Abdullah bin Saleh Samahiji collected the supplications of Hazrat Ameerul Momineen Ali Ibne Abi Talib (a.s.) and named the collection: Sahifa Alawiyyah.
Other scholars also compiled their collections of Duas related from Imam Ali (a.s.) but the collection that became most popular was that of Abdullah bin Saleh. It had 160 Duas.
Sahifa Alawiyyah was first published in 1305 A.H. (1887 A.D.) from Bombay. Then from Majma’ al-Bahrayn Press, Ludhiana and after this in 1311 A.H. (1893 A.D.) from Tehran. The fourth time it was published from Nizami Press, Lucknow with translation and commentary in 1371 A.H. (1951 A.D.). But it is regretful that it did not mention the sources.
The supplications of Sahifa Alawiyyah can be broadly divided into two sections. The expression of Allah’s slaveship and the entreaties of the supplicant. Each of the supplications is a masterpiece of the expression of ones helplessness before the grandeur of the Almighty and only a personality like Imam Ali (a.s.) could have composed such Duas.
The present English Version is based on the Urdu translation of Sahifa Alawiya by Maulana Sayyid Murtuza Husain Lakhnavi, republished by Hyderi Kutub Khana.