Prayers of Imam Zayn-ul-Abideen (p)

By: Ali El-Saleh

As-Sahifa as-Sajjadiya is a collection of about 54 supplications of holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him & his pure progeny)’s 4th infallible successor Al-Imam Zayn-ul-Abidin (peace be on him) who was martyred on Muharram 25.

The renowned scholar, late At-Tantawi wrote: “The invocations in this book have two distinct approaches: the one seeks for the knowledge and guidance to keep away from sins and evil things, while the other persuades and exhorts one to enable one's 'self' by performance of virtuous deeds. We may say that these Invocations, full of knowledge and guidance, are a wonderful treasure of secrets, and contain hints regarding self-rapprochement, admission of shortcomings, with tears and self-purification, warding off vicissitudes and difficulties, safe-guarding oneself from the tyrannies of the enemy, recovery from various diseases and so on. All such du'as are found mostly in the first part of the book, while the later part consists of the loftiness and grandeur of Allah, His creation and other wonders of His power and might.”

Here are some of the supplications from as-Sahifa as-Sajjadiya:

Supplication by fearful

My God,

what thinkest Thou?

Wilt Thou chastise me after my faith in Thee,

drive me far away after my love for Thee,

deprive me while I hope for Thy mercy and forgiveness,

forsake me while I seek sanctuary in Thy pardon?

How could Thy generous face disappoint me?!

Would that I knew - Did my mother bear me for wretchedness?

Did she nurture me for suffering?

Would then that she had not borne me

and had not nurtured me!

Would that I had knowledge –

Hast Thou appointed me one of the people of felicity?

Hast Thou singled me out for Thy nearness and neighbourhood?

Then would my eyes be gladdened,

and in that my soul reach serenity.

My God,

dost Thou blacken faces which fall down in prostration

before Thy mightiness?

Dost Thou strike dumb tongues which speak in laudation

of Thy glory and majesty?

Dost Thou seal hearts which harbour Thy love?

Dost Thou deafen ears which take pleasure in hearing

Thy remembrance according to Thy will?

Dost Thou manacle hands which expectations have raised to Thee

in hope of Thy clemency?

Dost Thou punish bodies which worked to obey Thee

until they grew thin in struggling for Thee?

Dost Thou chastise legs which ran to worship Thee?

My God,

lock not toward those who profess Thy Unity

the doors of Thy mercy,

and veil not those who yearn for Thee

from looking upon the vision of Thy beauty!

My God,

a soul which Thou hast exalted by its professing Thy Unity –

how wilt Thou burn it in the heat of Thy fires?

My God,

give me sanctuary

from Thy painful wrath

and Thy mighty anger!

O All-loving, O All-kind!

O Compassionate, O Merciful!

O Compeller, O Subduer!

O All-forgiver, O All-covering!

Deliver me through Thy mercy

from the chastisement of the Fire

and the disgrace of shame

when the good are set apart from the evil,

forms are transformed,

terrors terrify,

the good-doers are brought near,

the evildoers taken far,

and every soul is paid in full what it has earned,

and they shall not be wronged!

Supplication by Hopeful

O He who

gives to a servant

who asks from Him,

takes him to his wish

when he expectantly hopes for what is with Him,

brings him near and close

when he approaches Him,

covers over his sin and cloaks it

when he shows it openly,

and satisfies and suffices him

when he has confidence in Him!

My God,

who is the one who has come before Thee

seeking hospitality,

and whom Thou hast not received hospitably?

Who is the one who has dismounted at Thy door

hoping for magnanimity,

and to whom Thou hast not shown it?

Is it good that I come back from Thy door,

turned away in disappointment,

while I know of no patron qualified by beneficence but Thee?

How should I have hope in other than Thee,

when the good - all of it - is in Thy hand?

How should I expect from others,

when Thine are the creation and the command?

Should I cut off my hope for Thee,

when Thou hast shown me of Thy bounty

that for which I have not asked?

Wouldst Thou make me have need for my like?

But I hold fast to Thy cord!

O He through whose mercy

the strivers reach felicity

and through whose vengeance

the seekers of forgiveness are not made wretched!

How should I forget Thee,

while Thou never ceasest remembering me?

How should I be diverted from Thee

while Thou art my constant watcher?

My God,

I have fastened my hand

to the skirt of Thy generosity,

I have stretched forth my expectation

toward reaching Thy gifts,

so render me pure through the purest profession of Thy Unity,

and appoint me one of Thy choice servants!

O He who is the asylum of every fleer,

the hope of every seeker!

O Best Object of hope!

O Most Generous Object of supplication!

O He who does not reject His asker

or disappoint the expectant!

O He whose door is open to His supplicators

and whose veil is lifted for those who hope in Him!

I ask Thee by Thy generosity to show kindness toward me

through Thy gifts,

with that which will gladden my eye,

through hope in Thee,

with that which will give serenity to my soul,

and through certainty

with that which

will make easy for me the afflictions of this world

and lift from my insight the veils of blindness!

By Thy mercy,

O Most Merciful of the merciful!

END