through reaching the request and attaining the expectation, and their commerce has profited through the sale of this world for the next! My Allah, how agreeable for hearts are the thoughts inspiring Your remembrance, how sweet traveling to
( 486 )
You through imagination upon the roads of the unseen worlds, how pleasant the taste of Your love, how delightful the drink of Your nearness! So give us refuge from Your casting out and Your sending far, and place us among the most elect of Your knowers, the most righteous of Your servants, the most truthful of Your obeyers, the most sincere of Your worshipers! O All-mighty, O Majestic, O Generous, O Endower! By Your mercy and kindness, O Most Merciful of the merciful!"
Indeed Ima`m Zayn al-'Abidin is the lord of the monotheists and leader of those who know Allah. His worship to Allah was not traditional; rather it resulted from his perfect knowledge of Him, the Most High.
In this whispered prayer the Ima`m, peace be on him, expressed that tongues fell shorting of attaining praise of Allah proper to His majesty, and intellects were incapable of grasping the core of His beauty. How can the possible being, limited in understanding, encompass the knowledge of the Necessary Being, Who is the Originator of the universe?
The Thirteenth Whispered Prayer
It is better known as the Whispered Prayer of the Rememberers. In it the Ima`m showed perfect submission to Allah, the Exalted.
"My Allah, were it not incumbent to accept Your command, I would declare You far too exalted for me to remember You, for I remember You in my measure, not in Your measure, and my scope can hardly reach the point where I may be a locus for calling You holy! Among You greatest favors to us is the running of Your remembrance across our tongues and Your permission to us to supplicate You, declare You exalted, and call You holy!
"My Allah, inspire us with Your remembrance alone and in assemblies, by night and day, publicly and secretly, in prosperity and
( 487 )
adversity! Make us intimate with silent remembrance, employ us in purified works and effort pleasing to You, and reward us with the full balance.
"My Allah, love-mad hearts are enraptured by You, disparate intellects are brought together by knowing You, hearts find no serenity except in remembering You, souls find no rest except in seeing You. You are the glorified in every place, the worshipped at every time, the found at every moment, the called by every tongue, the magnified in every heart! I pray forgiveness from You for every pleasure but remembering You, every ease but intimacy with You, every happiness but nearness to You, every occupation but obeying You!
"My Allah, You have said(and Your word is true(O you who have faith, remember Allah with much remembrance and glorify Him at dawn and in the evening! You have said(and Your word is true( Remember me, and I will remember you! You have commanded us to remember You, and promised us that You will remember us thereby, in order to ennoble, respect, and honor us. Here we are, remembering You as You have commanded us! So accomplish what You have promised, O Remember of the rememberers! O Most Merciful of the merciful!"
We shake all over and become astonished when we recite the whispered prayers of the Ima`m, peace be on him, for he has given in them a clear, distinguished picture of his pleading to Allah, the Exalted, Who knows everything in the heaven and the earth. This great Ima`m thought that his great obedience to Allah was not enough, hence he humbly asked Him to accept his worship.
The Fourteenth Whispered Prayer
It is better known as the Whispered Prayer of those who Hold Fast. In it the Ima`m, peace be on him, showed his holding fast and clinging to Allah, the Exalted:
( 488 )
"O Allah, O Shelter of the shelter-seekers! O Refuge of the refuge-seekers! O Deliverer of the perishing! O Preserver of the pitiful! O Merciful toward the miserable! O Responder to the distressed! O Treasure of the utterly poor! O Mender of the broken! O Haven of the cut off! O Helper of the abased! O Granter of sanctuary to the fearful! O Aider of the troubled! O Fortress of the refugees! If I seek not refuge in Your might, in whom shall I seek refuge? If I seek no shelter in Your power, in whom shall I seek shelter? Sins have made me seek asylum in laying hold on the skirts of Your pardon, offenses have compelled me to beg the opening of the doors of Your forgiveness, evildoing has summoned me to dismount in the courtyard of Your might, fear of Your vengeance has prompted me to clinging to the handhold of Your tenderness! It is not right for him who holds fast to Your cord to be abandoned, nor proper for him who seeks the sanctuary of Your might to be surrendered or disregarded.
"My Allah, empty us not of Your defending, strip us not of Your guarding, and protect us from the roads of destruction, for we are in Your eye and under Your wing! I ask You by those whom You have singled out, Your angels and the righteous among Your creatures, to assign over us a protector through which You will deliver us from destruction, turn aside from us blights, and hide us from the striking of great afflictions, to send down upon us some of Your tranquillity, to wrap our faces in the lights of love for You, to give us haven in Your strong pillar, and to gather us under the wings of Your preservation! By Your clemency and Your mercy, O Most merciful of the merciful!"
In this whispered prayer the Ima`m, peace be on him, teaches us how to supplicate Allah during hardships and afflictions and how to ask Him in order to accomplish our needs. It is certain that we have no means except pleading to Him sincerely and asking Him politely. We must believe that we have neither force nor strength except in Him, and that all creatures all needy to Him, the Exalted.
( 489 )
The Fifteenth Whispered Prayer
It is better known as the Whispered Prayer of the Abstainers. It is among the Ima`m's outstanding whispered prayers.
"My Allah, You have settled us in abode which has dug for us pits of deception, and You have fastened us by the hands of death in the snares of that abode's treachery! In You we seek asylum from the tricks of its guile, and to You we hold fast, lest we be deluded by the glitter of its ornaments! It destroys its pursuers and ruins its settlers, it is stuffed with blights and loaded with calamities.
"My Allah, induce us to renounce is and keep us safe from it by Your giving success and Your preservation from sin. Strip from us the ropes of opposing You, attend to our affairs through Your good sufficiency, amplify our increase from the boundless plenty of Your mercy, be liberal in our gifts from the overflow of Your grants, plant in our hearts the trees of Your love, complete for us the lights of Your knowledge, give us to taste the sweetness of Your pardon and the pleasure of Your forgiveness, gladden our eyes on the day of meeting You with the vision of You, dislodge the love of this world from our spirits, just as You have done for the righteous, Your selected friends, and for the pious, those whom You have singled out! O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Most Generous of the most generous!"
With this we will end our speech about the whispered prayers of the Ima`m, peace be on him, to the Great Creator. They represent the spirituality of the Ima`m and his firm clinging to Allah.
Poetic Whispered Prayers
In the Fourth Sahifa of al-Sajja`d, al-Sayyid Husayn al-Nu`ri has ascribed two poetic whispered prayers to Ima`m Zayn al-'Abidin, peace be on him. He mentioned that he found them written by a religious scholar.
( 490 )
The First Poetic Whispered Prayer
Do You not hear, O my Hopes, through Your bounty
the supplication of one weak, afflicted, drowning in the
see of grief, sad, and captive in sins and errors?1
I call (You) through pleading every day,
diligent at imploring and supplicating.
All the earth has become narrow before me,
for the people of the earth have not known my medicine.
So help me, surely I seek sanctuary
in Your pardon. O Great! O my Hope!
I have come to You weeping, so have mercy upon my
weeping. My shame of You is more than my errors.
I have a worry, and You are the Remover of my worry.
I have an illness, and You are the Medicine for my
illness.
Hope has woken me, so I said: My Lord, my expectation
is that You accomplish my expectation.
Be kind, my Master, through pardoning me, for I am
(facing) a great affliction.
____________
1 It has been mentioned in this manner. The weakness of composition is manifest in it, so it is impossible that it is attributed to Ima`m Zayn al-'Abidin, peace be on him.
( 491 )
The Second Poetic Whispered Prayer
To You, O my Lord, I have directed my requests, and
I have come to Your door, O my Lord, along with my requests.
You are knowledgeable of what the mind holds,
O He who knows secrets and hidden things.
Accomplish the requests for me, my Lord, for I see that none
will accomplish my requests but You.
This poem, and in this manner, is like the previous one in the weakness and disorder of meter. I firmly believe that both the poetic whispered prayers have been fabricated against the Ima`m, peace be on him. For, how are such disorderly lines, which have no sign of literature, ascribed to the Ima`m, who is the author of al-Sahifa al-Sajja`diya, which is unique in purity and eloquence?
3. THE TREATISE ON RIGHTS
RISALAT AL-HUQUQ
Among the most important works in the world of Islam is the 'Treatise on Rights' by the greatest Ima`m, Zayn al-'Abidin, peace be on him. In it the Ima`m has mentioned all the methods necessary for man's conduct, developing his life, and building his civilization on foundations which lead to tranquillity and protection from anxiety, disorder, and the like. The wise Ima`m carefully and inclusively considered man, studied all the dimensions of his life, his relationships with his Creator, his soul, his family, his society, his government, his teacher, and so on. He wrote for man these rights and duties and made it incumbent on him to conform to them. Hence man is able to establish an Islamic society which believes in social justice
( 492 )
and has strong ties such as mutual confidence, love, and other means necessary for social development and progress.
I (the author) think that the great Ima`m legislated man's rights, his social links, his moral origins, and his educational foundations in a manner which is different from that of politicians and social scientists.
Any how, the Ima`m, peace be on him, wrote this brilliant treatise and presented it to some of his companions.
1 Then it was narrated by the great religious scholar, the trustworthy Muslim, Tha`bit b. Abi Saffiya, better known as Abu Hamza al-Thuma`li
2, the student of the Ima`m, peace be on him. Then it was reported on his authority by the very truthful traditionalist, Hujjat al-Isla`m, Mohammed b. Ya'qu`b al-Kulayni
3, and al-Hasan b. 'Ali b. al-Husayn b. Shu'ba al-Harra`ni in (his book) 'Tuhaf al-'Uqu`l'. I (the author) have narrated it on his (al-Hasan's) authority as follows:
A Brief Introduction to Rights
Before the Ima`m, peace be on him, explained the rights, he wrote a brief introduction to them, saying:
"Know (may Allah have mercy upon You) that Allah has rights against you and that these encompass you in every movement through which you move, every rest through which you rest, every way station in which you reside, every limb which you employ, and every instrument which you put to work. Some of these rights are greater and some less.
"The greatest of Allah's rights against you is the right which He has made incumbent upon you for Himself and which is the root of all rights, then those which He has made incumbent upon you in yourself,
____________
1 Al-Khisa`l.
2 Al-Kashi, al-Khisa`l.
3 Men la` Yahdarahu al-Faqïh. Al-Khisa`l.
( 493 )
from your crown to your feet, in keeping with the diversity of your organs. He has given your tongue a right against you, your hearing a right against you, your sight a right against you, your hand a right against you, your leg a right against you, your stomach a right against you, and your private part a right against you. These are the seven organs through which acts (af'a`l) take place.
"Then He gave your acts rights against you: He gave your ritual prayer a right against you, fasting a right against you, your charity a right against you, your offering a right against you, and your acts a right against you.
"Then these rights extend out from you to others who have rights against you. The most incumbent of them against you are the rights toward your Ima`ms, then the rights toward your subjects (ra'iyya), then the rights toward your womb [relatives] (rahim).
"From these rights branch out other rights. The rights of your Ima`ms are three: The most incumbent upon you is the right of him who trains you through authority, then of him who trains you through knowledge, then of him who trains through property.
"The rights of your subjects are three: The most incumbent upon you is the right of those who are your subjects through authority, then the right of those who are your subjects through knowledge(for the man of ignorance is the subject of man of knowledge(then the right of those who are subjects through property, such as wives and what is owned by your right hand.
"The rights of your womb relatives are many; they are connected to you in the measure of the connection of the womb relations. The most incumbent upon you is the right of your mother, then the right of your father, then the right of your child, then the right of your brother, then the next nearest, then the next nearest(the most worth, then the next most worthy.
"Then there is the right of your master who favors you (by
( 494 )
freeing you from slavery), then the right of the slave whose favors reach you (by the fact that your free him), then the right of him who does a kindly act toward you, then the right of the mu'azzin who calls you to the ritual prayer, then the right of the Ima`m who leads the prayer, then the right of your sitting companion, then the right of your neighbor, then the right of your companion, then the right of your partner, then the right of your property, then the right of him who has a debt he must pay back to you, then the right of him to whom you owe a debt, then the right of your associate, then the right of your adversary who has a claim against you, then the right of your adversary against whom you have a claim, then the right of him who asks you for advice, then the right of him who asks your counsel, then the right of him who counsels you, then the right of him who is older than you, then the right of him who is younger than you, then the right of him who asks from you, then the right of him from whom you ask, then the right of him who does something evil to you through word or deed, or him who makes you happy through word or deed, intentionally or unintentionally, then the right of the people of your creed, then the right of the people under your protection, than all the rights in the measure of the causes of the states and the occurrence of events.
"Therefore happy is he whom Allah aids in the rights which He has made incumbent upon him and whom He gives success therein and points in the proper direction!"
These brilliant paragraphs of the Ima`m's words contain a brief display of the original rights which he, peace be on him, legislated for the Muslims.
The Rights in Detail
Let us listen to Ima`m Zayn al-'Abidin, peace be on him, to tell us in detail about these wonderful rights:
( 495 )
1. Rights of Allah
"The greatest right of Allah against you is that you worship Him without associating anything with Him. When you do that with sincerity (ikhla`s), He has made it biding upon Himself to give you sufficiency in the affair of this world and the next, and to preserve for you what you love of them." The greatest right of Allah against His servants is that they should worship Him sincerely and should not associate anyone in worshipping Him, for this will purify their hearts from deviation and free their intellects from enslavement and dependence on other than Him. As for worshipping other than Allah, such as idols, is abasement and enslavement, destroys man's dignity and honor, and throws him into low places, while Allah, the Exalted, has guaranteed those who worship Him sincerely through making it biding upon Himself to give them sufficiency in the affair of this world and the next.
2. Rights of Self
"The right of your (nafs) against you is that you employ it in obeying Allah; then you deliver to your tongue its right, to your hearing its right, to your sight its right, to your hand its right, to your leg its right, to your stomach its right, to your private part its right, and you seek help from Allah in all that."
The Ima`m, peace be on him, has mentioned the rights of self against man. The self has right against man. The most important of them is that he should employ it in obeying Allah and works which please Him, and should not make it walk on the path of Satan. With this man can rescue his soul from dangers and destruction, and save it from great evil. The Ima`m has mentioned that each limb has a right against man, so let's listen to his detailed speech about these rights.
( 496 )
3. Rights of Tongue
"The right of the tongue is that you consider it too noble for obscenity, accustom it to good, force it to politeness, silence it except for the situation of an argument and interest of the religion and the world, refrain from any meddling in which there is nothing to be gained, express kindness to the people, and speak well concerning them. There is no strength save in Allah, the Most High, the Almighty"
The tongue is the most important limb in man's body and is the most dangerous of them in his life. Man should confess men's rights and possessions, hence the jurists said: "Man's confessing against himself is permissible." Man is honored or abused through his words. People respect him when he does good and look down upon him when he does evil, hence the Ima`m, peace be on him, summoned him to:
A. Consider his tongue too noble for obscenity, lest he should be low and insulted.
C. Accustom it to good words and what profits people and does not harm them.
D. Force it to speak politely and say good words which are raised to Allah.
E. Silence it except for accomplishing a need of the religious and worldly affairs.
G. Prevent it from any meddling in which there is nothing to be gained.
These are some affairs to which the Muslim person should accustom his tongue. It is certain that they raise his importance and strengthen his position.
( 497 )
4. Rights of Hearing
"The right of hearing is to keep it pure from listening to backbiting (ghiba) and listening to that to which it is unlawful to listen. There is no strength save in Allah."
The ear plays an important role in forming man's character and conduct, for it carries various words to his mind, hence he should use it as means to carry noble moral traits and good qualities.
5. Rights of Sight
"The right of sight is that you lower it before everything which is unlawful to you and that you take heed whenever you look at anything." The eye has rights against man. Among them is that he should prevent it from looking at what Allah has prohibited as well as he should use it in useful things such as knowledge, that he may with it educate himself and profit his society.
6. Rights of the two Legs
"The right of your two legs is that you walk not with them toward that which is unlawful to you. You have no escape from standing upon the narrow bridge (al-sira`t [over hell]), so you should see to it that your legs do not slip and cause you to fall into the Fire. There is no strength save in Allah." Allah has created for man the two legs to walk with them toward the places of provision, hence their right against him is that he should walk with them toward the path of good and righteousness; he has no right to walk with them toward the unlawful things such as betraying man and stealing his possessions.
7. Rights of Hand
"The right of your hand is that you stretch it not toward that which is unlawful to you." The Ima`m, peace be on him, mentioned
( 498 )
the right of hand against man; its right is that he should not stretch it toward what Allah has made unlawful such as stealing men's possessions, aggression against them, and helping a wrong-doer, hence he is worthy of punishment in the next world and men's blame in this world.
8. Rights of Stomach
"The right of your stomach is that you make it into a container for that which is unlawful to you and you eat no more than your fill." The Ima`m, peace be on him, expressed the rights of stomach against man, of which are the following:
A. He should not eat unlawful food, for it results in bad qualities such as the cruelty of the heart and negligence which deviates him from the straight path.
B. He should be moderate in having lawful foods and drinks.
C. He should not eat more than his fill, lest he should be afflicted by indigestion which causes laziness, turning away from kindness and generosity and noble moral traits. Besides it stops all the mental abilities and leads to bodily diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure, and plumpness.
9. Rights of Private Part
"The right of your private part is that you protect it from that which is unlawful to you and seek help against it through lowering your sight, for it is the most useful helper, remembering death very much, threatening yourself with Allah, and frighten it with Him. Protection and support (come) through Allah, there is neither force nor strength save in Him."
The sexual life in Islam depends on chastity, virtue, and refraining from committing fornication. As for the protective ways
( 499 )
which prevent man from committing this crime, they are as the Ima`m mentioned:
A. Prevent your eye from looking at the unlawful, for sight plays an important role in falling into the unlawful; in some traditions it has been mentioned: "The fornication of the eye."
B. Increase remembering death, for it puts an end to the agitation of sexual desire.
C. Threaten your soul with Allah, the Almighty, and frighten it with His punishment, for this plays an important role in destroying the crime of fornication.
