Ramadan: A Loving Name of God

🌼🔆🌼The Month of Servitude’s Coming to Maturity🌼🔆🌼

🌹🔅☘️ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ ☘️🔅🌹

🔅🌹 “The Month Devoted to Servitude”  “The Secrets of the Name Ramadan”  “The Golden Night” “Supreme Governance of Body and Soul”  “A Commentary on Supplication 44 of al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya” and more … An abstract with a supplement       1404.11.30    Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141 (903)  🌹🔅

💫🌷بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ🌷💫

🔆In the name of Allah, whose mercy is all-embracing and whose kindness is everlasting

✳️Supplication 44, with a commentary from Riyāḍ al-Sālikīn

❇️The Forty-Fourth Supplication (Upon the Arrival of the Month of Ramadan)

💫وَ كَانَ مِنْ دُعَائِهِ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ إِذَا دَخَلَ شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ

🔆Among his supplications is this one, recited when the month of Ramadan drew near.

💫الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي هَدَانَا لِحَمْدِهِ، وَ جَعَلَنَا مِنْ أَهْلِهِ لِنَكُونَ لِإِحْسَانِهِ مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ، وَ لِيَجْزِيَنَا عَلَى ذَلِكَ جَزَاءَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ.

(1) 🔆Praise belongs to God, who guided us to offer Him thanks and made us among those who praise Him, so that we might be counted among those grateful for His kindness, and so that He might reward us for this guidance and enabling with the finest reward given to those who do good.

💫وَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي حَبَانَا بِدِينِهِ، وَ اخْتَصَّنَا بِمِلَّتِهِ، وَ سَبَّلَنَا فِي سُبُلِ إِحْسَانِهِ لِنَسْلُكَهَا بِمَنِّهِ إِلَى رِضْوَانِهِ، حَمْداً يَتَقَبَّلُهُ مِنَّا، وَ يَرْضَى بِهِ عَنَّا.

(2) 🔆Praise belongs to God, who bestowed His religion upon us, chose us for His way, and set us on the paths of His beneficence, that by His favor we might travel them toward His good pleasure. Praise such as He may accept from us and be pleased with.

💫وَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي جَعَلَ مِنْ تِلْكَ السُّبُلِ شَهْرَهُ شَهْرَ رَمَضَانَ، شَهْرَ الصِّيَامِ، وَ شَهْرَ الْإِسْلَامِ، وَ شَهْرَ الطَّهُورِ، وَ شَهْرَ التَّمْحِيصِ، وَ شَهْرَ الْقِيَامِ الَّذِي أُنْزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ، هُدىً لِلنَّاسِ، وَ بَيِّنَاتٍ مِنَ الْهُدى وَ الْفُرْقَانِ.

(3) 🔆Praise belongs to God, who made one of those paths His own month: the month of Ramadan, the month of fasting, the month of Islam, the month of purification, the month of cleansing from sins, the month of keeping vigil at night, the month in which the Quran was sent down as guidance for humankind, with clear signs of guidance and the criterion between truth and falsehood.

💫فَأَبَانَ فَضِيلَتَهُ عَلَى سَائِرِ الشُّهُورِ بِمَا جَعَلَ لَهُ مِنَ الْحُرُمَاتِ الْمَوْفُورَةِ، وَ الْفَضَائِلِ الْمَشْهُورَةِ، فَحَرَّمَ فِيهِ مَا أَحَلَّ فِي غَيْرِهِ إِعْظَاماً، وَ حَجَرَ فِيهِ الْمَطَاعِمَ وَ الْمَشَارِبَ إِكْرَاماً، وَ جَعَلَ لَهُ وَقْتاً بَيِّناً لَا يُجِيزُ- جَلَّ وَ عَزَّ- أَنْ يُقَدَّمَ قَبْلَهُ، وَ لَا يَقْبَلُ أَنْ يُؤَخَّرَ عَنْهُ.

(4) 🔆He thus made this month excel all other months, on account of the many sacred observances and renowned virtues He appointed for it. In reverence for it, He forbade during it what He had permitted at other times; in honor of it, He prohibited food and drink during it; and He set a fixed time for it, which God, the Mighty and Exalted, does not permit any act of worship to precede, nor accept that it be postponed beyond.

💫ثُمَّ فَضَّلَ لَيْلَةً وَاحِدَةً مِنْ لَيَالِيهِ عَلَى لَيَالِي أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ، وَ سَمَّاهَا لَيْلَةَ الْقَدْرِ، تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلائِكَةُ وَ الرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ مِنْ كُلِّ أَمْرٍ سَلَامٌ، دَائِمُ الْبَرَكَةِ إِلَى طُلُوعِ الْفَجْرِ عَلَى مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ بِمَا أَحْكَمَ مِنْ قَضَائِهِ.

(5) 🔆Then He gave one of its nights precedence over a thousand months and named it the Night of Decree. On that night, the angels and the Spirit descend, by their Lord’s command, from every direction. The night endures in peace and blessing until the break of dawn, for any of His servants He wills, in accordance with what He has decreed.

💫اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ، وَ أَلْهِمْنَا مَعْرِفَةَ فَضْلِهِ وَ إِجْلَالَ حُرْمَتِهِ، وَ التَّحَفُّظَ مِمَّا حَظَرْتَ فِيهِ، وَ أَعِنَّا عَلَى صِيَامِهِ بِكَفِّ الْجَوَارِحِ عَنْ مَعَاصِيكَ، وَ اسْتِعْمَالِهَا فِيهِ بِمَا يُرْضِيكَ حَتَّى لَا نُصْغِيَ بِأَسْمَاعِنَا إِلَى لَغْوٍ، وَ لَا نُسْرِعَ بِأَبْصَارِنَا إِلَى لَهْوٍ.

(6) 🔆O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, and inspire us to recognize the virtue of this month, to honor its sanctity, and to refrain from what You have forbidden in it. Help us to fast it by keeping our limbs from disobeying You and putting them to use in what earns Your good pleasure, so that our ears do not listen to idle talk and our eyes do not turn toward amusement.

💫وَ حَتَّى لَا نَبْسُطَ أَيْدِيَنَا إِلَى مَحْظُورٍ، وَ لَا نَخْطُوَ بِأَقْدَامِنَا إِلَى مَحْجُورٍ، وَ حَتَّى لَا تَعِيَ بُطُونُنَا إِلَّا مَا أَحْلَلْتَ، وَ لَا تَنْطِقَ أَلْسِنَتُنَا إِلَّا بِمَا مَثَّلْتَ، وَ لَا نَتَكَلَّفَ إِلَّا مَا يُدْنِي مِنْ ثَوَابِكَ، وَ لَا نَتَعَاطَى إِلَّا الَّذِي يَقِي مِنْ عِقَابِكَ، ثُمَّ خَلِّصْ ذَلِكَ كُلَّهُ مِنْ رِئَاءِ الْمُرَائِينَ، وَ سُمْعَةِ الْمُسْمِعِينَ، لَا نُشْرِكُ فِيهِ أَحَداً دُونَكَ، وَ لَا نَبْتَغِي فِيهِ مُرَاداً سِوَاكَ.

(7) 🔆Let us not stretch out our hands toward what is forbidden, nor take our steps toward what You have prohibited. Let our stomachs contain nothing but what You have made lawful, and let our tongues speak only of what You have shown us and taught us to say. Let us exert ourselves only in what brings us closer to Your reward, and undertake nothing but what protects us from Your punishment. Then purify all this of the ostentation of those who seek to be seen and the craving for renown of those who seek fame, so that we associate no one with You in any of it and seek no aim but You.

💫اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ، وَ قِفْنَا فِيهِ عَلَى مَوَاقِيتِ الصَّلَوَاتِ الْخَمْسِ بِحُدُودِهَا الَّتِي حَدَّدْتَ، وَ فُرُوضِهَا الَّتِي فَرَضْتَ، وَ وَظَائِفِهَا الَّتِي وَظَّفْتَ، وَ أَوْقَاتِهَا الَّتِي وَقَّتَّ.

(8) 🔆O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, and make us mindful in this month of the times of the five prescribed prayers, along with the limits and rulings You have set, the obligations You have laid down, the duties You have assigned, and the times You have specified.

💫وَ أَنْزِلْنَا فِيهَا مَنْزِلَةَ الْمُصِيبِينَ لِمَنَازِلِهَا، الْحَافِظِينَ لِأَرْكَانِهَا، الْمُؤَدِّينَ لَهَا فِي أَوْقَاتِهَا عَلَى مَا سَنَّهُ عَبْدُكَ وَ رَسُولُكَ- صَلَوَاتُكَ عَلَيْهِ وَ آلِهِ- فِي رُكُوعِهَا وَ سُجُودِهَا وَ جَمِيعِ فَوَاضِلِهَا عَلَى أَتَمِّ الطَّهُورِ وَ أَسْبَغِهِ، وَ أَبْيَنِ الْخُشُوعِ وَ أَبْلَغِهِ.

(9) 🔆Let us perform these prayers as those do who have attained their true rank: those who uphold their pillars and pray them at their appointed times as Your servant and Messenger (may Your blessings be upon him and his Household) prescribed—in bowing, prostration, and all their excellences—with the most complete and encompassing purity, and the clearest and most profound humility.

💫وَ وَفِّقْنَا فِيهِ لِأَنْ نَصِلَ أَرْحَامَنَا بِالْبِرِّ وَ الصِّلَةِ، وَ أَنْ نَتَعَاهَدَ جِيرَانَنَا بِالْإِفْضَالِ وَ الْعَطِيَّةِ، وَ أَنْ نُخَلِّصَ أَمْوَالَنَا مِنَ التَّبِعَاتِ، وَ أَنْ نُطَهِّرَهَا بِإِخْرَاجِ الزَّكَوَاتِ، وَ أَنْ نُرَاجِعَ مَنْ هَاجَرَنَا، وَ أَنْ نُنْصِفَ مَنْ ظَلَمَنَا، وَ أَنْ نُسَالِمَ مَنْ عَادَانَا حَاشَى مَنْ عُودِيَ فِيكَ وَ لَكَ، فَإِنَّهُ الْعَدُوُّ الَّذِي لَا نُوَالِيهِ، وَ الْحِزْبُ الَّذِي لَا نُصَافِيهِ.

(10) 🔆Grant us success in this month in maintaining ties with our relatives through kindness and generosity, caring for our neighbors with benevolence and gifts, purifying our wealth by discharging what is due from it, and cleansing it by paying its alms. Let us reconnect with those who have cut us off, treat fairly those who have wronged us, and make peace with those who have shown enmity toward us—except those who have become our enemies for Your sake and in Your cause, for they are enemies whom we do not love, and a people with whom we do not form bonds of friendship.

💫وَ أَنْ نَتَقَرَّبَ إِلَيْكَ فِيهِ مِنَ الْأَعْمَالِ الزَّاكِيَةِ بِمَا تُطَهِّرُنَا بِهِ مِنَ الذُّنُوبِ، وَ تَعْصِمُنَا فِيهِ مِمَّا نَسْتَأْنِفُ مِنَ الْعُيُوبِ، حَتَّى لَا يُورِدَ عَلَيْكَ أَحَدٌ مِنْ مَلَائِكَتِكَ إِلَّا دُونَ مَا نُورِدُ مِنْ أَبْوَابِ الطَّاعَةِ لَكَ، وَ أَنْوَاعِ الْقُرْبَةِ إِلَيْكَ.

(11) 🔆Grant us success in drawing near to You this month through pure deeds, through which You cleanse us of our sins and guard us against the faults we are tempted to take up again, so that none of Your angels may present to You an act of obedience greater than what we offer through the gates of obedience to You and the many ways of drawing near to You.

💫اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ بِحَقِّ هَذَا الشَّهْرِ، وَ بِحَقِّ مَنْ تَعَبَّدَ لَكَ فِيهِ مِنِ ابْتِدَائِهِ إِلَى وَقْتِ فَنَائِهِ: مِنْ مَلَكٍ قَرَّبْتَهُ، أَوْ نَبِيٍّ أَرْسَلْتَهُ، أَوْ عَبْدٍ صَالِحٍ اخْتَصَصْتَهُ، أَنْ تُصَلِّيَ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ، وَ أَهِّلْنَا فِيهِ لِمَا وَعَدْتَ أَوْلِيَاءَكَ مِنْ كَرَامَتِكَ، وَ أَوْجِبْ لَنَا فِيهِ مَا أَوْجَبْتَ لِأَهْلِ الْمُبَالَغَةِ فِي طَاعَتِكَ، وَ اجْعَلْنَا فِي نَظْمِ مَنِ اسْتَحَقَّ الرَّفِيعَ الْأَعْلَى بِرَحْمَتِكَ.

(12) 🔆O God, I ask You by the sanctity of this month, and by the sanctity of all who have worshipped You in it, from its beginning to its end—whether an angel whom You have brought near, a prophet whom You have sent, or a righteous servant whom You have chosen—to bless Muhammad and his family, and to make us worthy this month of the honor You have promised Your friends. Enjoin upon us this month what You have enjoined upon those who strive earnestly and exert themselves in obedience to You, and place us among those who, through Your mercy, have become worthy of the highest station.

💫اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ، وَ جَنِّبْنَا الْإِلْحَادَ فِي تَوْحِيدِكَ، وَ التَّقْصِيرَ فِي تَمْجِيدِكَ، وَ الشَّكَّ فِي دِينِكَ، وَ الْعَمَى عَنْ سَبِيلِكَ، وَ الْإِغْفَالَ لِحُرْمَتِكَ، وَ الِانْخِدَاعَ لِعَدُوِّكَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ.

(13) 🔆O God, bless Muhammad and his family, and keep us far from straying in our affirmation of Your oneness, falling short in revering You, doubting Your religion, being blind to Your path, heedless of what is sacred to You, or being deceived by Your enemy, Satan, the accursed.

💫اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ، وَ إِذَا كَانَ لَكَ فِي كُلِّ لَيْلَةٍ مِنْ لَيَالِي شَهْرِنَا هَذَا رِقَابٌ يُعْتِقُهَا عَفْوُكَ، أَوْ يَهَبُهَا صَفْحُكَ فَاجْعَلْ رِقَابَنَا مِنْ تِلْكَ الرِّقَابِ، وَ اجْعَلْنَا لِشَهْرِنَا مِنْ خَيْرِ أَهْلٍ وَ أَصْحَابٍ.

(14) 🔆O God, bless Muhammad and his family. Since each night of this month there are servants whom Your pardon sets free or whom Your forgiveness absolves, count us among those set free, and make us among the best of those who belong to this month and accompany it.

💫اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ، وَ امْحَقْ ذُنُوبَنَا مَعَ امِّحَاقِ هِلَالِهِ، وَ اسْلَخْ عَنَّا تَبِعَاتِنَا مَعَ انْسِلَاخِ أَيَّامِهِ حَتَّى يَنْقَضِيَ عَنَّا وَ قَدْ صَفَّيْتَنَا فِيهِ مِنَ الْخَطِيئَاتِ، وَ أَخْلَصْتَنَا فِيهِ مِنَ السَّيِّئَاتِ.

(15) 🔆O God, bless Muhammad and his family, and make our sins vanish with the passing of its crescent. As its days pass, lift from us the burdens of our wrongs and the claims owed to others, so that this month may end with us cleansed of our errors and purified of our misdeeds.

💫اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ، وَ إِنْ مِلْنَا فِيهِ فَعَدِّلْنَا، وَ إِنْ زُغْنَا فِيهِ فَقَوِّمْنَا، وَ إِنِ اشْتَمَلَ عَلَيْنَا عَدُوُّكَ الشَّيْطَانُ فَاسْتَنْقِذْنَا مِنْهُ.

(16) 🔆O God, bless Muhammad and his family. If we go astray this month, set us right; if we deviate, reform us; and if Your enemy, Satan, gains power over us, deliver us from his grasp.

💫اللَّهُمَّ اشْحَنْهُ بِعِبَادَتِنَا إِيَّاكَ، وَ زَيِّنْ أَوْقَاتَهُ بِطَاعَتِنَا لَكَ، وَ أَعِنَّا فِي نَهَارِهِ عَلَى صِيَامِهِ، وَ فِي لَيْلِهِ عَلَى الصَّلَاةِ وَ التَّضَرُّعِ إِلَيْكَ، وَ الْخُشُوعِ لَكَ، وَ الذِّلَّةِ بَيْنَ يَدَيْكَ حَتَّى لَا يَشْهَدَ نَهَارُهُ عَلَيْنَا بِغَفْلَةٍ، وَ لَا لَيْلُهُ بِتَفْرِيطٍ.

(17) 🔆O God, fill this month with our worship of You, adorn its hours with our obedience to You, and help us fast by day and pray by night, beseeching You, humbling ourselves before You, and bowing low in Your presence, so that its days do not bear witness against us to heedlessness, nor its nights to negligence.

💫اللَّهُمَّ وَ اجْعَلْنَا فِي سَائِرِ الشُّهُورِ وَ الْأَيَّامِ كَذَلِكَ مَا عَمَّرْتَنَا، وَ اجْعَلْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِكَ الصَّالِحِينَ الَّذِينَ يَرِثُونَ الْفِرْدَوْسَ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ، وَ الَّذِينَ يُؤْتُونَ مَا آتَوْا وَ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَجِلَةٌ، أَنَّهُمْ إِلَى رَبِّهِمْ رَاجِعُونَ، وَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَاتِ وَ هُمْ لَهَا سَابِقُونَ.

(18) 🔆O God, grant us the same success in all the other months and days for as long as You keep us alive. Make us among Your righteous servants—the ones who inherit the highest Garden and abide there forever; who give what they give in charity and righteous deeds while their hearts tremble with fear that their deeds may not be accepted, for they will return to their Lord; and who hasten to do good and excel in it.

💫اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ، فِي كُلِّ وَقْتٍ وَ كُلِّ أَوَانٍ وَ عَلَى كُلِّ حَالٍ عَدَدَ مَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى مَنْ صَلَّيْتَ عَلَيْهِ، وَ أَضْعَافَ ذَلِكَ كُلِّهِ بِالْأَضْعَافِ الَّتِي لَا يُحْصِيهَا غَيْرُكَ، إِنَّكَ فَعَّالٌ لِمَا تُرِيدُ.

(19) 🔆O God, bless Muhammad and his Household at every time and in every moment, in every state, as many times as You have blessed everyone You have blessed, and many times over—beyond all reckoning, in ways none but You can count. Surely You have power over whatever You will.

❇️Ramadan: a name special to God, a name of God spoken in love

The blessed name Ramadan must be understood through love and experienced through spiritual presence, worship and obedience.

The blessed name Ramadan will reveal itself in the moment of “complete severance from all but Him.”

شَهْرَهُ شَهْرَ رَمَضَان: Shahre (Shahr-e Hu), the Month of God and the Month of Ramadan, points to God’s most mysterious name!

Who can translate Ramadan?! Surely, those who embody Ramadan are its translators.

The servant of Ramadan is Ramadan’s perfect translator

❇️The Month of Ramadan, هُوَ سَيِّدُ الشُّهُورِ

Shahr-e Ramadan, the master of months, the month of months, the month that gathers all months: the months of the earthly realm, the heavenly and celestial realms, and the months of the spirit

❇️The distinctive language of the blessed Month of Ramadan

This month has its own refinement, language and etiquettes

We must enter this month clothed in its distinctive garb.

This month is God’s special grace: He wills to claim everyone for Himself and nurture them solely for Himself!

❇️The Month of Ramadan: a month devoted to servanthood

✨🔆Ta Ha: 41   وَ اصْطَنَعْتُكَ لِنَفْسي‏

🔆“And I fashioned you for Myself (and nurtured you).”

✨🔆Ta Ha: 39   أَنِ اقْذِفيهِ فِي التَّابُوتِ فَاقْذِفيهِ فِي الْيَمِّ فَلْيُلْقِهِ الْيَمُّ بِالسَّاحِلِ يَأْخُذْهُ عَدُوٌّ لي‏ وَ عَدُوٌّ لَهُ وَ أَلْقَيْتُ عَلَيْكَ مَحَبَّةً مِنِّي وَ لِتُصْنَعَ عَلى‏ عَيْني‏

🔆“Place him in a chest, then cast it into the sea, and the sea will cast it onto the shore. My enemy and his enemy will take him up. I cast upon you love from Me, so that you may be fashioned (and nurtured) under My watchful eye.”

If Almighty God fashioned Moses, peace be upon him, for Himself, what must He have done for Muhammad and his Household, peace be upon them?!

❇️Prayer 44: the technology of learning to govern the outward and inward through the instrument of intimate supplication

From drawing on the treasures of the blessed month and the Merciful One’s banquet to making this blessed month fruitful

From being adorned to becoming an adornment

The human being is the adornment of God’s own garden!

Turn night and day into a treasury! The blessed month of Ramadan is the key to achieving this.

❇️ The blessed month of Ramadan is the month in which servanthood comes of age

From crescent to full moon: from the birth of servanthood to its maturity, bringing worship, obedience and love to their highest point.

From crescent to disappearance: uprooting, destroying and erasing impurity, sin, doubt and associating partners with God, until we attain «کمال الاخلاص له» .

❇️ In the blessed month of Ramadan, put Satan to death

We must drain Satan of life, so he cannot come alive again.

Be the slayer of sin and disobedience; sap Satan’s strength.

❇️ Let us ask Him, so He will not let go of our hand

It is He who holds our hand and steadies our hearts, so that we do not fall.

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him) entrusts our hands, hearts, bodies and souls to our God.

❇️ Every blessed month of Ramadan is a whole world

To experience Ramadan each year is to experience a new world, a fresh life, a higher good; to renew golden, extraordinary opportunities and to bridge the gaps;

to set right and correct the world’s past, as in the primordial world and the Day of Alast.

It is a complete gymnasium!

❇️ The Almighty Creator placed a golden night at the heart of the blessed month of Ramadan

Its stillness, its mystery, its delight: a night without equal.

Night is for sleeping; Laylat al-Qadr is for waking up and bringing the night to life.

The uniqueness of knowledge, goodness and blessing reaches its height on Laylat al-Qadr—and so does the uniqueness of time and place.

Through understanding the excellence of the blessed month of Ramadan, we come to know its hidden mysteries.

O God, open the door to Your treasury.

❇️ The blessed month of Ramadan is the month of supreme discipline over our senses and limbs

Our senses are both means of knowing and instruments—and channels—for heedlessness.

Disciplining our limbs means giving special attention to them, especially the stomach and sexual desire, the hands and feet, the tongue, eyes and ears.

The blessed month of Ramadan is the month in which we withdraw from all that is other than God.

❇️ The month of raising the banner of prayer to its highest point

We must ascend through prayer, raise prayer to its heights, and become its pilot, reaching the summit of servanthood to God through prayer.

Each pillar of prayer offers a distinctive lived experience of servanthood on the path of communion with the Eternal Beloved.

 Through prayer, carry purity to its utmost, and bring humility to perfection and maturity.

❇️ Making the highest use of the fuel of body and soul

The blessed month is the best time to manage our fuel and inner energy, and to put them to the best possible use.

The blessed month of Ramadan is the best time to uproot doubt  and associating partners with God. It is the best time to direct our love and attention.

In this month, we must fulfil our servanthood completely.

✳️❇️✅💫✨🔆

Sajjadi greetings

❇️Introduction to the Forty-Fourth Supplication

۱✨. Ramadan, God’s Mysterious Name within the Human Realm

“The month of Ramadan” is a phrase that joins God’s name to a month. This is no figurative association, but a profound truth: God has made this month a perfect mirror of Himself for humanity.

۲✨. Ramadan Can Be Known Only Through Ramadan

“The servant of Ramadan” is the only one who can translate this month. Those whose souls are shaped by Ramadan, who rise with Ramadan and sit with Ramadan, can discover the treasure this month holds within its heart.

۳✨. Ramadan, the Chief of Months and the Month of Months

While each month claims a portion of time, Ramadan gathers all of time within itself. It encompasses the earthly months and worldly days, the heavenly months and spiritual nights, and the months of the soul and its spiritual stations.

۴✨. A Special Garment for Presence in a Sacred Court

Being in God’s presence calls for a special garment: that garment is God-consciousness. The proper bearing is humility; the language is prayer and supplication.

۵✨. The Month of Being Shaped: “وَ اصْطَنَعْتُكَ لِنَفْسي”

If God fashioned Moses for Himself, Ramadan is the workshop in which the community of Muhammad (PBUH) is fashioned. In this month, God tempers the human being in the furnace of love and shapes them for Himself.

۶✨. The Month of Encounter: “وَ لِتُصْنَعَ عَلى‏ عَيْني”

Ramadan is a month of being nurtured beneath God’s gaze. Every breath of the fasting person is counted in the presence of the Real, and every prostration of the night-vigil worshipper raises them higher beneath His watchful eye.

۷✨. From Receiving Blessings to Bestowing Them

At the beginning of the month, a person is a seeker of treasure; by its end, they have become a maker of treasure. First they draw upon the mines of mercy; then they become such that they themselves bring blessing to the month.

۸✨. From Being Adorned to Becoming an Adornment

Ramadan is God’s beauty salon. We adorn ourselves for God, until we are so beautified that we become an adornment to the month, the angels and all creation.

۹✨. The Human Being, Stylist in God’s Beauty Salon

How wondrous that God Himself has opened a beauty salon and seated the human being as its stylist! He has made night and day its treasury, so that His servant may polish the jewel of their own being there.

۱۰✨. From Crescent to Full Moon: The Growth of Servitude

Just as the moon grows from a slender crescent to a full moon, servitude, too, follows a path of growth—from the first sparks of faith on the opening night to the heights of spiritual knowledge on the Nights of Decree.

۱۱✨. From Full Moon to Waning: The Fading of Sin

Just as the moon wanes from fullness until its light is hidden, sins, too, must wane in this month until no trace of them remains on the soul.

۱۲✨. The Month of Taking the Life from Satan

In this month, Satan is shackled, but our real enemy is the commanding self. We must overcome it so completely that, by the time the next Ramadan comes, it has no strength left to rebel.

۱۳✨. Be a Killer of Sin

The fasting person not only keeps away from sin, but should become one who slays sin in the world. Every fasting person is a soldier on the front line of the struggle against disobedience.

۱۴✨. God’s Hand in Ours

Imam al-Sajjad (AS) entrusts our hands and hearts to God, for he knows that if God’s hand slips from ours, we are on the brink of falling. It is He who takes hold of us so that we do not fall.

۱۵✨. Every Ramadan, a New World

Each year brings a new Ramadan, a fresh world, an unparalleled opportunity. It is as though God creates the world anew each year and invites us to be guests in this new world.

۱۶✨. Ramadan, Another Day of the Primordial Covenant

The World of the Primordial Covenant was an eternal pledge, and the month of Ramadan is its everlasting renewal. Every year, God renews His covenant with us: “أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّکُمْ” and we reply: “بلی”.

17✨. Laylat al-Qadr: the singularity of time

God placed a night at the heart of the month that is better than a thousand months. This is not a night for sleep, but for wakefulness. Laylat al-Qadr is the night to awaken and remain awake before the majesty of the Real.

18✨. Laylat al-Qadr: the singularity of knowledge and blessing

On this night, knowledge reaches its highest point and blessing its fullness. The divine treasuries are opened, and what has been promised to the saints descends upon them.

19✨. The faculties put to the test

Our senses are instruments of both understanding and heedlessness. Ramadan is a time to discipline our faculties and limbs: to restrain the eye from frivolity, the ear from idle talk, the hand from what is forbidden, and the foot from forbidden paths.

20✨. A holiday from everything but God

Ramadan is an official holiday from all that is other than Him. In this month, let us see none but Him, hear none but Him, and desire none but Him.

21✨. Becoming the pilot of prayer

Prayer is the believer’s ascension, and Ramadan is the month of ascension. In this month, we should rise through prayer until we ourselves become its pilot and carry it to its highest point.

22✨. A special state in every part of prayer

Bowing, prostration, and standing are each stations on the path of servitude. In Ramadan, we should perform these acts as though each time were our first whispering with God, renewing our meeting with the Beloved.

23✨. The body’s fuel, the soul’s treasure

Ramadan teaches us to manage our worldly energy wisely, so that we may gain the energy of the hereafter and behold the لقاء الله.

24✨. Uprooting the roots of doubt and association

In this month, hidden association and concealed doubt are uprooted. Ramadan is an opportunity to prune the tree of our being, so that the newly sprouted branches of association are not allowed to grow.

25✨. Bringing servitude to completion

By the end of the month, our servitude should be complete—not finished in the sense of ending, but perfected. Complete servitude is when a person becomes such that all they are and all they do are for God.

✨Golden conclusion:

Ramadan is a university of love. Its students are those who fast; its teacher is the All-Merciful God; and its thesis is perfect servitude. O God, nurture us in this month so that we may remain عبد الرمضان forever.

🌼Ali Saei (Abdollah Meshkat) 110.141(903)🌼