O my Protector!
Thou art He who was gracious,
Thou art He who blessed,
Thou art He who worked good,
Thou art He who was kind,
Thou art He who was bounteous,
Thou art He who perfected,
Thou art He who provided,
Thou art He who gave success,
Thou art He who bestowed,
Thou art He who enriched,
Thou art He who contented,
1
Thou art He who sheltered,
2
Thou art He who sufficed,
Thou art He who guided,
Thou art He who preserved (from sin),
Thou art He who covered (my sins),
Thou art He who forgave,
Thou art He who overlooked,
Thou art He who established (in the earth),
3
Thou art He who exalted,
Thou art He who aided,
Thou art He who supported,
Thou art He who confirmed,
Thou art He who helped,
Thou art He who healed,
Thou art He who gave well-being,
Thou art He who honored
- blessed art Thou
and high exalted!
So Thine is the praise everlastingly,
and Thine is gratitude enduringly and forever
Them I, my God, confess my sins,
so forgive me for them.
I am he who did evil,
I am he who made mistakes,
I am he who purposed (to sin),
I am he who was ignorant,
I am he who was heedless,
I am he who was negligent,
____________
1. Cf. Quran LIII, 48: "He it is who enriches and contents."
2. Cf. Quran XCIII, 6: "Did He not find thee an orphan and shelter Thee?"
3. Cf Quran VII, 10: "We have established you in the earth ...".
( 82 )
I am he who relied (upon other than Thee),
I am he who premeditated,
I am he who promised,
I am he who went back on his word,
I am he who confessed (my sins)
and I am he who acknowledged Thy blessings upon me
and with me and then returned to my sins.
So forgive me for them,
O He who is not harmed by the sins of His servants
nor needs He their obedience.
He gives success through His aid and His mercy to
whomsoever of them works righteousness.
So praise belongs to Thee, My God and My Lord!
My God, Thou commanded me and I disobeyed
and Thou forbade me and I committed what Thou hadst
forbidden.
I became such that I neither possessed any mark of
guiltlessness
that I might ask forgiveness
nor any power
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 of them Thy blessings given to me?
And with all of them I disobey Thee, O my Protector!
Thine is the argument and the means against me.
1
O He who veiled me (my sins) from fathers and mothers lest
they drive me away,
from relatives and brothers lest they rebuke me,
and from kings lest they punish me!
If they had seen, O my Protector, what Thou hast seen
from me,
____________
1. Cf Quran VI, 150: "To God belongs the argument conclusive."
( 83 )
they would not have given me respite,
they would have abandoned 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 might be helped.
There is no argument with which I might argue,
nor can I say I committed not (sins) and worked not evil.
And denial, were I to deny-my Protector!-could hardly
profit me.
How could it ever do that?
For all of my members are witness against me for what I
have done.
1
And I acted 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 Thy every just
act.
If thou chastisest me, O my God, it is for my sins after
Thy argument against me;
and if Thou pardonest me, it is by Thy clemency,
generosity and kindness.
"There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one of the wrong-doers" (XXI, 87).
There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one of those who pray forgiveness.
There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one of those who profess Thy Unity.
There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one of the fearful.
There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one of those who are afraid.
There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one of the hopeful.
There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one of those who yearn.
____________
1. Cf Quran XLI, 19-20: "Upon the day when God's enemies are mustered to the Fire duly disposed, till when they are come to it, their hearing, their eyes and their skins bear witness against them concerning what they have been doing."
( 84 )
There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one of those who say "There is no god
but Thou".
There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one of the petitioners.
There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one of the glorifiers.
There is no god but Thou, glory be to Thee!
Truly I am one of those 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 in remembering Thee by professing Thy
Unity,
and my acknowledgment of Thy bounties by
enumeration,
even though I acknowledge
that I cannot reckon them for their multitude,
their abundance,
their manifestness
and their existence from ancient times
until a present in which Thou hast never ceased to
care for me through them
from when Thou created me and brought me into
existence in the beginning of (my) life,
by enriching from poverty,
relieving affliction,
bringing ease,
removing hardship,
dispelling distress,
and (giving me) well-being in body
and soundness in religion.
Were all 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 and high exalted,
a generous,
mighty,
merciful
( 85 )
Lord.
Thy bounties cannot be reckoned,
nor Thy praise accomplished,
nor Thy blessings repaid.
Bless Muhammad and the household of Muhammad,
complete Thy blessings upon us
and aid us in Thy obedience.
Glory be to Thee! There is no god but Thou.
O God, truly Thou hearest the destitute,
removest the evil,
1
succourest the afflicted,
healest the sick,
enrichest the poor,
mendest the broken,
hast mercy upon the young
and helpest the old.
There is no Support other than Thee
and none powerful over Thee.
And Thou art the Sublime, the Great.
O Freer of the prisoner in irons!
O Provider of the infant child!
O Protection of the frightened refugee!
O He who has no associate and no assistant!
Bless Muhammad and the household of Muhammad,
and give me this evening the best of what Thou hast given
to and bestowed upon any of Thy servants,
whether a blessing Thou assignest,
a bounty Thou renewest,
a trial Thou avertest,
an affliction Thou removest,
a prayer Thou hearest,
a good deed Thou acceptest
or an evil deed Thou overlookest.
Truly Thou art gracious,
Aware of what Thou wilt,
and Powerful over all things!
O God, truly Thou art the nearest of those who are called,
the swiftest of those who answer,
the most generous of those who pardon,
the most openhanded of those who give
____________
1. Cf. Quran XXVII, 62: "He who answers the constrained, when he calls unto Him, and removes the evil and appoints you to be successors in the earth."
( 86 )
and the most hearing of those who are asked of.
O Merciful and Compassionate in this 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 to me,
I set Thee as my quest and Thou hadst mercy upon me,
I depended upon Thee and Thou delivered me,
I took refuge with Thee and Thou sufficed me,
O God, so bless Muhammad, Thy servant, 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 as those who thank Thee and remember
Thy bounties.
Amen, amen, O Lord of all beings!
O God, O He who owned and then was all-powerful,
was all-powerful and then subjected,
was disobeyed and then veiled (the sin of disobedience),
and was prayed forgiveness and then forgave.
O Goal of yearning seekers
and utmost Wish of the hopeful!
O He who "encompasses everything in knowledge" (LXV,12)
and embraces those who seek pardon in tenderness,
mercy and clemency!
O God, truly we turn towards Thee this evening,
which Thou honored and glorified through Muhammad,
Thy prophet and messenger,
the elect of Thy creation,
the faithful guardian of Thy-revelation which bears good
tidings and warning and which is the light-
giving lamp
1
which Thou gavest to those who surrender (al-muslimin)
and appointed as a mercy to the world's inhabitants.
2
O God, so bless Muhammad and the household of Muhammad,
just as Muhammad is worthy of that from Thee,
O Sublime!
So bless him and his elect, good and pure household, all
of them,
____________
1. Cf Quran XLI, 4 and XXXIII, 46.
2. Cf Quran XXI, 107.
( 87 )
and encompass us in Thy pardon,
for to Thee cry voices
in diverse languages.
So appoint for us a share this evening, O God,
of every good which Thou dividest among Thy servants,
every light by which Thou guidest,
1
every mercy which Thou spreadest,
2
every blessing which Thou sendest down,
every well-being with which Thou clothest
and every provision which Thou outspreadest.
3
O Most merciful of the merciful!
O God, transform us now into men successful,
triumphant,
pious,
and prosperous.
Set us not among those who despair,
empty us not of Thy mercy,
deprive us not of that bounty of Thine for which we hope,
and set us not among those deprived of Thy mercy,
nor those who despair of the bounty of Thy gift for which
we hope.
Reject us not with the disappointed,
nor those driven from Thy door.
O Most Magnanimous of the most magnanimous!
O Most Generous of the most generous!
Toward Thee we have turned having sure faith,
repairing to and bound for Thy Sacred House.
4
So help is with our holy rites,
perfect for us our pilgrimage,
pardon us,
and give us well-being,
for we have extended toward Thee our hands
and they are branded with the abasement of confession.
O God, so give us this evening what we have asked of Thee
and suffice us in that in which we have prayed Thee to
suffice us,
____________
1. The symbolism of light and darkness is employed often in the Quran, not to mention its usage in Sufism and philosophy, such as the School of Illumination (ishraq) of Suhrawardi. A good example of Quranic usage is the following: "God is the Protector of the believers; He brings them forth from the shadows into the light" (II, 257). There is also the famous "Light Verse" (XXIV, 35), which contains the sentence "God guides to His Light whom He will."
2. Cf Quran XLII, 28.
3. Cf Quran XVII, 30.
4. Again a reference to the rites performed on the Day of Arafah. The "Sacred House" is of course the Ka'bah.
( 88 )
for there is none to suffice us apart from Thee
and we have no lord other than Thee.
Put into effect concerning us is Thy decision,
encompassing us is Thy knowledge
1
and just for us is Thy decree.
Decree for us the good
and place us among the people of the good!
O God make encumbent upon us through Thy magnanimity
the mightiest wage,
the most generous treasure
and the lastingness of ease.
Forgive us our sins, all of them,
destroy us not with those who perish,
2
and turn not Thy tenderness and mercy away from us,
O Most Merciful of the merciful!
O God, place us in this hour among those
who ask of Thee and to whom Thou givest,
who thank Thee and whom Thou increasest,
3
who turn to Thee in repentance and whom Thou
acceptest
4
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 our entreaty.
O Best of those from whom is asked!
And O Most Merciful of those whose mercy is sought!
O He from whom is not hidden the eyelids' winking,
the eyes' glancing,
that which rests in the concealed,
and that which is enfolded in hearts' hidden secrets!
What, has not all of that been reckoned in Thy knowledge
and embraced by Thy clemency?
Glory be to Thee and high indeed art Thou exalted above
____________
1. Cf. Quran LXV, 12.
2. The word "destroy" (ahlak, from whose root is derived the word "those who perish", halikun) is used repeatedly in the Quran in reference to God's punishment of the evildoers, especially those of generations and ages past, as a sign and a warning for those present. For example, "Have they not regarded how We destroyed before them many a generation ..." (VI, 6). See also X, I4; XIX, 98; XXI, 9; etc.
3. Cf Quran II, 58: "We will forgive you your sins and will increase (reward) for the right-doers."
4. Cf Quran IX, 104: "God is He who accepts repentance from His servants."
( 89 )
what the evil-doers say!
The seven heavens and the earths and all that is therein praise
Thee,
and there is not a thing but hymns Thy praise.
1
So Thine is the praise, the glory and the exaltation of
majesty,
O Lord of majesty and splendor,
of bounty and blessing
and of great favor!
And Thou art the Magnanimous, the Generous,
the Tender, the Compassionate.
O God, give me amply of Thy lawful provision,
bestow upon me well-being in my body and my religion,
make me safe from fear
2
and deliver me from the Fire.
O God, devise not against me,
3
lead me not on step by step,
4
trick me not
5
and avert from me the evil of the ungodly among jinn
and men.
Then he lifted his head and eyes toward Heaven. Tears were flowing from his blessed eyes as if they were two waterskins, and he said in a loud voice:
O Most Hearing of those who hear!
O Most Seeing of those who behold!
O Swiftest of reckoners!
6
O Most Merciful of the merciful!
Bless Muhammad and the household of Muhammad,
the chiefs, the fortunate.
And, I ask of Thee, O God, my need.
If Thou 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.
____________
1. This sentence is almost a word for word quotation of Quran XVII, 44.
2. Cf. Quran CVI, 4: "Let them serve the Lord of this House who has ... made them safe from fear."
3. Cf. Quran III, 54: "And they devised, and God devised, and God is the best of devisers." See also Quran XIII, 42; XXVII, 50, etc.
4. Cf Quran VII, 182-183: "And those who cry lies to Our signs-step by step We lead them on from whence they know not." See also LXVIII, 44.
5. Cf. Quran IV, I42: "The hypocrites seek to trick God, but God is tricking them."
6. A divine Name appearing in Quran VI, 62.
( 90 )
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 had been gathered around him, who had listened to an of his prayer and who had limited themselves to saying "amen" raised their voices in weeping. They stayed in his company until the sun went down, and then all of them loaded their mounts and set out in the direction of the Sacred Monument.
1
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.
Beholders' eyes fall short of seeing Him,
describers' imaginations are not able to depict Him.
He originated the creatures through His power with an origination, He devised them in accordance with His will with a devising.
Then He made them walk on the path of His desire,
He sent them
2 out on the way of His love.
They cannot keep back
from that to which He has sent them forward,
nor can they go forward
to that from which He has kept them back.
He assigned from His provision to each of their spirits
a nourishment known and apportioned.
No decreaser decreases those whom He increases,
no increaser increases those of them whom He decreases.
Then for each spirit He strikes a fixed term in life,
____________
1. At this point the compiler remarks that some sources add another section to Imam Husayn's prayer, a section which he then relates himself. Other authorities, such as Majlisi, express their doubts as to the authenticity of this last section. In fact it is almost certainly by Ibn 'Ata'allah al-Iskandari, and therefore I have not translated it here. Readers interested will find a translation in V. Danner, Ibn 'Ata'illah's Sufi Aphorisms, Leiden, 1973, pp. 64-9. See W. Chittick, "A Shadhili Presence in Shi'ite Islam", Sophia Perennis, vol. I, no. 1, 1975, pp. 97-100.
2. In Talkhis al-riyad, a commentary on the ,Sahifah (Tehran, 1381/1961-2, p. 34) al-Sayyid 'Alikhan al-Shirazi (d. 1120/1708-9), mentions an objection that some people might be tempted to make here, i.e., that "the pronoun 'them' refers to all creatures, while certain of the creatures are God's enemies, so how should this statement be correct? The answer is that in its essential and primordial nature according to which it was originally created (cf. Quran XXX, 30), every soul loves and seeks the good, and all good flows from God's goodness, just as all existence flows from His Being. Therefore in reality the creatures love only Him, even if their love be in accordance with His Name 'the Outward' and in terms of external beauty and goodness, or worldly station and property, or anything else." Then al-Shirazi quotes Ibn al-'Arabi in the Futuhat al- makkiyyah: "None loves any but his Creator, but He is hidden from him under the veil of Zaynab, Su'ad, Hind and Layla (names of women), dirhams and dinars, worldly position, and all that exists in the world, for one of the causes of love is beauty-which belongs only to Him-since beauty incites love through its very nature. Now, 'God is beautiful, and He loves beauty' (a saying of the Prophet), and thus He loves Himself. Another cause of love is virtue (ihsan) and virtue is only perfect when it comes from God: None is virtuous but God (la muhsin illa-llah). So if you love beauty, you love none other than God, for He is the Beautiful; and if you love virtue, you love none other than He, for He is the Virtuous. In every case, the object of love is none other than God." This is one of the themes of the Lama'at of Fakhr al-Din 'Iraqi, translated by W. C. Chittick and P. L. Wilson, New York, forthcoming.
( 91 )
for each He sets up a determined end;
he walks toward it through the days of his span,
he overtakes it through the years of his time.
Then, when he takes his final step
and embraces the reckoning of his span,
God seizes him to the abundant reward
or the feared punishment
to which He has called him,
That He may repay those who do evil for what they have done
and repay those who do good with goodness, (LIII, 3I)
as justice from Him
(holy are His names,
and manifest His boons).
He shall not be questioned as to what He does,
but they shall be questioned. (XXI, 23)
Praise belongs to God, for,
had He withheld from His servants the knowledge to praise Him
for the uninterrupted kindnesses
with which He has tried them
and the manifest favours
1
which He has lavished upon them,
they would have moved about in His kindnesses
without praising Him,
and spread themselves out in His provision
without thanking Him.
Had such been the case,
they would have left the bounds of humanity
for that of beastliness
and become as He has described in the firm text of His Book :
2
They are but as the cattle-nay, but they are further astray from the way!.(XXV,44)
Praise belongs to God, for
the true knowledge of Himself He has given to us,
the thanksgiving He has inspired us to offer Him,
the doors to knowing His Lordship He has opened for us,
the sincerity towards Him in professing His Unity
to which He has led us,
and the deviation and doubt in His Command
____________
1. Cf. Quran LXXXIX, 15-16: "As for man, whenever his Lord tries him, and honours him, and blesses him, then he says, 'My Lord has honoured me'."
2. On the meaning of "clear text of His Book", see above, p. 56, note 48.
( 92 )
from which He
1 has turned us aside;
a praise through
which we may be given long life
among those of His creatures who praise Him,
and overtake those who have gone ahead
toward His good pleasure and pardon;
a praise through which
He will illuminate for us the shadows of the interworld,
2
ease for us the path of the Resurrection,
3
and raise up our stations
at the standing places of the Witnesses
4
on the day when every soul will be repaid
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 rise up from us to the highest of the 'Illiyun
5
in a book inscribed,
witnessed by those brought nigh, [LXXXIII, 20-21]
a praise whereby
our eyes may be at rest when sight is dazzled,
6
our faces whitened when skins are blackened,
7
a praise through which
we may be released from God's painful Fire
and enter God's generous neighbourhood,
a praise by which
we may jostle the angels brought nigh
____________
1. Literally, "concerning His affair (amr)". Al-Shirazi explains "His affair" as meaning "either the knowledge of His nature and attributes, or of His religion and Shari'ah" (p.56).
2. Here the Interval or "isthmus" (barzakh) refers to the time between death and resurrection. It is referred to in Quran XXIII, 100: "And beyond them is an Interval until the day when they are raised." See Shi'ite Islam, pp. I64-5; also the Encyclopedia of Islam (new edition), vol. I, pp. 1071-2.
3. According to a hadith of the Prophet, "Verily the passage from the grave to the Plain of Gathering ('arsat al-mahshar) on the Day of Resurrection will be burdensome for some people and smooth for others" (quoted by al-Shirazi, p.62).
4. The Stations of the Witnesses (mawaqif al-ash'ad) are the stations of angels, prophets, Imams and believers who at the Resurrection act as witnesses over the deeds performed by men during their earthly lives. These Witnesses are referred to in Quran XI, 18 and XL, 51.
5. 'Illiyun, mentioned in Quran LXXXIII, 18 and 19, is variously interpreted. For example, it is said to be the highest level of heaven, or a place in the seventh heaven where the souls of believers are taken after their death, or the book in the seventh heaven in which are written the deeds of angels and of righteous men and jinn.
6. Cf. Quran LXXV, 7 ff.: "But when sight is confounded and the moon is eclipsed and sun and moon are united, on that day man will cry: Whither to flee !"
7. Cf. Quran III, 106: "The day when some faces are blackened, and some faces whitened. As for those whose faces are blackened-'Did you disbelieve after you had believed? Then taste the chastisement for that you disbelieved.'"
( 93 )
and join the prophets, the envoys,
in a House of Permanence that does not remove,
the Place of His Generosity that does not change.
Praise belongs to God,
who chose for us the good qualities of creation,
granted us the agreeable things of provision,
1
and appointed for us excellence
through domination over all creation;
every one of His creatures submits to us
through His power
and comes to obey us
through His might.
2
Praise belongs to God,
who locked for us the gate of need
except toward Him.
So how can we praise Him?
When can we thank Him?
Indeed, when?
3
Praise belongs to God,
who placed within us the organs of expansion,
assigned for us the agents of contraction,
4
gave us to enjoy the spirits of life,
5
fixed within us the limbs of works,
nourished us with the agreeable things of provision,
freed us from need through His bounty,
and gave us possessions through His kindness.
6
Then He commanded us that He might test our obedience
and prohibited us that He might try our thanksgiving.
So we turned against the path of His commandments
and mounted the backs of His warnings.
7
Yet He hurried us not to His punishment,
8
nor hastened us on to His vengeance.
No, He went slowly with us through His mercy,
in generosity,
____________
1. Cf. Quran XL, 64: "And He shaped you, and shaped you well, and provided you with the good things".
2. Besides the many Quranic verses which point to man's "central" position in the Universe because of his capacity as viceregent or caliph of God, the being who partakes of all of the divine Names and Attributes, there are many other verses indicating one of the major results of his special rank: his domination over all of the Universe. For example: "And He subjected to you the night and day, and the sun and moon" (XVI); "Have you not seen how God has subjected to you whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth ?" (XXXI, 20). See also XIV, 32-33; XXII, 65, etc.
3. The Arabic reads "la mata", which according to al-Shirazi can be interpreted in two ways: either it means "Nay (it is impossible to thank Him), when (could it be possible?)", or "(It is) not (correct to say) when, (for that implies that it is possible to thank Him)" (p.75).
4. According to al-Shirazi, the reference is to the expansion and contraction of the organs of the body, such as nerves, muscles, veins, arteries, flesh, etc. (p.75)
5. Or "breaths of life". Al-Shirazi comments: "Arwa'h may be the plural of ruh, meaning spirit, in which case the meaning is explained by the tradition transmitted from Imams 'Ali, al-Baqir and al-Sadiq: 'There are five (spirits) possessed by Those Brought Nigh (cf. Quran LVI, II): the spirit of sanctity, through which they know all things; the spirit of faith, through which they worship God; the spirit of power, through which they wage holy war against enemies and attend to their livelihood; the spirit of passion, through which they partake in the joy of food and marriage; and the spirit of the body, through which they move and advance. There are four spirits possessed by the Companions of the Right (Quran LVI, 8), since they lack the spirit of sanctity; and there are three possessed by the Companions of the Left (Quran LVI, 8) and beasts, since they lack (the spirit of sanctity and) the spirit of faith.
"Arwah may also be the plural of rawh, which is a 'breath of wind'. The arteries of the body possess two movements, contractive and expansive. It is their function to draw 'smoky' vapors from the heart with their contractive movement and to attract with their expansive movement fresh and pure breaths of air, through which the heart is refreshed and its natural heat is drawn from it. By means of this 'breath of wind' the animal faculty and the natural heat are diffused throughout the body. Thus this breath of wind by which the heart refreshes itself is the 'breath of life'. If it is cut off from the heart for a period of time, life also will be cut off from it" (p.75).
6. Cf. Quran LIII, 48: "And that He it is who enriches and contents."
7. Al-Shirazi explains that "path" is used in the singular and "trackless wastes" in the plural because the "straight path" is one, while the ways of going astray are many: "This is My straight path, so follow it. Follow not other ways, lest ye be parted from His way" (Quran VI, 154).
8. Cf. Quran X, 12: "If God should hasten unto men evil (i.e., punishment), as they would hasten good, their term would be already decided for them."
( 94 )
and awaited our return through His clemency,
in mildness.
Praise belongs to God,
who showed us the way to repentance,
which we would not have won save through His bounty.
Had we nothing to count as His bounty but this,
His trial of us would have been good,
His beneficence
1 toward us great,
His bounty upon us immense.
For such was not His wont in repentance
with those who went before us.
2
He has lifted up from us
what we have not the strength to bear,
3
charged us only to our capacity,
4
imposed upon us nothing but ease,
5
and left none of us with an argument or excuse.
6
So the perisher among us is he who perishes in spite of Him
7
and the felicitous among us he who beseeches Him.
And praise belongs to God
with all the praises of
His angels closest to Him,
His creatures most noble in His eyes,
and His praisers most pleasing to Him;
a praise that may surpass other praises
as our Lord surpasses all His creatures.
Then to Him belongs praise,
in place of His every favour upon us
and upon all His servants, past and still remaining,
to the number of all things His knowledge encompasses,
____________
1. Bala', translated here as "benefit", usually means "test", "trial", or "misfortune", but here it is used as in Quran VIII, 17, which Arberry, following the commentators, translates, " . . . that He might confer on the believers a fair benefit." See al-Shirazi, p.81.
2. According to Al-Shirazi (p. 81), this is a reference to the difference between God's "wont" (sunnah) concerning repentance with the Muslims and His wont with the Jews. From the former He only asks regret (al-nadam), but from the latter in addition to regret He also asks "killing of themselves" (qatl anfusihim) as indicated in Quran II, 54: "And when Moses said unto his people: O my people! Ye have wronged yourselves by your choosing of the calf (for worship) so turn in repentance to your Creator; and kill yourselves."
3. Cf. Quran II, 286: "Our Lord ! Lay not on us such a burden as Thou didst lay on those before us ! Our Lord ! Impose not on us that which we have not the strength to bear!"
4. Cf. Quran II, 286: "God charges no soul save to its capacity." According to al-Shirazi this sentence is a reference to the obligations which-according to Muslim beliefs-God imposed upon the Jews, such as, "the performance of fifty canonical prayers per day, the payment of one-fourth of their property in alms ...". Also it is a reference to the verse, "For the evildoing of those of Jewry, We have forbidden them certain good things that were permitted to them" (Quran IV, 160). See al-Shirazi, pp.82-83.
5. Cf. such Quranic verses as, "He has chosen you and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship" (XXII, 78).
6. Cf Quran IV, 165: "Messengers of good cheer and warning, in order that mankind might have no argument against God after the messengers"; and LXVI, 7: "O ye who disbelieve! Make no excuses for yourselves this day. Ye are only being paid for what ye used to do."
7. "In spite of Him" ('alayh) is explained by al-Shirazi as meaning, "In spite of God's disliking (that he should perish), for He is not pleased that any of His servants should perish. Thus it is that He spreads His mercy over them and hurries them not to punishment for their sins. Rather He is patient with them in His mercy and waits for their return in His kindness. He opens for them the door of repentance, lifts from them that which they have not the strength to bear and charges them only to their capacity. So it is as if whoever perishes because of his evil deeds after all of this does so in spite of the fact that God does not want him to do so" (p.84).
( 95 )
and in place of each of His favours,
their number doubling and redoubling always and forever,
to the Day of Resurrection;
a praise whose bound has no utmost end,
whose number has no reckoning,
whose limit cannot be reached,
whose period cannot be cut off;
1
a praise which will become
a link to His obedience and pardon,
a tie to His good pleasure,
a means to His forgiveness,
a path to His Garden,
a protector against His vengeance,
a security against His wrath,
an aid to obeying Him,
a barrier against disobeying Him,
a help in fulfilling His right and His duties;
a praise that will make us felicitous
among His felicitous friends,
2
and bring us into the ranks
of those martyred
3 by the swords of His enemies.
He is a Friend, Praiseworthy!
4
2. Prayer for the Morning and Evening
Praise belongs to God,
who created night and day
through His strength,
set them apart
through His power,
and appointed for each
a determined limit
and a drawn-out period.
5
He makes each of the two enter into its companion,
and makes its companion enter into it,
6
____________
1. Al-Shirazi points out that the Imam first gives the Day of Resurrection as the outer limit of His praise, then as a sort of admonition lest he be misunderstood extends it in conformity with Him who is praised. In the same way in another prayer he says, "A praise eternal (khalid) with Thy Eternity" (p.88).
2. The term "friend" (wali) of God, referred to for example in the verse, "He befriends the righteous" (VIII, 190), is interpreted in many ways. According to certain theologians the wali is a person whose belief is sound, who performs his religious duties and who as a result has attained proximity to God. In Sufism the term takes on a technical meaning and is often translated as "saint". See al-Shirazi, pp.91-92.
3. According to a hadith of the Prophet related through the sixth Imam, "Beyond every one who possesses piety, there are other pious acts, until he is killed in the path of God: when he has been killed in the path of God, there is no further act of piety" (al-Shirazi, p. 93). See also such Quranic verses as III, 157; III, I69 and IV, 74.
4. Al-Shirazi remarks, "The appropriateness of terminating this prayer, which is dedicated to praise, with the name 'Praiseworthy' is obvious" (p.93).
5. Cf. Quran XXXVI, 39: "It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day."
6. Cf. Quran XXXV, 13: "He makes the night enter into the day and He makes the day enter into the night." The same or similar verses occur several times in the Quran, including III, 27; XXII, 61; XXXI, 29; and LVII, 6.
( 96 )
as an ordainment from Him for His servants
in that through which He feeds them
and with which He makes them grow.
He created for them the night,
that they might rest in it
from tiring movements
and wearisome exertions
1
and He made it a garment for them
that they might be clothed
in its ease and its sleep,
2
that it might be for them refreshment and strength,
that they might reach therein pleasure and passion.
He created for them the daytime, giving sight,
that they might seek within it of His bounty,
3
find the means to His provision,
and roam freely in His earth,
searching for that through which
to attain the immediate in their life in this world
and to achieve the deferred in their life to come.
Through all of this He sets right their situation,
tries their records,
4
and watches their state in
the times for obeying Him,
the waystations of His obligations,
and the places of His ordinances,
that He may repay those who do evil with what they have done
and repay those who do good with goodness.(LIII,31)
O God,
to Thee belongs praise
for the sky Thou hast split into dawn for us,
5
giving us to enjoy thereby the brightness of daytime,
showing us sought-after nourishments,
and protecting us from the striking of blights.
In the morning we and all things, every one, rise for Thee,
____________
1. Reference to Quran X, 68 and several identical or similar verses: "It is He who made for you the night to repose in it."
2. Cf Quran XXV, 47: "It is He who appointed the night for you to be a garment and sleep for a rest . . ." and other similar verses.
3. Cf. Quran XVII, 12: "We . . . made the sign of the day to see, and that you may seek bounty from your Lord" and other similar verses.
4. Cf. Quran XLVII, 31: "And We shall assuredly try you until We know those of you who struggle and are steadfast, and try your tidings."
5. Cf. Quran VI, 97: "He splits the sky into dawn ..."
( 97 )
the heaven and the earth
and what Thou hast scattered in each,
1
the still and the moving,
the resident and the journeying,
what towers up in the air and what hides under the ground.
We rise in the morning in Thy grasp:
Thy kingdom and authority contain us
and Thy will embraces us.
We move about by Thy command
2
and turn this way and that through Thy governing.
We own nothing of the affair
except what Thou hast decreed
and nothing of the good
except what Thou hast given.
This is a fresh, new day,
over us a ready witness.
If we do good,
it will take leave from us with praise,
and if we do evil,
it will part from us in blame.
3
O God,
bless Muhammad and his Household,
provide us with the day's good companionship
and preserve us against parting from it badly
by doing a misdeed
or committing a sin, whether small or great!
4
Make our good deeds within it plentiful
empty us therein of evil deeds,
and fill what lies between its two sides for us
with praise and thanksgiving,
wages and stores,
bounty and beneficence!
O God,
ease our burden on the Noble Writers,
5
fill our pages for us
with our good deeds,
6
____________
1. Cf. Quran XLV, 3-4: "Surely in the heavens and the earth there are signs for the believers; and in your creation, and the crawling things He scatters abroad, there are signs for a people having sure faith."
2. Al-Shirazi points out that "command" (amr) here means the "ontological (takwini) command" (p. 217). Philosophers and theologians distinguish this, which refers to the laws of creation and which all must obey by the very nature of things, from the "legislative (tashri'i) command", which refers to the laws set down by God in revelation and which man can obey or disobey according to his own free will. The "ontological command" is referred to in such verses as: "His command, when He desires a thing, is to say to it 'Be', and it is" (XXXVI, 81).
3. Al-Shirazi quotes a tradition from the sixth Imam: "No day comes upon the son of Adam without saying to him, 'O son of Adam, I am a new day and I am a witness against thee. So speak good in me and work good in me, and I shall witness for thee upon the Day of Resurrection, for after this thou shalt never see me again'" (p.218).
4. The distinction between minor (saghirah) and major (kabirah) sins is much discussed in Islamic theology. For a sample of Shi'ite views, see al- Shirazi, pp.219-223.
5. The angels who write down the deeds of men are referred to in Quran LXXXII, 10-11: "Yet there are over you watchers noble, writers who know whatever you do." In explaining what is meant by "Ease our burdens on them", al-Shirazi quotes the celebrated Safavid theologian, Shaykh-i Baha'i: "This is an allusion to seeking protection with God from excessive talk and from excessive occupation with what entails neither worldly nor other-worldly gain: then the Noble Writers will have fewer of our words and deeds to record." The Prophet said, "I am astonished at the son of Adam: his two angels are on his shoulders, his speech is their pen and his saliva their ink. How can he speak of that which does not concern him?" (p. 224).
6. Cf. Quran LXXXI, especially 10-14: "And when the pages are laid open, and when the sky is torn away, and when hell is ignited, and when the garden is brought nigh, (then) every soul will know what it has made ready."
( 98 )
and degrade us not before them
with our evil works!
O God,
appoint for us in each of the day's hours
a share from Thy servants,
1
a portion of giving thanks to Thee,
and a truthful witness among Thy angels!
O God,
bless Muhammad and his Household
and safeguard us from before us and behind us,
from our right hands and our left hands
and from all our directions,
2
a safeguarding that will preserve from disobeying Thee,
guide to obeying Thee,
and be employed for Thy love!
O God,
bless Muhammad and his Household
and give us success in this day of ours,
this night of ours,
and in all our days,
to employ the good,
stay away from the evil,
give thanks for favours,
follow the Sunna's norms,
avoid innovations,
enjoin good behaviour,
forbid the disapproved,
3
defend Islam,
diminish falsehood and abase it,
help the truth and exalt it,
guide the misguided,
assist the weak,
and reach out to the troubled!
O God,
bless Muhammad and his Household
____________
1. According to al-Shirazi the meaning is, "Appoint for us some of Thy servants that we may seek illumination through their lights and follow in their tracks." He adds a long discussion of the elevated position of the "servant" ('abd), noting that in his highest form he is even more exalted than the messenger. This is the reason for the word order of the formula which every Muslim repeats in his canonical prayers: "Muhammad is His servant and His messenger". Al-Shirazi also points out that some manuscripts read "servanthood" ('ibadah) for "servants" ('ibad) and that this is more in keeping with the context (pp. 227-8).
2. This is a reference to the words of Satan in the Quran: "Then I shall come on them from before them and from behind them and from their right hands and their left hands; Thou wilt not find most of them thankful" (VII, 17).
3. Al-amr bi-l-ma'ruf wa-l-nahy 'an al-munkar, according to Shi'ites one of the pillars of Islam, and a command which is repeated many times in the Quran, such as VII, 157, and IX, 71.
( 99 )
and make this
the most fortunate day we have known,
the most excellent companion we have accompanied,
and the best time in which we have lingered!
Place us among
the most satisfied of all Thy creatures
whom night and day have passed by,
the most thankful of them
for the favours Thou hast done,
the firmest of them
in the laws Thou hast set down in the Shari'a,
and the most unyielding of them
toward the prohibited acts
against which Thou hast cautioned!
O God,
I call Thee to witness
- and Thou art sufficient witness -
and I call Thy heaven and Thy earth to witness
and Thy angels and Thy other creatures who inhabit them
in this my day,
this my hour,
this my night,
and this my resting place,
that I bear witness
that Thou art God,
other than whom there is no god,
Upholding justice,
2
Equitable in judgement,
Clement to the servants,
Master of the kingdom,
3
Compassionate to the creatures,
and that Muhammad is Thy servant and Thy messenger,
Thy chosen from among Thy creatures.
Thou didst charge him with Thy message
and he delivered it;
4
____________
1. The verse "God is sufficient witness" occurs several times in the Quran, such as IV, 79; X, 29, etc.
2. These two lines are an almost word for word quotation from Quran III, 18.
3. A divine Name occurring in Quran III, 26.
4. Cf. such verses as the following: "Say: 'Obey God and obey the Messenger; then if you turn away, only upon him rests what is laid on him .... It is only for the Messenger to deliver the Message" (XXIV, 34).
( 100 )
Thou didsst command him to counsel his community
and he counselled it.
O God,
so bless Muhammad and his Household
more than Thou hast blessed any of Thy creatures!
Give him for our sake the best Thou hast given any of Thy servants,
and repay him on our behalf better and more generously
than Thou hast repaid any of Thy prophets
on behalf of his community!
Thou art All-kind with immensity,
the Forgiver of the great,
and Thou art more merciful
than every possessor of mercy!
So bless Muhammad and his Household,
the good, the pure, the chosen, the most distinguished!
