This is a valuable and virtuous supplication narrated from Imam Mahdi (A.S.) and should be recited at times of great sufferings and hardships; this supplication has been named as the ‘Supplication of Abaraat’.
Here, we will narrated the supplication of Abaraat from the book ‘Balad ul Ameen’ of Sheikh Kaf’ami (R.A.). He writes:
This is a valuable and virtuous supplication narrated from Imam Mahdi (A.S.) and should be recited at times of great sufferings and hardships; this supplication has been named as the ‘Supplication of Abaraat’.
(It is as follows):
O’ Allah, I beseech You, O’ He who showers Mercy upon the teardrops, O’ He who ends the sorrows of hearts, You are the One who scatters the clouds of sorrows and grief while they become extremely heavy, and you set aside the clouds of temptations while they stretch over the land, and make their group dry and breakable, and demolish its pillars, and disintegrate its bones, and help the dominated ones dominate, and the demanded one as the demander, and the suppressed one as the dominant, and the overpowered one as the Powerful.
How many people have called out, O’ Lord, I am suppressed, help me, and You have opened the doors of the sky for his help showering its water, and split the springs for his support, and the water met the command that was made the destiny, and carried him with Your Sufficiency over the object which has boards and nails (ships),
O’ Lord! Bless Mohammad and his holy Progeny, and open the doors of Heaven from Your Help with showering water, and split open from Your support the springs so that the water of relief and peace meets what it has been destined for, and carry me, O’ My Lord, with Your Sufficiency, over the object having boards and nails (ships).
O’ He when his servant becomes confused with astonishment upon the arrival of night, and when he doesn’t find a supporter amongst his friend and relatives, O’ My Lord, he finds a supporter with Your Help, and a Guardian who helps him quickly, delivering him from the narrowness and entanglements of his affair, and makes the signs of his relief apparent for him.
O’ Allah! O’ He whose Power is Dominant, and Whose Signs are evident, and whose vengeance will destroys all the tyrants, and remove all the deceiving infidels, bless Mohammad and his holy Progeny, and supervise me, O’ My Lord, with a gaze of Your Merciful supervision, so that it sets aside the permanent and eternal darkness that had enveloped me, from the calamities which result in the dryness of the chests, and the destructions of cultivations, and result in bloodshed, and the overcoming of heart by hopelessness and distress, and due to which the heartbeats halt.
O’ Lord! Protect the trees which have been placed by the divine hands, and have been watered with the reviving water, and which will be delivered by entering heaven, protect it from being demolished by the hands of Satan, and being cut down into pieces by his axe.
O’ Lord, who is worthier than You for defending Your Sanctity? And who is more suitable than You to undertake the responsibility of guarding his near and dear ones.
O’ Allah! The Affair has become difficult, so make it easy; and it has become rigid, thus make it soft; the hearts have become weak and shivering, thus give them confidence; the breaths have become fearful and frightened, thus make them relaxed;
O’ My Lord! O’ My Lord! Help the trembling feet, and help the wandering and lost thoughts, until they witness that You have compensated their defeat; and that You have released their slaves, and have provided shelter to their refugees; as helplessness has harmed the distressed more than his capability, and has responded to its invocator with moaning and wails.
O’ my Master! Is it appropriate for Your Justice to entangle in difficulties those who have hope in You? Or is it appropriate for Your Grace to drown in sorrows and distress those who seek shelter in You?
O’ My Master! Although I haven’t suffered hardships for observing Piety, and haven’t obeyed you the way it would satisfy You, and haven’t joined the group which has released the world and resultantly their stomachs are facing hunger for You, and their lips have dried, and their eyes have swollen with weeping; in fact I came to You with weakness of deeds and religion, and my back has heaved from the burden of sins and mistakes, and I have habituated my soul with ease and relaxation, and I have submitted to my forces of lust.
O’ Lord! Is it not sufficient for me as a means towards You that I befriend You Friends, and that I am highly devoted to them, and have worn the attire of difficulties for them, and have studied the book of enduring hardships for them.
Is it not sufficient for me that I have been oppressed for them, and have remained silent, and that I am continuously bearing sorrows and entanglements? And have muted myself out of extreme fear?
O’ My Master! Would all these things not create a sanctity for me which cannot be destroyed? Or would it not give me a right which would deliver me with its littleness?
يا رَبِّ وَها أَنَا ذا غَريقٌ ، وَتَدَعُني هكَذا وَأَنَا بِنارِ عَدُوِّكَ حَريقٌ .
O’ Master! Why don’t You protect me when You can see me drowning? And why don’t You protect me while You can witness that I am entangled by the fire that Your enemy has lit up?
O My Master! Will You throw Your Friends before Your Enemies? And let them be deceived by their schemes? Will you let them be enslaved with their humiliation and disgrace? While all the souls are in Your hands; such that if You take their souls, they will freeze; their source of breathing is also in Your hands, such that if You stop it, they will die; then what stops You,
O’ Lord, from ending their mischief, and uncovering them from the cover of Your guardianship, and take away the good-health through which they wander on Your Earth, the same good-health that makes them stand arrogantly against Your Servants in the fields of oppression.
O’ Lord! Is there a King with a greater Dominion than You so that I turn towards him? Or whose favors are more extensive than You? Or whose reign is greater than Your rein? Or Whose support is more kind than Your support? What excuse would I have if You deprive someone who has come near You from Your Beneficence and kind behavior? While You are the one who never makes the hopeful hopeless, and You never reject the request of a requester.
O’ Lord! O’ Lord! Where is Your Sufficiency which becomes the support of the weak against the people, and where is Your blessings which itself is the shield for those who are targeted by the oppressions of life? Give it to me, give it to me,
O’ Lord, deliver me from the nation of oppressors, indeed I am distressed and You are the Most Merciful of all the Merciful.
مَوْلايَ تَرى تَحَيُّري في أَمْري ، وَتَقَلُّبي في ضُرّي ، وَانْطِوايَ عَلى حُرْقَةِ قَلْبي ، وَحَرارَةِ صَدْري ، فَصَلِّ يا رَبِّ عَلى مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِ مُحَمَّدٍ ، وَجُدْ لي يا رَبِّ بِما أَنْتَ أَهْلُهُ فَرَجاً وَمَخْرَجاً ، وَيَسِّرْ لي يا رَبِّ نَحْوَ الْبُشْرى مَنْهَجاً .
O’ Master! You witness my astonishment in my affair, and my struggling in entanglements, and You can witness my heart burning in flames, and the heat of my chest; thus bless Mohammad and his holy Progeny, and bestow upon me, O’ Lord, with such relief and exit that You are worthy of; and open a luminous way, O’ Lord, before our glowing faces;
وَاجْعَلْ يا رَبِّ مَنْ يَنْصِبُ لِيَ الْحِبالَةَ لِيَصْرَعَني بِها صَريعَ ما مَكَرَ ، وَمَنْ يَحْفِرُ لِيَ الْبِئْرَ لِيُوقِعَني فيها واقِعاً فيما حَفَرَ ، وَاصْرِفِ
O’ Lord! Whoever plans a trap against me so that I fall in it with his schemes, make him fall in his own trap, and whoever digs a well to trap me into falling in it, make him fall in his own well, and keep me away,
O’ Lord, from his evil and his plots and his corruption and his harm, like You keep them away from the nation of god-fearing men, and from those who have submitted themselves completely to their religion only, and to the invocator who invites towards faith.
O’ Lord! Your Servant, Your Servant, answer his supplication; Your weak, Your weak, relieve his sorrows; verily all his connections have broken except his connection with You, all shadows have moved away from him except Your shadow of Mercy.
O’ Master! If you reject our supplication, then where will our supplications be answered? If our optimism towards You is rendered false, then where will we seek help from? Do not reject from Your door someone who doesn’t know of any other door, and do not deprive from Your Courtyard those who don’t know of any other courtyard.
“O Lord! The face that has turned towards You with desire is worthy of receiving a position response, and the forehead that has prostrated before You with humility is worthy of reaching his goal, and the cheek that is rubbed on the ground before Your Threshold is worthy of attaining its motive and success;
وَها أَنَا ذا يا إِلهي قَدْ تَرى تَعْفيرَ خَدّي وَاجْتِهادي في مَسْئَلَتِكَ وَجِدّي ، فَتَلَقَّ يا رَبِّ رَغَباتي بِرَحْمَتِكَ قَبُولاً ، وَسَهِّلْ إِلى طَلِباتي بِرَأْفَتِكَ وُصُولاً، وَذَلِّلْ قُطُوفَ ثَمَرَةِ إِجابَتِكَ لي تَذْليلاً .
O’ Lord! Here I am before You with my cheek rubbing the ground struggling for achieving my demand from You; O’ Lord! Accept from me that which I desire with Your Mercy, and help me reach my demand with Your exclusive benevolence and grace, and make me eat the fruit of Your acceptance.
O’ Lord! When a needy introduces an intercessor for his demand, and You find him in such a state that his prosperity is prevented and he will easily become obedient; I have also taken Your Generosity and Kindness, and the chosen ones from Your Creations as my intercessors, those for whose sake You have created all that casts shadow and all the big and small things.
I seek Your nearness by means of the first person whom You have crowned with the crown of glory, and have adorned him with a spiritual nature, who is Your apparent Proof among Your creations, and Your trusted one upon Your servants, Your Prophet, Mohammad (peace be upon him and his Progeny),
and I have chosen such a person as my intercessor who is the bearer of Prophet’s Light, and who presented the hidden secret of his holiness in the most eloquent way, the Chief of all the successors and the Imam of the Pious, the ruler of the religion, the leader of the bright-faced men, and the father of all the noble Imams, Ali bin Abi Talib, the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him.
And I seek Your nearness by means of the best of the bests, the origin of the illuminating lights, the human-like nymph (Hawra), the Batool, the Pure, Lady Fatima az-Zahra;
and I chose the two lights of the Prophet’s eye as my intercessors, the fruit of Lady Batool’s heart, the two Sayyids, the two Imams, Abu Mohammad al-Hasan, and Abu Abdullah al-Husain,
and by the means of Sajjad, the beauty of worshippers, the one with patches (on the place of prostration), the monk of Arabs, Ali bin al-Husain,
and through the Imam of the world, the Sayyid, the Ruler, the apparent star, the evident moon, my Master, Mohammad bin Ali al-Baqir,
and through Imam as-Sadiq, the solver of all the difficult problems, the revealer of realities, the one who has made all the speakers silent with his proof and argument, and has muted the tongues of the debaters, the dweller of the best positions, my Master, Jafar bin Mohammad as-Sadiq,
and through Imam at-Taqi, the pious and chosen one, the Light of Ahmad, the Light of all the Lights, the luminescent sunlight, my Master, Musa bin Ja’far,
and through the Imam, the chosen one, the withdrawn sword, the content with the divine order, my Master, Ali bin Musa ar-Reza,
and through the great Imam, the intended divine door, the path of progress, the guided knower, the spring of wisdom, the lamp in darkness, the master of Arab and non-Arab, the guide towards welfare, the successful one with support and rightness, my Master, Mohammad bin Ali al-Jawad,
and through the Imam, the divine gift, the father of noble Imams, Ali bin Mohammad, born in the enemy’s army camp, who warned people with his sermons and advices,
and through the Imam, the glorified one from all sins, the purified one from the oppressions, the expert scholar, the spring of people’s heart, the laminating full moon, the pious, the purified, the clean, the intellectual, my Master, Abi Mohammad, al-Hasan bin Ali al-Askari;
and I seek You nearness through the protector and the knower, whom You have made the treasurer of all the earth’s treasures, the merciful father in whose hands lies the control of all the relief and narrowness, the Owner of Leadership and noble kingdom, the one who will uproot the cursed tree, who spoke to the people in his cradle, the leader towards the bright paths of excellence, who is concealed from the sights, who is present in the cities, but hidden from the eyes, and present in the thoughts, the remnant of the chosen ones, the inheritor of Zulfiqar, the one who will appear in the curtained ‘house of Allah’, the knower, the purified, Mohammad bin al-Hasan, may the best of greetings, absolute peace and greatest blessings be upon them.
O’ Allah, these noblemen are my shelters and means for presenting my requests in Your Threshold, bless them with a blessing whose quantity is not known to anyone except You, and the best of people’s effort cannot reach the least of its extent, fulfill my noblest of thoughts by their means, and fulfill my desires.
إِلهي لا رُكْنَ لي أَشَدُّ مِنْكَ ، فَآوي إِلى رُكْنٍ شَديدٍ ، وَلا قَوْلَ لي أَسَدُّ مِنْ دُعائِكَ ، فَأَسْتَظْهِرُكَ بِقَوْلٍ سَديدٍ ، وَلا شَفيعَ لي إِلَيْكَ أَوْجَهُ مِنْ هؤُلاءِ فَآتيكَ بِشَفيعٍ وَديدٍ ، وَقَدْ أَوَيْتُ إِلَيْكَ ، وَعَوَّلْتُ في قَضاءِ حَوائِجي عَلَيْكَ ، وَدَعَوْتُكَ كَما أَمَرْتَ ، فَاسْتَجِبْ لي كَما وَعَدْتَ ، فَهَلْ بَقِيَ يا رَبِّ غَيْرَ أَنْ تُجيبَ وَتَرْحَمَ مِنِّي الْبُكاءَ وَالنَّحيبَ .
O’ Lord! No pillar is stronger than You for me, thus I seek shelter in this strong base, and no speech is more noble and firm than invocating You, thus I seek you with the best speech, and there are no intercessors for me who are better than them (Mohammad and his Progeny), thus I come to you through a desirable means; I have sought shelter in You, and have relied upon You for the fulfillment of my demands, and have called You the way You commanded me, then accept me as You have Promised.
يا مَنْ لا إِلهَ سِواهُ ، يا مَنْ يُجيبُ الْمُضْطَرَّ إِذا دَعاهُ ، يا كاشِفَ ضُرِّ أَيُّوبَ ، يا راحِمَ عَبْرَةِ يَعْقُوبَ ، إِغْفِرْ لي وَارْحَمْني ، وَانْصُرْني عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكافِرينَ ، وَافْتَحْ لي وَأَنْتَ خَيْرُ الْفاتِحينَ .
O’ Lord! Does anything remain except responding to my desires and having mercy upon my weeping and moaning? O’ He except whom there is no God, O’ He who answers the distressed when he calls Him, O’ Reliever of Jacob’s Ayyoob’s sorrow, O’ He who had mercy upon Yaqoob’s tears, forgive me and have mercy upon me, help me against the nation of oppressors, and make me victorious as You are the best victory-giver, and be kind to me,
وَالْطُفْ بي يا رَبِّ وَبِجَميعِ الْمُؤْمِنينَ وَالْمُؤْمِناتِ ، يا ذَا الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتينِ ، بِرَحْمَتِكَ يا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمينَ ، وَالْحَمْدُ للَّهِِ رَبِّ الْعالَمينَ ، وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلى سَيِّدِنا مُحَمَّدٍ النَّبِيِّ وَآلِهِ الطَّاهِرينَ .
O’ Lord, and to all the faithful men and women, O’ Possessor of great Power, through Your Mercy, O’ the Most Merciful of all the Merciful, and Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. May Allah bless our Master, Mohammad, the Prophet, and his purified Progeny. [2]
[1] We have narrated from Allama Hilli (R.A.) that the supplication of Abaraat is associated with our master, Imam Sadiq (A.S.) and Imam Mahdi (A.S.) commanded Razi ud Deen Aavi for its recitation. In fact, some of the senior clerics have assumed that this supplication belongs to Imam Mahdi (A.S.) right from the beginning.
[2] Al Balad ul Ameen: p. 461
THE INCIDENT OF THE SUPPLICATION OF ABARAAT
At the end of his book ‘Minhaj us Salah’, Allama Hilli (R.A.) writes about the supplication of Abaraat:
This is a famous supplication that has been narrated from Imam Sadiq (A.S.). Sayyid Razi ud Deen Mohammad bin Mohammad bin Mohammad al-Aavi (R.A.) narrates a famous incident regarding this supplication, which is mentioned by one of the scholars in the footnotes of this supplication:
Fakhrud Deen Mohammad bin Sheikh Jamal ud Deen narrates from his honorable father, who narrates from his grandfather Yusuf, who was a jurisprudent, who narrates form the same Razi ud Deen that he said:
He was captured for a long period of time in the prison of one of the commanders of Sultan Jarmaghoon, and was living in extreme sufferings and hardships. Then one night, he witnessed the successor of Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.), i.e. Imam Mahdi (A.S.), in his dream and requested before him with tears: O’ my Master! Intercede in the Holy Threshold of Allah for my deliverance from the hands of this tyrant.
His holiness said: Recite the supplication of Abaraat.
He asked: What is the supplication of Abaraat?
He said: It is there in your book ‘Misbah’.
I asked: O’ my Master! It is not written in my book ‘Misbah’.
He said: Have a look in the book, you will find it.
He woke up from his sleep and offered the Morning Prayer. Then he opened his book ‘Misbah’ and found that between the pages of the book, a page has been placed on which the supplication of Abaraat has been written; he recited the supplication forty times.
The Commander had two wives. One of them was intelligent and had a nice perspective about the affairs, and this wife herself was reliable in the eyes of the commander.
The Commander went to her on her day. She told him: Have you captured one of the sons of Imam Ali (A.S.) in your prison?
He asked: Why do you ask such a question?
She said: I saw a man whose face illuminated like the sunlight, he caught my neck with two fingers and said: I see that your husband has imprisoned one of my sons, and makes him suffer for food and water?
I asked: Who are you, O’ my Master?
He said: I am Ali bin Abi Talib (A.S.). Tell your husband that if he doesn’t release my son, I will surely ruin his house.
This dream had an immense effect on the ruler, he said: I am unaware of this case; then he called for his representatives and asked: Have you imprisoned anyone?
They said: That Alavi old man whose imprisonment you had ordered.
He said: Release him and give him a horse for a ride and also guide him through the way so that he returns to his house. (End of the incident)
Ali bin Taoos (R.A.) writes at the end of his book ‘Muhaj ud Da’waat’: One among those incidents is the astonishing incident narrated to me by my dear friend, Mohammad bin Mohammad bin Qazi al-Aavi (May Allah exceed his good fortune and give him the best fate).
The incident was as follows:
An accident occurred in his life, as a result of which he found this supplication written on a few papers and placed in his book (whereas he hadn’t placed those papers in his book). He copied from those pages and after rewriting, he lost the original copy.
In the continuation, he wrote this supplication and mentioned that there is another manuscript narrated from a different way, whose text differs from this manuscript.[1]
[1] Jannatul Ma’wa : p. 221