The Sovereign Month

🌼🔆🌼The Fruits of the Divine Banquet🌼🔆🌼

🌹🔅☘️ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ ☘️🔅🌹

🔅🌹“Splitting Open and Blossoming”  “The Striving Trial”  “The Knowledge of Prayer: Murmurs of Love” “The Broken Back of the Attributes”  “Prayer 46 of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya” and … Abstract with an addendum       1403.01.23    Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)  🌹🔅

🔅🌼The Month of God has passed, but God remains🌼🔅

🌹The Month of God came and went to tell us that He alone remains. He neither comes nor goes. He alone is everlasting.

🌸🔆 يَا مَنْ لَمْ‏ يَزَلْ‏ وَ لَا يَزَالُ‏ وَ لَا يَزُولُ كَمَا لَمْ يَزَلْ قَائِماً عَلى‏ كُلِّ نَفْسٍ بِما كَسَبَتْ‏ يَا مَنْ جَعَلَ أَيَّامَ الدُّنْيَا تَزُولُ وَ شُهُورَهَا تَحَوَّلُ وَ سِنِيهَا تَدُورُ وَ أَنْتَ الدَّائِمُ لَا تُبْلِيكَ الْأَزْمَانُ وَ لَا تُغَيِّرُكَ الدُّهُورُ يَا مَنْ كُلُّ يَوْمٍ عِنْدَهُ جَدِيد[1]

🔆O Lord, who has never ceased to exist (You are eternal; nonexistence has never preceded You), and will never pass away (You are everlasting and eternal), and will remain forever. Just as You remain with each person, ever attending to what they have earned, so too have You made this world transient, the months changing, and the years turn in their course. You alone endure; the passage of time cannot wear You down, and the ages cannot alter You. O You, to whom every day is new.

🌹The blessed month of Ramadan departed to proclaim that He alone remains, and none other. “هو الباقی” Ramadan goes, but its fragrance and grace are everlasting.

🌹The blessed month of Ramadan has passed; now the time has come to take account of our Ramadan.

🌹A person must take stock of themselves at every moment, hold themselves to account, and consider their wealth and capital as resources for trading in pursuit of God’s good pleasure,

🌹Taking stock of Ramadan means looking at the greatest capital of our being. Let us review what Ramadan has taught us and assess our inner Ramadan mine so that we can make use of it; let us plan.

🌹The month of Shawwal is when the great achievements of Ramadan are unveiled.

🌹Let us examine within ourselves the fruits of the Divine Banquet.

🌹Whoever has tasted God’s fare will find no other food delicious. When a medicine affects every part of one’s being, what, then, must God’s sustenance and attention do?!

🌹A child’s response to milk, and the effects of nourishment becoming manifest in them, are part of the process by which they grow, emerge, and awaken their senses.

🌹The interval between receiving light and truly apprehending it is the period in which its effects emerge. The time between divine mercies and their manifestation depends on the veils of dust that lie between a person and those mercies.

🌹How were we born from the womb of the blessed month of Ramadan? What kind of newborns are we?

🔅🌼The Course of Existence and the Month of Existence🌼🔅

🌹We passed through the heart of Laylat al-Qadr and discovered the secret of breaking free from time. We gained temporal breadth and expansiveness, overturning the usual equations so that we might make a glorious commotion in our servitude to God.

🌹To serve God, we must free ourselves from the limits of time and place, and worship God in complete release and freedom. We must worship the God who has never ceased to be, will never cease to be, and will never pass away, in His eternity without beginning and without end.

🔅🌼Blossoming and Breaking Open after the Blessed Month🌼🔅

🌹From the month of Shawwal onward, we must undergo a profound transformation. It is time to break open and blossom; He is the One who splits and brings forth.

🌹We acted for our own benefit, and for that very benefit we deserve a gracious reward. What a remarkable way God the Generous has chosen!

🌹Divine nourishment must be digested and fully manifest itself; this sustenance affects both body and soul.

🔅🌼The Blessed Month Knows Us🌼🔅

🌹The blessed month of Ramadan knows us by our full identity.

🌹One day, the month of Ramadan will testify before God about the people on earth.

🌹It is remarkable: the blessed month knows every human being; it knows them completely, by their every name and title.

🌷🔆أَلَا فَاعْمَلُوا [الْيَوْمَ‏] لِيَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَ أَعِدُّوا الزَّادَ لِيَوْمِ الْجَمْعِ يَوْمَ التَّنَادِ، وَ تَجَنَّبُوا الْمَعَاصِيَ، فَبِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ يُرْجَى الْخَلَاصُ، فَإِنَّ مَنْ عَرَفَ حُرْمَةَ رَجَبٍ وَ شَعْبَانَ، وَ وَصَلَهُمَا بِشَهْرِ رَمَضَانَ شَهْرِ اللَّهِ الْأَعْظَمِ، شَهِدَتْ لَهُ هَذِهِ الشُّهُورُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَ كَانَ رَجَبٌ وَ شَعْبَانُ وَ شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ شُهُودَهُ بِتَعْظِيمِهِ لَهَا.

وَ يُنَادِي مُنَادٍ: يَا رَجَبُ وَ يَا شَعْبَانُ وَ يَا شَهْرَ رَمَضَانَ كَيْفَ‏ عَمَلُ‏ هَذَا الْعَبْدِ فِيكُمْ وَ كَيْفَ كَانَتْ طَاعَتُهُ لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَ جَلَ‏  فَيَقُولُ رَجَبٌ وَ شَعْبَانُ وَ شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ:

يَا رَبَّنَا مَا تَزَوَّدَ مِنَّا إِلَّا اسْتِعَانَةً عَلَى طَاعَتِكَ، وَ اسْتِمْدَاداً [لِمَوَادِّ] فَضْلِكَ، وَ لَقَدْ تَعَرَّضَ بِجُهْدِهِ‏ لِرِضَاكَ، وَ طَلَبَ بِطَاقَتِهِ مَحَبَّتَكَ.[2]

🌷🔆Be alert, and do righteous deeds for the Day of Resurrection. Make provision for the Day of Gathering and the Day of the Call[3]. Keep away from sin; through God-consciousness, hope for deliverance. Whoever honours the months of Rajab and Sha‘ban and joins them to Ramadan, the month of God Almighty, will find that these months bear witness on their behalf on the Day of Resurrection. Rajab, Sha‘ban and Ramadan will testify to their greatness.

(On the Day of Resurrection,) when the herald calls out, “O Rajab, O Sha‘ban, O Ramadan, how did this servant fare among you? How obedient were they to God, Mighty and Majestic?” they will reply, “Our Lord, they took no provision from us except what they put to use in obedience to You. Through it, they sought Your grace and generosity to aid them; they strove toward Your pleasure and sought Your love with all their strength.”

🔅🌼Feeding on God’s provision in the embrace of God’s month🌼🔅

🌹The blessed month of Ramadan welcomed us with divine nourishment, like a bird feeding its young and a mother nursing her child. In the embrace of God’s month, we fed on the gifts of God’s grace. Now let us reflect: What did we consume? What did we learn? And what must we do?

🌹Human beings are changed by what they consume and transformed by knowledge; their character and nature are reshaped. We must ask ourselves what great transformation we have undergone at the divine banquet.

🌹God does not take back the blessings He has bestowed. Let us be grateful for God’s blessings. The spirit of the blessed month lives within us; it is the ungrateful person who denies the blessing.

🌹Let us give thanks for the blessing of the blessed month. To give thanks is to bring a blessing to fruition, to make the effects of God’s blessings manifest.

🌻🔆Ibrahim: 7   وَ إِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزيدَنَّكُمْ وَ لَئِنْ كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذابي‏ لَشَديدٌ

🔆When your Lord declared: “If you are grateful, I will surely increase you in blessings; but if you are ungrateful, then My punishment is indeed severe.”

🌹Blessings must not become a veil between us and the Bestower. A blessing is a path to the Bestower. So too are signs, delights and beauties—but He is beyond all signs, delights and beauties. He is the One toward whom we must hasten.

🌹God is ever turning toward His servants; let us not turn away from Him.

🌹The loser is the one whom blessings and signs distract from Him.

🔅🌼Ruler of the divine banquet🌼🔅

🌹The blessed month of Ramadan, God’s special envoy, supreme commander and ruler of heart and soul, fulfilled its mission to perfection.

It brought the struggle of servitude to its full realisation; truly, it was a school, a clinic and a place of adornment for servitude to God. Ramadan was the ruler of the divine banquet.

🔅🌼Imam Sajjad, peace be upon him, is God’s victorious sovereign🌼🔅

🌹By the grace of Supplication 44 of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya — the entry point of truth — and Supplication 45 — the exit point of truth — and Supplication 46, they were the Sultan Nasir of the blessed month of Ramadan. The sacred being of Imam Sajjad, peace be upon him, is, by the truth of Sultan Nasir, a servant of God.

🌹Whoever has grasped the blessed month through these supplications, with true knowledge of the Divine, will attain exaltation.

🌹The supplications of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya have a beginning and a destination; they set one in motion, they are alive and flowing; al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya has veins and arteries, a heart and blood, limbs and members — by the truth of the life-giving remembrance, it increases knowledge. Al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya is a map of knowledge and love, and it turns us about in the geography of the graces of servitude to God.

🔅🌼 The science of supplication is the secret of loving 🌼🔅

🌹The science of supplication is among the highest and most sublime goals of servitude and of human achievement.

🌹Imam Sajjad, peace be upon him, is the Imam of the wealth and capital of servitude and of God’s good pleasure; without the Imam we are utterly poor. Without the Divine Proofs we are nothing — locked and forgotten; without sight we are blind, without knowledge we are ignorant, without the Imam we are empty.

🌹Until we are fully and completely equipped with the Divine Proofs, we will not attain sight, hearing, speech, and the greatest knowledge.

🌻🔆Al-A’raf: 179 وَ لَقَدْ ذَرَأْنا لِجَهَنَّمَ كَثيراً مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَ الْإِنْسِ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ لا يَفْقَهُونَ بِها وَ لَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ لا يُبْصِرُونَ بِها وَ لَهُمْ آذانٌ لا يَسْمَعُونَ بِها أُولئِكَ كَالْأَنْعامِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ أُولئِكَ هُمُ الْغافِلُونَ

🔆Indeed, We have destined for Hell many of the jinn and mankind: they have hearts with which they do not understand, eyes with which they do not see, and ears with which they do not hear. They are like cattle — rather, they are more astray. These are the heedless.

🔅🌼 The formation of a new world within the old world 🌼🔅

🌹With the blessed month of Ramadan, new orbits and new paths take shape in the body and soul of a human being.

🌹With every holy glance, new gardens and rivers and seas take shape within our being; the sanctuary of our existence expands, and new frontiers arise in our soul. So we must take full advantage of this opportunity and this extraordinary gift of perfection.

🌹In the blessed month of Ramadan, a new world takes shape within the heart of our old world. Whoever does not sense this transformation has either not grasped the blessed month, or is rejected by the blessed month of Ramadan.

🔅🌼 The trial of striving ⟼14⟧🌻🔆Al-Inshiqaq: 6 — O

أَيُّهَا الْإِنْسانُ إِنَّكَ كادِحٌ إِلى‏ رَبِّكَ كَدْحاً فَمُلاقيهِ

🔆O human being! You are striving toward your Lord with effort and hardship, and you shall meet Him!

🌸🔆Or أَيُّهَا الْإِنْسانُ إِنَّكَ كادِحٌ إِلى‏ رَبِّكَ كَدْحاً فَمُلاقِيهِ‏ striving toward Him with effort, to the meeting of His recompense.[4]

🔆The meaning of kadḥ in the verse “O أَيُّهَا الْإِنْسانُ إِنَّكَ كادِحٌ إِلى‏ رَبِّكَ كَدْحاً فَمُلاقِيهِ” is a wholehearted striving toward God, toward His reward.

🌹Al-kadḥ: striving and toil. God Most High said: إِنَّكَ‏ كادِحٌ‏ إِلى‏ رَبِّكَ‏ كَدْحاً And it is sometimes used in the manner of kadm with regard to the teeth. Khalil said: al-kadḥ is less than al-kadm.[5]

🌹Al-kadḥ: effort and hardship. In the verse: إِنَّكَ كادِحٌ إِلى‏ رَبِّكَ كَدْحاً The word kadḥ is like the use of kadm — that is, being worn down and the teeth being set on edge. Khalil says: kadḥ is close in meaning to kadm.

🌸🔆 يَا مَنْ كُلُّ شَيْ‏ءٍ صَائِرٌ إِلَيْه‏

🌸🔆إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَ إِنَّا إِلَيْهِ راجِعُون‏

🌹The First and the Last, to whom all things return — His origination passes beyond firstness and lastness.

🌹When you find yourself in ease and comfort without friction, doubt yourself: either the trial of striving is over, or you have failed the test.

🔅🌼 Passages from Supplication 46 of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya 🌼🔅

🌸🔆 Or مَنْ یرْحَمُ مَنْ لَا یرْحَمُهُ الْعِبَادُ، وَ یا مَنْ یقْبَلُ مَنْ لَا تَقْبَلُهُ الْبِلَادُ,

🔆O You who show mercy to those whom Your servants show no mercy to, and You who welcome those whom lands refuse to receive.

🌸🔆 وَ یا مَنْ لَا یحْتَقِرُ أَهْلَ الْحَاجَةِ إِلَیهِ، وَ یا مَنْ لَا یخَیبُ الْمُلِحِّینَ عَلَیهِ,

🔆O You who do not humiliate those who come to You in need, and You who do not disappoint those who persistently plead with You,

🌸🔆 وَ یا مَنْ لَا یجْبَهُ بِالرَّدِّ أَهْلَ الدَّالَّةِ عَلَیهِ، وَ یا مَنْ یجْتَبِی صَغِیرَ مَا یتْحَفُ بِهِ، وَ یشْکرُ یسِیرَ مَا یعْمَلُ لَهُ,[6]

🔆O You who do not turn away those who come to You seeking guidance, and You who accept a worthless gift and give thanks for even the smallest deed done for You,

🌹Those who come seeking guidance are, outwardly, people who turn to God despite being unworthy of doing so: they are lowly and unaware, yet they turn to Him, and God welcomes them.

🌸🔆 وَ یا مَنْ یشْکرُ عَلَى الْقَلِیلِ وَ یجَازِی بِالْجَلِیلِ، وَ یا مَنْ یدْنُو إِلَى مَنْ دَنَا مِنْهُ,

🔆O You who esteem a small deed and reward it richly, and O You who draw near to all who come near to You,

🌸🔆 وَ یا مَنْ یدْعُو إِلَى نَفْسِهِ مَنْ أَدْبَرَ عَنْهُ، وَ یا مَنْ لَا یغَیّرُ النِّعْمَةَ، وَ لَا یبَادِرُ بِالنَّقِمَةِ,

🔆O You who call back to Yourself all who turn away from You, and O You who never withdraw Your blessings or hasten to exact retribution,

🌸🔆 وَ یا مَنْ یثْمِرُ الْحَسَنَةَ حَتَّى ینْمِیهَا، وَ یتَجَاوَزُ عَنِ السَّیئَةِ حَتَّى یعَفِّیهَا.

🔆O You who bring goodness to fruition and nurture it until it flourishes, and who pardon evil until it vanishes.

🌹Our good deeds are unripe, but God brings them to maturity, nurtures and beautifies them. He sows the seed of our actions and makes it a tree, yielding fruits and blossoms, fragrance, nectar, and wonders.

🌸🔆انْصَرَفَتِ[7] الْآمَالُ دُونَ مَدَى كَرَمِكَ بِالْحَاجَاتِ,

🔆Our hopes and needs have turned back before reaching the threshold of Your generosity.

🌹Hopes and needs have receded before Your generosity; they have found themselves diminished before the grandeur of God’s gracious gifts and have withdrawn. What they desired and hoped for was nothing compared with divine generosity.

🌸🔆 وَ امْتَلَأَتْ بِفَيْضِ جُودِكَ أَوْعِيَةُ الطَّلِبَاتِ,

🔆The vessels of supplication have overflowed with the outpouring of Your grace,

🌸🔆 وَ تَفَسَّخَتْ دُونَ بُلُوغِ نَعْتِكَ الصِّفَاتُ,

🔆and descriptions have fallen apart before reaching the threshold of describing You.

🔆Attributes cannot describe You.

🔆The attributes are broken by the effort of describing You.

🌹Let us pair this passage of the supplication with these words of our master, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali, peace be upon him: « كَمَالُ الْإِخْلَاصِ لَهُ نَفْيُ الصِّفَاتِ عَنْه‏»

🔆Just as he prays in the same way in Supplication 32:

🌹 (6) وَ لَا يَبْلُغُ أَدْنَى مَا اسْتَأْثَرْتَ بِهِ مِنْ ذَلِكَ أَقْصَى نَعْتِ النَّاعِتِينَ.

🌹 (7) ضَلَّتْ فِيكَ الصِّفَاتُ، وَ تَفَسَّخَتْ دُونَكَ النُّعُوتُ، وَ حَارَتْ فِي كِبْرِيَائِكَ لَطَائِفُ الْأَوْهَامِ

🌹 (8) كَذَلِكَ أَنْتَ اللَّهُ الْأَوَّلُ فِي أَوَّلِيَّتِكَ، وَ عَلَى ذَلِكَ أَنْتَ دَائِمٌ لَا تَزُول‏[8]

🌹The utmost that those who describe can say falls short even of the lowest degree of what has been granted to him. (The fullest description and praise offered by those who describe cannot reach the threshold of describing God’s chosen creation—let alone describing His Essence.)

🌹 The attributes used to describe You wander, lost and bewildered; definitions fail and fall apart before Your presence, and even the most exact conceptions are disoriented in the court of Your majesty.

🌹 With the words in which I praised You at the beginning of this supplication, I must now conclude that You are in اوّلیتت اوّلی؛ اوّلیتی that which is eternal and without limit or boundary, and likewise everlasting and enduring forever.

🌸🔆 فَلَكَ الْعُلُوُّ الْأَعْلَى فَوْقَ كُلِّ عَالٍ، وَ الْجَلَالُ الْأَمْجَدُ فَوْقَ كُلِّ جَلَالٍ.[9]

🔆 Without doubt, the highest eminence, beyond every eminence, is Yours alone.

🔆 Eminence at its utmost, beyond all eminence, is Yours; greatness and majesty beyond all greatness and majesty belong to You alone.

🔆 (The highest eminence is Yours; You transcend every eminence.)

🔆 You are higher than the highest, the Most High; above all eminence, You are the Most Exalted.

🔆 And the most glorious majesty, beyond every majesty, is Yours alone.

🌸🔆 كُلُّ جَلِيلٍ عِنْدَكَ صَغِيرٌ, [10]

🔆 Every greatness is small before You,

🌸🔆 وَ كُلُّ شَرِيفٍ فِي جَنْبِ شَرَفِكَ حَقِيرٌ,

🔆 and every noble one is lowly beside Your nobility,

🌸🔆 خَابَ الْوَافِدُونَ عَلَى غَيْرِكَ,

🔆 Those who turned to anyone other than You were left disappointed,

🌸🔆 وَ خَسِرَ الْمُتَعَرِّضُونَ إِلَّا لَكَ,

🔆 and those who sought anything apart from You suffered loss (those who turned to another than You were ruined).

🌸🔆 وَ ضَاعَ الْمُلِمُّونَ إِلَّا بِكَ,

🔆 Those who went to the door of another were brought to ruin,

🔆 and those who sought refuge at another’s threshold were lost;

🌸🔆 وَ أَجْدَبَ الْمُنْتَجِعُونَ إِلَّا مَنِ انْتَجَعَ فَضْلَكَ

🔆 and those who sought anything other than Your bounty were left destitute.

🔆 Those who seek blessings are afflicted by want and famine, unless they seek them through Your bounty and generosity.

🌸🔆 بَابُكَ مَفْتُوحٌ لِلرَّاغِبِينَ، وَ جُودُكَ مُبَاحٌ لِلسَّائِلِينَ، وَ إِغَاثَتُكَ قَرِيبَةٌ مِنَ الْمُسْتَغِيثِينَ.

🔆 The door of Your mercy stands open to those who love You; Your generosity and munificence are freely given to those who beg; and Your aid is near to those who cry out for help.

🌸🔆 لَا يَخِيبُ مِنْكَ الْآمِلُونَ، وَ لَا يَيْأَسُ مِنْ عَطَائِكَ الْمُتَعَرِّضُونَ، وَ لا يَشْقَى بِنَقِمَتِكَ الْمُسْتَغْفِرُونَ.

🔆 Those who hope in You are never disappointed, those who ask are never denied Your gifts, and those who seek Your forgiveness are not made wretched by Your punishment,

🌸🔆 رِزْقُكَ مَبْسُوطٌ لِمَنْ عَصَاكَ، وَ حِلْمُكَ مُعْتَرِضٌ لِمَنْ نَاوَاكَ، عَادَتُكَ الْإِحْسَانُ إِلَى الْمُسِيئِينَ، وَ سُنَّتُكَ الْإِبْقَاءُ عَلَى الْمُعْتَدِينَ حَتَّى لَقَدْ غَرَّتْهُمْ أَنَاتُكَ عَنِ الرُّجُوعِ، وَ صَدَّهُمْ إِمْهَالُكَ عَنِ النُّزُوعِ.

🔆 Your provision is spread out even for the disobedient; Your forbearance extends even to Your enemies. Your way is to show kindness to evildoers, and Your practice is to show mercy to transgressors—so much so that Your leniency has distracted them from returning to You, and Your respite has kept them from refraining from sin.

🌸🔆 وَ إِنَّمَا تَأَنَّيْتَ بِهِمْ لِيَفِيئُوا إِلَى أَمْرِكَ، وَ أَمْهَلْتَهُمْ ثِقَةً بِدَوَامِ مُلْكِكَ، فَمَنْ كَانَ مِنْ أَهْلِ السَّعَادَةِ خَتَمْتَ لَهُ بِهَا، وَ مَنْ كَانَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الشَّقَاوَةِ خَذَلْتَهُ لَهَا.

🔆 Yet You alone have shown them forbearance until they return to Your command. You have given them respite because You are confident that Your dominion will endure. You have brought the one destined for felicity to a felicitous end, and left the wretched to their wretchedness,[11]

🌸🔆 كُلُّهُمْ صَائِرُونَ، إِلَى حُكْمِكَ، وَ أَمُورُهُمْ آئِلَةٌ إِلَى أَمْرِكَ، لَمْ يَهِنْ عَلَى طُولِ مُدَّتِهِمْ سُلْطَانُكَ، وَ لَمْ يَدْحَضْ لِتَرْكِ مُعَاجَلَتِهِمْ بُرْهَانُكَ.

🔆 All of them—the fortunate and the wretched alike—will return to Your judgment and rule, and their affairs will ultimately rest with Your command. The long lives of sinners do not weaken the might of Your sovereignty, nor does Your delay in punishing and calling them to account invalidate Your proof and argument[12]

🌸🔆 حُجَّتُكَ قَائِمَةٌ لَا تُدْحَضُ، وَ سُلْطَانُكَ ثَابِتٌ لَا يَزُولُ، فَالْوَيْلُ الدَّائِمُ لِمَنْ جَنَحَ عَنْكَ، وَ الْخَيْبَةُ الْخَاذِلَةُ لِمَنْ خَابَ مِنْكَ، وَ الشَّقَاءُ الْأَشْقَى لِمَنِ اغْتَرَّ بِكَ.

🔆 Your proof stands firm and cannot be overturned; Your sovereignty is constant and everlasting, and will never pass away. So let everlasting punishment be for the one who turns away from You, humiliating despair for the one who despairs of You, and the most wretched end for the one deluded by Your mercy and generosity

🌸🔆 مَا أَكْثَرَ تَصَرُّفَهُ فِي عَذَابِكَ، وَ مَا أَطْوَلَ تَرَدُّدَهُ فِي عِقَابِكَ، وَ مَا أَبْعَدَ غَايَتَهُ مِنَ الْفَرَجِ، وَ مَا أَقْنَطَهُ مِنْ سُهُولَةِ الْمَخْرَجِ!! عَدْلًا مِنْ قَضَائِكَ لَا تَجُورُ فِيهِ، وَ إِنْصَافاً مِنْ حُكْمِكَ لَا تَحِيفُ عَلَيْهِ.

🔆 How many different forms Your punishment holds in store for such a person; how long they will wander through the vast reaches of Your retribution! How distant relief and deliverance are for them, and how little hope they have of escaping Hell with ease. These punishments accord with the justice of Your judgment, in which You do no wrong, and with the fairness of Your command, in which You permit no injustice

🌸🔆 فَقَدْ ظَاهَرْتَ الْحُجَجَ، وَ أَبْلَيْتَ الْأَعْذَارَ، وَ قَدْ تَقَدَّمْتَ بِالْوَعِيدِ، وَ تَلَطَّفْتَ فِي التَّرْغِيبِ، وَ ضَرَبْتَ الْأَمْثَالَ، وَ أَطَلْتَ الْإِمْهَالَ، وَ أَخَّرْتَ وَ أَنْتَ مُسْتَطِيعٌ لِلمُعَاجَلَةِ، وَ تَأَنَّيْتَ وَ أَنْتَ مَلِي‏ءٌ بِالْمُبَادَرَةِ

🔆Indeed, You brought forth Your proofs one after another to awaken people, sent them Your evidence and arguments, and reminded them of Your warning. In calling Your servants to faith and action, You dealt with them gently and graciously. You set forth parables to awaken them and prolonged the time You granted them. You deferred their punishment, though You had the power to hasten it, and gave them respite, though You could have acted at once.

🌸🔆 لَمْ تَكُنْ أَنَاتُكَ عَجْزاً، وَ لَا إِمْهَالُكَ وَهْناً، وَ لَا إِمْسَاكُكَ غَفْلَةً، وَ لَا انْتِظَارُكَ مُدَارَاةً، بَلْ لِتَكُونَ حُجَّتُكَ أَبْلَغَ، وَ كَرَمُكَ أَكْمَلَ، وَ إِحْسَانُكَ أَوْفَى، وَ نِعْمَتُكَ أَتَمَّ، كُلُّ ذَلِكَ كَانَ وَ لَمْ تَزَلْ، وَ هُوَ كَائِنٌ وَ لَا تَزَالُ.

🔆Your forbearance does not spring from weakness, Your granting of respite from frailty, Your restraint from heedlessness, nor Your delay from compromise. Rather, it is so that Your proof may be more compelling, Your generosity more complete, Your beneficence more encompassing, and Your blessing more perfect. This has been so, is so, and will ever be so,

🌸🔆 حُجَّتُكَ أَجَلُّ مِنْ أَنْ تُوصَفَ بِكُلِّهَا، وَ مَجْدُكَ أَرْفَعُ مِنْ أَنْ يُحَدَّ بِكُنْهِهِ، وَ نِعْمَتُكَ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ أَنْ تُحْصَى بِأَسْرِهَا، وَ إِحْسَانُكَ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ أَنْ تُشْكَرَ عَلَى أَقَلِّهِ

🔆 and Your proof is too exalted to be fully described; Your greatness too sublime for anyone to fathom; Your blessings too many to be counted; and Your beneficence too abundant for anyone to offer even the least measure of thanks. And now, the absence of a tongue to speak has left me unable to continue praising You,

🌸🔆 وَ قَدْ قَصَّرَ بِيَ السُّكُوتُ عَنْ تَحْمِيدِكَ، وَ فَهَّهَنِيَ الْإِمْسَاكُ عَنْ تَمْجِيدِكَ، وَ قُصَارَايَ الْإِقْرَارُ بِالْحُسُورِ، لَا رَغْبَةً- يَا إِلَهِي- بَلْ عَجْزاً.

🔆 My tongue is powerless to praise You, and the utmost I can do is confess my helplessness—not because I am unwilling to praise You adequately, my Lord, but because I am unable.

🌸🔆 فَهَا أَنَا ذَا أَؤُمُّكَ بِالْوِفَادَةِ، وَ أَسْأَلُكَ حُسْنَ الرِّفَادَةِ، فَصَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ، وَ اسْمَعْ نَجْوَايَ، وَ اسْتَجِبْ دُعَائِي، وَ لَا تَخْتِمْ يَوْمِي بِخَيْبَتِي، وَ لَا تَجْبَهْنِي بِالرَّدِّ فِي مَسْأَلَتِي، وَ أَكْرِمْ مِنْ عِنْدِكَ مُنْصَرَفِي، وَ إِلَيْكَ مُنْقَلَبِي، إِنَّكَ غَيْرُ ضَائِقٍ بِمَا تُرِيدُ، وَ لَا عَاجِزٍ عَمَّا تُسْأَلُ، وَ أَنْتَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْ‏ءٍ قَدِيرٌ، وَ لَا حَوْلَ وَ لَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ الْعَلِيِّ الْعَظِيمِ.

🔆 Here I am, turning to Your court and hoping for a gracious welcome from Your presence. So bless Muhammad and his family; hear my secret, answer my prayer, and do not let my day end in despair and destitution. Do not turn me away empty-handed when I beg of You. Honor my departure from Your presence and my return to You, for nothing You will is beyond Your means; no request can leave You powerless. You have power over all things, and there is no power or strength except through God, the Most Great.

Ali Sa‘i (Abdullah Meshkat) 110.141(903)🌼

[1] *Falāḥ al-sāʾil wa najāḥ al-masāʾil*, p. 239 Ibn Ṭāwūs, ʿAlī ibn Mūsā, Bustān-e Ketāb, Qom, first edition, 1406 AH.

[2] *Al-Tafsīr al-mansūb ilā al-Imām al-Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī*, p. 655  Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī, peace be upon him, the eleventh Imam, Madrasat al-Imām al-Mahdī, may God hasten his noble advent, Iran, Qom, first edition, 1409 AH.

[3]The Day of Gathering, the Day of Resurrection, and the Day of Calling Out are one and the same: the day when the people of the Fire call to the people of Paradise and ask them for water. يَوْمُ التَّنَادِ يَوْمٌ يُنَادِي أَهْلُ النَّارِ أَهْلَ الْجَنَّةِ: أَنْ أَفِيضُوا عَلَيْنا مِنَ الْماءِ أَوْ مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ.( *Tafsīr Nūr al-thaqalayn*, vol. 4, p. 519)

[4] *Tafsīr al-ṣāfī*, vol. 5, p. 304  Fayḍ Kāshānī, Muḥammad ibn Shāh Murtaḍā, Maktabat al-Ṣadr, Tehran, second edition, 1415 AH.

[5] *Mufradāt alfāẓ al-Qurʾān*, p. 704  Rāghib Iṣfahānī, Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad, Dār al-Qalam and al-Dār al-Shāmiyyah, Beirut–Damascus, first edition, 1412 AH.

[6]And al-dāllah, with a doubled lām, is a noun derived from the expression “he acted familiarly with his friend or relative, or with someone who holds a special place in his regard”: that is, he felt at ease and dared to go too far, trusting in the other’s affection. It is said: “He acted familiarly, then made amends.” Hence the hadith, “He walks across the Bridge with ease,” meaning without fear. The word also refers to a woman’s playful familiarity with her husband, when she shows boldness in a flirtatious manner, as though she were contradicting him, though in truth she does not oppose him.

*Riyāḍ al-sālikīn fī sharḥ Ṣaḥīfat sayyid al-sājidīn*, vol. 6, p. 209  Kabīr Madanī, Sayyid ʿAlī Khān ibn Aḥmad, Islamic Publications Office, Iran, Qom, first edition, 1409 AH.

[7]Al-inṣirāf: departure and return. One says, “The people departed from the mosque,” meaning they turned back and returned to their homes. Dūn is the opposite of “above” and signifies falling short of the goal. Al-madā, with two fatḥahs, means the goal; madā al-baṣar means the limit or extent of one’s sight. (*Riyāḍ al-sālikīn*). Naʿt: quality, attribute, title, praise, encomium, virtue, description.

[8]An excerpt from Supplication 32 of *al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādiyya*.

[9]Synonyms of jalāl: dignity, greatness, eminence, majesty, grandeur, splendor, magnificence, glory, exaltedness, sublimity, and distinction.

Persian equivalents: glory, splendor, exaltedness, greatness, magnificence.

Synonyms of majd: dignity, greatness, eminence, majesty, honor, prestige, distinction, nobility, and superiority; also: hardworking, earnest, diligent, industrious, active, assiduous.

Antonym of majd: indolent.

Persian equivalents: steadfast, diligent, persevering.

[10]Jalīl: dignified, exalted, lofty, highly esteemed, immense, imposing, noble.

Persian equivalents: noble, great, exalted

[11] Tannī: pause, slowness, calm, postponement

[12]And *āl al-shayʾ yaʾūlu awlan wa maʾālan*: it returned, and so is *āʾil*.