O God,
O He through whose Mercy sinners seek aid!
O He to the remembrance of whose beneficence the distressed flee!
O He in fear of whom the offenders weep!
O Comfort of every lonely stranger!
O Relief of all who are downcast and distressed!
O Aid of everyone abandoned and alone!
O Support of every needy outcast!
You are He
who embraces everything in mercy and knowledge!94
You are He
who have appointed for each creature a share of Your favors!
You are He
whose pardon is higher than His punishment!
You are He
whose mercy runs before His wrath!
You are He
whose bestowal is greater than His withholding!
You are He
by whose mercy all creatures are embraced!
You are He
who desires no repayment by him upon whom He bestows!
You are He
who does not overdo the punishment of him who disobeys You!
And I, my God, am Your servant
whom You commanded to supplicate
and who said:
I am at Your service and disposal!
Here am I, my Lord,
thrown down before You.
I am he
whose back offenses have weighed down!
I am he
whose lifetime sins have consumed!
I am he
who was disobedient in his ignorance,
while You did not deserve that from him!
Will You, my God,
be merciful toward him who supplicates You,
that I should bring my supplication before You?
Will You forgive him who weeps to You
that I should hurry to weep?
Will You show forbearance toward
him who puts his face in the dust before You in lowliness?
Will You free from need
him who complains to You of his indigent need with confidence?
My God,
disappoint not him who finds no bestower
other than You,
and abandon not him who cannot be freed from his need for You
through less than You!
My God,
so bless Muhammad and his Household,
turn not away from me
when I have turned my face toward You,
deprive me not
when 1 have besought You,
and slap not my brow with rejection
when I have stood before You!
You are He who has described Himself by mercy,
so bless Muhammad and his Household
and have mercy upon me!
You are He who has named Himself by pardon,
so pardon me!
You have seen, my God,
the flow of my tears
in fear of You,
the throbbing of my heart
in dread of You,
and the infirmity of my limbs
in awe of You.
All this from my shame before You
because of my evil works!
So my voice has become silent,
no longer crying to You,
and my tongue has gone dumb,
no longer whispering in prayer.
My God,
so to You belongs praise!
How many of my flaws You have covered over
without exposing me!
How many of my sins You have cloaked
without making me notorious!
How many faults I have committed, yet You did not
tear away from me their covering,
collar me with their detested disgrace,
or make their dishonor plain
to those of my neighbors who search for my defects
and to those who envy Your favor toward me!
But that did not prevent me from passing on
to the evil that You know from me!
So who is more ignorant than I, my God,
of his own right conduct?
Who is more heedless than I
of his own good fortune?
Who is further than I
from seeking to set himself right?
For I spend the provision You deliver to me
in the disobedience You have prohibited to me!
Who sinks more deeply into falsehood
and is more intensely audacious in evil than I?
For I hesitate between Your call and the call of Satan
and then follow his call
without being blind in my knowledge of him
or forgetful in my memory of him,
while I am certain that Your call takes to the Garden
and his call takes to the Fire!
Glory be to You!
How marvelous the witness I bear against my own soul
and the enumeration of my own hidden affairs!
And more marvelous than that is Your lack of haste with me,
Your slowness in attending to me!
That is not because I possess honor with You,
but because You wait patiently for me
and are bountiful toward me
that I may refrain from disobedience displeasing to You
and abstain from evil deeds that disgrace me,
and because You love to pardon me more than to punish!
But I, my God, am
more numerous in sins,
uglier in footsteps,
more repulsive in acts,
more reckless in rushing into falsehood,
weaker in awakening to Your obedience,
and less attentive and heedful toward Your threats,
than that I could number for You my faults
or have the power to recount my sins.
I only scold my own soul,
craving Your gentleness,
through which the affairs of sinners are set right,
and hoping for Your mercy,
through which the necks of the offenders are freed.
O God,
this is my neck,
enslaved by sins,
bless Muhammad and his Household
and release it through Your pardon!
This is my back,
weighed down by offenses,
bless Muhammad and his Household
and lighten it through Your kindness!
My God,
were I to weep to You until my eyelids drop off,
wail until my voice wears out,
stand before You until my feet swell up,
bow to You until my backbone is thrown out of joint,
prostrate to You until my eyeballs fall out,
eat the dirt of the earth for my whole life,
drink the water of ashes till the end of my days,
mention You through all of that until my tongue fails,
and not lift my glance to the sky’s horizons in shame before You,
yet would I not merit through all of that
the erasing of a single one of my evil deeds!
Though You forgive me when I merit Your forgiveness
and pardon me when I deserve Your pardon,
yet I have no title to that through what I deserve,
nor am I worthy of it through merit,
since my repayment from You
from the first that I disobeyed You
is the Fire!
So if You punish me,
You do me no wrong.
My God, since You have
shielded me with Your covering
and not exposed me,
waited patiently for me through Your generosity,
and not hurried me to punishment,
and shown me clemency through Your bounty,
and not changed Your favor upon me
or muddied Your kindly acts toward me,
have mercy on my drawn out pleading,
my intense misery,
and my evil situation!
O God,
bless Muhammad and his Household,
protect me from acts of disobedience,
employ me in obedience,
provide me with excellent turning back [to You],
purify me through repentance,
strengthen me through preservation from sin,
set me right through well-being,
let me taste the sweetness of forgiveness,
make me the freedman of Your pardon
and the slave released by Your mercy,
and write for me a security
from Your displeasure!
Give me the good news of that
in the immediate, not the deferred
– a good news I recognize –
and make known to me therein a sign
which I may clearly see!
That will not constrain You in Your plenty,
distress You in Your power,
ascend beyond Your lack of haste,
or tire You in Your great gifts,
which are pointed to by Your signs.
Verily You do what You will,
You decree what You desire.
You are powerful over everything.