His Supplication in Hardship, Effort, and Difficult Affairs
O God,
You have charged me concerning myself
with that which belongs more to You than to me.
Your power over it and over me is greater than my power,
so give me in myself
what will make You pleased with me
and take for Yourself
Your good pleasure in my self’s well-being!
O God,
I have no endurance for effort,
no patience in affliction,
no strength to bear poverty.
So forbid me not my provision
and entrust me not to Your creatures,
but take care of my need alone
and Yourself attend to sufficing me!
Look upon me and look after me in all my affairs,
for if You entrust me to myself,
I will be incapable before myself
and fail to undertake that in which my best interest lies.
If You entrust me to Your creatures,
they will frown upon me,
and if You make me resort to my kinsfolk,
they will refuse to give to me;
if they give, they will give little and in bad temper,
making me feel long obliged
and blaming me much.
So through Your bounty, O God,
free me from need,
through Your mightiness, lift me up,
through Your boundless plenty, open my hand,
and with that which is with You, suffice me!
O God,
bless Muhammad and his Household,
rid me of envy, encircle me against sins,
make me abstain from things unlawful,
give me not the boldness of disobedient acts,
assign me love for that which is with You
and satisfaction with that which comes to me from You,
bless me in that which You provide me,
that which You confer upon me,
and that through which You favor me,
and make me in all my states
safeguarded, watched, covered, defended,
given refuge, and granted sanctuary!
O God,
bless Muhammad and his Household
and let me accomplish everything
which You have enjoined upon me
or made obligatory for me toward You,
in one of the ways of Your obedience,
or toward one of Your creatures,
though my body be too frail for that,
my strength too feeble,
my power not able to reach it,
and my possessions and what my hand owns
not encompass it,
and whether I have remembered it or forgotten it.
It, my Lord, is among that which
You have counted against me
while I have been heedless of it in myself.
Let me perform it through Your plentiful giving
and the abundance which is with You –
for You are Boundless, Generous –
so that nothing of it may remain against me,
lest You would wish to settle accounts for it
from my good deeds
or to compound my evil deeds
on the day I meet You, my Lord!
O God,
bless Muhammad and his Household
and provide me with desire to serve You
for the sake of my state in the hereafter,
such that I know the truthfulness of that [desire] in my heart,
be dominated by renunciation while in this world,
do good deeds with yearning,
and remain secure from evil deeds in fright and fear!
And give me a light whereby
I may walk among the people,
be guided in the shadows,
and seek illumination in doubt and uncertainty!
O God,
bless Muhammad and his Household
and provide me with fear of the threatened gloom
and yearning for the promised reward,
such that I may find
the pleasure of that for which I supplicate You
and the sorrow of that from which I seek sanctuary in You!
O God,
You know what will set my affairs right
in this world and the next,
so be ever gracious toward my needs!
O God,
bless Muhammad and Muhammad’s Household
and provide me with what is Your right
when I fall short in thanking You
for that through which You have favored me
in ease and difficulty,
health and sickness,
such that I may come to know in myself
repose in satisfaction
and serenity of soul
in that which You have made incumbent upon me
in whatever states may occur:
fear and security,
satisfaction and displeasure,
loss and gain!
O God,
bless Muhammad and his Household
and provide me with a breast safe from envy,
such that I envy none of Your creatures
and in anything of Your bounty
and such that I see none of Your favors
toward any of Your creatures
in religion or this world,
well-being or reverential fear,
plenty or ease,
without hoping for myself better than it
through and from You alone,
who has no associate!
O God,
bless Muhammad and his Household
and provide me in this world and the next
with caution against offenses
and wariness against slips
in the state of satisfaction and wrath,
such that I may remain indifferent
toward that which enters upon me
from the two states,
work toward Your obedience,
and prefer it and Your good pleasure over all else
in both friends and enemies.
Then my enemy may stay secure
from my wrongdoing and injustice
and my friend may despair
of my inclination
and the bent of my affection.
Make me one of those who supplicate You
with sincerity in ease
with the supplication of those
who supplicate You with sincerity in distress!
Verily You are Praiseworthy, Glorious.