Al-Sahifa e Alaviya

Supplication 28
His supplication on the 15th Shaban and Thursday night

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In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

O Allah! Bless Muhammad and his progeny. O Allah! I beseech You by Your mercy which encompasses all things
And by Your power by which You overcometh all things and submit to it all things and humble before it all things And by Your might by which You hast conquered all things
And by Your majesty against which nothing can stand up And by Your grandeur which prevails upon all things And by Your authority which is exercised over all things And by Your own self that shall endure forever after all things have vanished
And by Your Names which manifest Your power over all things And by Your knowledge which pervades all things And by the light of Your countenance which illuminates everything
O You who are the light!
O You who are the most holy!
O You who existed before the foremost! O You who shall exist after the last! O Allah! Forgive me my such sins as would affront my continency
O Allah! Forgive me my such sins as would bring down calamity O Allah! Forgive me my such sins as would change divine favours (into disfavours (O Allah! Forgive me my such sins as would hinder my supplication
O Allah! Forgive me such sins as bring down misfortunes (or afflictions)
O Allah! Forgive my such sins as would suppress hope O Allah! Forgive every sin that I have committed and every error that I have erred
O Allah! I endeavour to draw myself nigh to You through Your invocation And I pray to You to intercede on my behalf And I entreat You by Your benevolence to draw me nearer to You And grant me that I should be grateful to You and inspire me to remember and to invoke You
O Allah! I entreat You begging You submissively, humbly and awestrickenly To treat me with clemency and mercy, and to make me pleased and contented with what You hast allotted to me And cause me to be modest and unassuming in all circumstances
O Allah! I beg You as one who is passing through extreme privation and who supplicates his needs to You and his hope has been greatly raised by that which is with You
O Allah! Great is Your kingdom and exalted is Your greatness Your plan is secret, Your authority is manifest, Your might is victorious and subduing and Your power is prevalent throughout and it is not possible to escape from Your dominion
O Allah! Except You I do not find any one able to pardon my sins nor to conceal my loathsome acts Nor have I any one except You to change my evil deeds into virtues There is no god but You glory and praise be to You
I have made my own soul to suffer I had the audacity (to sin) by my ignorance Relying upon my past remembrance of You and Your grace towards me O Allah!
My Lord! How many of my loathsome acts hast You screened (from public gaze) How many of my grievous afflictions (distresses) hast
You reduced in severity And how many of my stumblings hast You protected, how many of my detestable acts has You averted, and how many of my undeserving praises hast You spread abroad!
O Allah! My trials and sufferings have increased and my evilness has worsened, my good deeds have diminished and my yokes (of misdeeds) have become firm
And remote hopes restrain me to profit (by good deeds) and the world has deceived me with its allurements and my own self has been affected by treachery and procrastination
Therefore, my Lord! I implore You by Your greatness not to let my sins and my misdeeds shut out access to my prayers from reaching Your realm and not to disgrace me by exposing those (hidden ones) of which You hast knowledge nor to hasten my retribution for those vices and misdeeds committed by me in secret which were due to evilmindedness, ignorance, excessive lustfulness and my negligence
O Allah! I beg You by Your greatness to be compassionate to me in all circumstances and well disposed towards me in all matters
My God! My Nourisher! Have I anyone except You from whom I can seek the dislodging of my evils and understanding of my problems?
My God! My Master! You decreed a law for me but instead I obeyed my own low desires And I did not guard myself against the allurements of my enemy He deceived me with vain hopes whereby I was led astray and fate helped him in that respect
Thus I transgressed some of its limits set for me by You and I disobeyed some of Your commandments; You hast therefore a (just) cause against me in all those matters and I have no plea against Your judgement passed against me I have therefore become (justifiably) liable to Your judgement and afflictions
But now I have turned You, my Lord, after being guilty of omissions and transgressions against my soul, apologetically, repentantly, broken heartedly, entreating earnestly for forgiveness, yieldingly confessing (to my guilt) as I can find no escape from that which was done by me and having no refuge to which I could turn except seeking Your acceptance of my excuse and admitting me into the realm of Your capacious mercy
O Allah! Accept my apology and have pity on my intense sufferings and set me free from my heavy fetters (of evil deeds)
My Nourisher! Have mercy on the infirmity of my body, the delicacy of my skin and the brittleness of my bones O' You! Who originated my creation and (accorded me) my individuality, and (ensured) my upbringing and welfare (and provided) my sustenance (I beg You) to restore Your favours and blessings upon me as You didst in the beginning of my life
O' my God! My master! My Lord! And my Nourisher! What! Wilt You see me punished with the fire kindled by You despite my belief in Your unity?
And despite the fact that my heart has been filled with (pure) knowledge of You and when my tongue has repeatedly praised You and my conscience has acknowledged
Your love and despite my sincere confessions (of my sins) and my humble entreaties submissively made to Your divinity?
Nay, You are far too kind and generous to destroy one whom thyself nourished and supported, or to drive away from Thyself one whom You has kept under Your protection, or to scare away one whom Your self hast given shelter, or to abandon in affliction one You hast maintained and to whom You hast been merciful I wish I had known o' my Master,
my God and my Lord! Wilt You inflict fire upon faces which have submissively bowed in prostration to Your greatness, or upon the tongues which have sincerely confirmed Your unity and have always expressed gratitude to You,
or upon hearts which have acknowledged Your divinity with conviction, or upon the minds which accumulated so much knowledge of You until they became submissive to You, or upon the limbs which strove, at the places appointed for Your worship, to adore You willingly and seek Your forgiveness submissively?
Such sort (of harshness) is not expected from You as it is remote from Your grace, o' generous one!
O' Lord! You are aware of my weakness to bear even a minor affliction of this world and its consequence and adversity affecting the denizen of this earth, although such afflictions are momentary, short-lived and transient
How then can I bear the retributions and the punishments of the hereafter which are enormous and of intensive sufferings, of prolonged period and perpetual duration, and which shall never be alleviated for those who deserve the same as those retributions will be the result of Your wrath;
and Your punishment which neither the heavens nor the earth can withstand and bear! My Lord! How can I, a weak, insignificant, humble, poor and destitute creature of Thine be able to bear them?
O' my God! My Lord! My King! And Master! Which of the matters shall I complain to You and for which of them shall I bewail and weep?
shall I bewail for the pains and pangs of the punishment and their intensity or for the length of sufferings and their duration?
Therefore (my Lord!) If You wilt subject me to the penalties (of hell) in company of Your enemies and cast me with those who merited Your punishments and tear me apart from Your friends and those who will be near to You, then my God, my Lord and my Master,
though I may patiently bear Your punishments, how can I calmly accept being kept away from You? I reckon that though I may patiently endure the scorching fire of Your hell, yet how can I resign myself to the denial of Your pity and clemency? How can I remain in the fire while I have hopes of Your forgiveness? O' my Lord! By Your honour truly do I swear that, if You wilt allow my power of speech to be retained by me in the hell, I shall amongst its inmates cry out bewailingly unto You like the cry of those who have faith in Your kindness and compassion And I shall bemoan for You (for being deprived of nearness to You) the lamentation of those who are bereaved, and I shall keep on calling unto You: "Where are You o' Friend of the believers!
O' (You who are) the last hope and resort of those who acknowledge You and have faith in Your clemency and kindness; o' You who are the helper of those seeking help! O' You who are dear to the hearts of those who truly believe in You! And o' You who are the Lord of the universe." My Lord! Glory and praise be to You, wouldst You (wish) to be seen (disregarding) the voice of a muslim bondman, incarcerated therein (the hell) for his disobedience and imprisoned within its pits for his evildoings and misdeeds, crying out to You the utterance of one who has faith in Your mercy and calling out to You in the language of those who believe in Your unity and seeking to approach You by means of
Your epithet "the Creator, the Nourisher, the Accomplisher and the Protector of the entire existence"? My Lord! Then how could he remain in torments when he hopefully relies upon Your past forbearance, compassion and mercy? And how can the fire cause him suffering when he hopes for Your grace and mercy and how can its roaring flames char him when You hearest his voice and sees his plight? And how can he withstand its roaring flames when You knowest his fraility?
And how can he be tossed about between its layers when You knowest his sincerity? And how can the guards of hell threaten him when he calls out to You? "My Lord", and how would You abandon him therein (the hell) when he has faith in Your grace to set him free?
Alas! That is not the concept (held by us) of You nor has Your grace such a reputation nor does it resemble that which You hast awarded by Your kindness and generosity to those who believe in Your unity I definitely conclude that hadst You not ordained punishment for those who disbelieved in You, and hadst You not decreed Your enemies to remain in hell, You wouldst have made the hell cold and peaceful and there would never have been an abode or place for any one in it; but sanctified be Your Names, You hast sworn to fill the hell with the disbelievers from amongst the jinns and mankind together and to place forever Your enemies therein
And You, exalted be Your praises, hadst made manifest, out of Your generosity and kindness, that a believer is not like unto him who is an evil-liver. My Lord!
My Master! I, therefore implore You by that power which You determineth and by the decree which You hast finalised and ordained whereby You hath prevailed upon whom You hast imposed it, to bestow upon me this night and this very hour the forgiveness for all the transgressions that I have been guilty of, for all the sins that I have committed, for all the loathsome acts that I have kept secret and for all the evils done by me, secretly or openly, in concealment or outwardly and for every evil action that You hast ordered the two noble scribes to confirm whom You hast appointed to record all my actions and to be witnesses over me along with the limbs of my body, whilst You observeth over me besides them and wast witness to those acts concealed from them?
Which You in Your mercy hast kept secret and through Your kindness unexposed and I pray to You to make my share plentiful in all the good that You dost bestow; in all the favours that You dost grant; and in all the virtues that You dost allow to be known everywhere; and in all the sustenance and livelihood that You dost expand and in respect of all the sins that You dost forgive and the wrongs that You dost cover up
O' Lord! O' Lord! O' Lord! O' my God! My Lord! My King! O' Master of my freedom! O' You who holdeth my destiny and who are aware of my suffering and poverty, o' You who knoweth my destitution and starvation, o' my Lord! O' Lord, o' Lord! I beseech You by Your glory and Your honour, by Your supremely high attributes and by Your names to cause me to utilise my time, day and night, in Your remembrance, by engaging myself in serving You (Your cause) and to let my deeds be such as to be acceptable to You, so much so that all my actions and offerings (prayers) may be transformed into one continuous and sustained effort and my life may take the form of constant and perpetual service to You O' my Master! O' You upon Whom I rely! O' You unto Whom I express my distress!
O' my Lord! My Lord! My Lord! Strengthen my limbs for Your service and sustain the strength of my hands to persevere in Your service and bestow upon me the eagerness to fear You and constantly to serve You So that I may lead myself towards You in the field with the vanguards who are in the fore rank and be swift towards You among those who hasten towards You and urge eagerly to be near You and draw myself towards You like them who sincerely draw themselves towards You and to fear You like the fear of those who believe firmly in You and thus I may join the congregation of the faithful congregated near You (for protection) O' Allah! Whosoever intendeth evil against me, let ill befall on him and frustrate him who plots against me and assign for me a place in Your presence with the best of Your bondsmen and nearer abode to You, for verily that position cannot be attained except through Your grace and treat me benevolently, and through
Your greatness extend Your munificence towards me and through Your mercy protect me and cause my tongue to accentuate Your remembrance and my heart filled with Your love and be liberal to me by Your gracious response and cause my evils to appear fewer and forgive me my errors.
For verily, You hast ordained for Your bondsmen Your worship and bidden them to supplicate unto You and hast assured them (of Your) response So, my Lord! I look earnestly towards You and towards You, my Lord! I have stretched forth my hands therefore, by Your honour, respond to my supplication and let me attain my wishes and, by Your bounty, frustrate not my hopes and protect me from the evils of my enemies, from among the jinns and mankind o' You! Who readily pleased, forgive one who owns nothing but supplication for You doest what You willest o' You! Whose Name is the remedy (for all ills) and Whose remembrance is a sure cure for all ailments and obedience to Whom makes one self sufficient; have mercy on one whose only asset is hope and whose only armour is lamentation O' You! Who perfecteth all bounties and Who wardeth off all misfortunes! O' Light! Who illuminateth those who are in bewilderment!
O' Omniscient! Who knoweth without (acquisition of) learning! Bless Mohammed and the Descendants of Mohammed and do unto me in accordance with that which befitteth You, and deal with me not in accordance to my worth
May the blessings of Allah be bestowed upon His Apostle and the Rightful Imams from his Descendants and His peace be upon them plentifully.