And among his supplications (AS) in praise of God before making a request: O You who are nearer to me than the jugular vein! O You who accomplish whatever You will! O You who come between a man and his heart! O You who are in the highest station! O You like whom there is nothing! (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 78)
Before making his request of God, the Commander of the Faithful (AS) would commune with Him in this way: O You who are nearer to me than my jugular vein! O You who accomplish whatever You will! O You who come between a man and his heart! O You who are in the highest station, and like whom there is no one! ...
From his supplication (AS) in humble entreaty to God the Exalted: O God, I ask of You with the asking of the destitute, submissive one; I seek from You with the seeking of the wretched, poor one; I entreat You with the entreaty of the weak, afflicted one; I implore You with the imploring of the lowly sinner; and I ask of You with the asking of one whose soul is humbled before You, who has rubbed his face in the dust for You, whose forelock is bowed to You, whose tears pour down before You, whose weeping flows toward You, who confesses his offence to You, whose devices have failed him and whose plea has been cut off. By the right of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad upon You, and by Your mighty right upon them, I ask that You bless them as You are worthy to do, and that You bless Your Prophet and the family of Your Prophet, and that You grant me the best of what You have granted to the petitioners among Your servants, the believers who have passed away, and the best of what You grant to the believers who remain, and the best of what You grant to those of Your friends whom You will create until the Day of Judgement — those for whom You have decreed the good of this world and of the Hereafter. O Generous One, O Generous One, O Generous One! And grant me in this sitting of mine forgiveness for the sins I have already committed, and preserve me from sin for what remains of my life, and provide me with the hajj and the umra in this year of mine, accepted, righteous and purely for Your noble Face, and provide me with it always, for as long as You keep me alive. O Generous One, O Generous One, O Generous One! Suffice me the burden of my own self, suffice me the burden of my dependants, suffice me the burden of Your creation, suffice me the evil of the transgressors among the Arabs and the non-Arabs, suffice me the evil of the transgressors among the jinn and mankind, and suffice me the evil of every creature whose forelock my Lord holds. Indeed my Lord is upon a straight path. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 102)
A supplication and humble entreaty from the Commander of the Faithful (AS): O God, I ask of You with the asking of the destitute, submissive one ....
From his supplication (AS) in submissiveness and in seeking forgiveness: O God, I ask of You a little out of much, though my need of You is immense and Your freedom from need of it is eternal; it is much in my eyes and easy and slight for You. O God, Your pardoning of my sin, Your overlooking of my offence, and Your forbearance toward the enormity of my crime in what I did by error and deliberately, have emboldened me to ask You for what I do not deserve from You — that which You have provided me of Your power and Your mercy, and what You have shown me of Your power and made known to me of Your answering. So I have come to call upon You in security, and to ask of You in familiarity, neither afraid nor fearful, presuming upon You in what I have set my heart on from You. And if it is delayed for me, in my ignorance I reproach You — yet perhaps what has been delayed for me is better for me, since You know the outcome of all affairs. I have never seen a generous master more forbearing toward a base servant than You have been toward me. O my Lord, You call me and I turn away from You; You show love to me and I show aversion to You; You show affection to me and I do not accept it from You — as though the favour were mine over You. Yet that has not prevented You from showing tenderness to me, mercy to me, and kindness to me. So have mercy upon Your erring servant and be bountiful to me with Your grace; indeed You are Munificent, Generous. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 105)
A supplication of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) in the station of submissiveness and seeking forgiveness: O God, I ask of You a little out of much ...
His supplication in seeking forgiveness in the pre-dawn hour of every night: O God, though my sins are hideous, I did not intend by them to sever myself from You; nor do I say to You, 'I offer amends and shall not return to sin,' because of the fault I know in myself; nor do I complete my repentance, because of the weakness I know in myself. I have come seeking Your pardon, and my means of access to You is Your generosity. So bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, and honour me with Your forgiveness, O Most Merciful of the merciful. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 121)
The Commander of the Faithful's (AS) seeking of forgiveness in the pre-dawn hours: O God, though my sins are hideous, I did not intend by them to sever myself from You ....
Among his supplications (AS) in seeking forgiveness: O God, I seek Your forgiveness for every sin that Your knowledge has recorded of me and against me until the end of my life — for all my sins, the first of them and the last, the deliberate and the mistaken, the few and the many, the subtle and the grave, the old and the recent, the secret and the open, and for everything of which I am guilty; and I turn to You in repentance. And I ask You to bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, and to forgive me all that You have counted of the wrongs done to Your servants that stand against me; for Your servants have rights upon me and I am held in pledge for them. Forgive them for me however You will and in whatever way You will, O Most Merciful of the merciful. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 123)
Another seeking of forgiveness from the Commander of the Faithful (AS): O God, I seek Your forgiveness for every sin ...
And from his supplication (AS) for healing from illness: My God, every time You bestowed a blessing upon me, my thanks to You for it were little; and every time You tried me with an affliction, my patience with You in it was little. O You for whose blessing my thanks were little, yet who did not deprive me; O You in whose trial my patience was little, yet who did not forsake me; O You who saw me committing offences, yet did not expose me; O You who saw me in acts of disobedience, yet did not punish me — bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, forgive me my sins, and heal me of this illness of mine; indeed You have power over all things. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 223)
A supplication of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) in the station of seeking healing: My God, every time You bestowed a blessing upon me, my thanks to You for it were little ....
Likewise, in seeking healing: O God, I ask You for the hastening of Your well-being, for patience under Your trial, and for deliverance into Your mercy. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 224)
Another supplication in the station of seeking healing: O God, I ask You for the hastening of Your well-being ...
His supplication (AS) as a protective invocation for toothache, after wiping the places of his prostration; then he wipes the aching tooth and says: In the name of God; the Healer is God; and there is no power and no strength save in God. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 226)
Whenever some part of the Commander of the Faithful's (AS) body was in pain, he would pass his hand over the places of his prostration (his face, the crown of his head, his two hands and the tops of his two feet), then pass his hand over the place that hurt, and say: In the name of God; the Healer is God; and there is no power and no strength save in God.
For nullifying sorcery, to be written on gazelle parchment: In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate. In the name of God and by God. In the name of God, what God wills. In the name of God, and there is no power and no strength save in God, the Most High, the Most Great. 'Moses said: What you have brought is sorcery; God will surely bring it to nothing; God does not set right the work of the corrupters. And God establishes the truth by His words, though the criminals be averse.' 'So the truth prevailed, and what they were doing came to nothing; and they were defeated there and turned back humiliated.' (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 230)
A spell-breaking invocation from the Commander of the Faithful (AS), which is to be written on gazelle parchment: In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate; in the name of God and by God ....
We say: the gazelle parchment is not itself the point. In former times, when the papers of today did not exist, it was the finest material available to write upon. Its equivalent today would be a fine grade of paper that deteriorates least with the passage of time.
Likewise, for seeking sustenance, every morning: Praise be to God, who made Himself known to me and did not leave me blind of heart. Praise be to God, who made me one of the community of Muhammad (PBUH). Praise be to God, who placed my sustenance in His own hand and did not place it in the hands of people. Praise be to God, who veiled my faults and did not disgrace me among the people. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 281)
For increase of sustenance, the Commander of the Faithful (AS) used to recite every morning: Praise be to God, who made Himself known to me ...
Likewise, for the discharging of debt: O God, make me independent by what You have made lawful, so that I have no need of what You have forbidden, and by Your grace, so that I have no need of anyone besides You. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 297)
The supplication of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) for discharging debt and increasing sustenance: O God, make me independent by what You have made lawful, so that I have no need of what You have forbidden, and by Your grace, so that I have no need of anyone besides You.
His supplication (AS) when he set out to obtain some need; he would write it and hold it in his right hand: O God, I ask of You — O God, O One, O Unique, O Light, O Eternal Refuge, O You whose pillars fill the heavens and the earth — I ask You to make the heart of so-and-so, son of so-and-so, subject to me, as You made the serpent subject to Moses (AS); and I ask You to make his heart subject to me, as You made subject to Solomon his hosts of jinn, men and birds, so that they were marshalled in ordered ranks; and I ask You to soften his heart toward me, as You softened iron for David (AS); and I ask You to humble his heart toward me, as You humbled the light of the moon before the light of the sun. O God, he is Your servant and the son of Your bondmaid, and I am Your servant and the son of Your bondmaid. I have taken hold of his feet and his forelock, so make him subject until he fulfils this need of mine and what I desire; indeed You have power over all things, and he is as he is in that in which he is. There is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 298)
A taskhir (invocation for winning someone over) attributed to the Commander of the Faithful (AS): When you wish to ask something of someone, write out this taskhir and hold it in the fist of your right hand: O God, I ask of You — O God, O One, O Unique, O Light, O Eternal Refuge ...
His supplication (AS) against the enemy: O God, I take refuge in You from ever showing enmity toward a friend of Yours, or friendship toward an enemy of Yours, or from being pleased with what angers You. O God, whomever You bless, our blessings are upon him; and whomever You curse, our curse is upon him. O God, whoever's death would be a relief for us and for all the believers, give us rest from him and replace him for us with one who is better for us than he, until You show us of the knowledge of answered prayer what we may recognize in our religion and in our livelihoods, O Most Merciful of the merciful. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 300)
The imprecation of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) against the tyrannical enemy: O God, I take refuge in You from ever showing enmity toward a friend of Yours ...
His supplication against the oppressor, after the ritual bath, the ablution, and the praying of two rak'as: O God, so-and-so, son of so-and-so, has wronged me, transgressed against me, set himself in hostility to me, caused me pain, inflamed me, humiliated me and worn me out. O God, leave him to himself, demolish his support, hasten his ruin, strip from him the blessing You have granted him, cut off his sustenance, curtail his life, wipe out his trace, set his enemy over him, and seize him in the very place where he feels safe — just as he wronged me, transgressed against me, set himself in hostility to me, caused pain, inflamed, humiliated and wore out. O God, I seek Your aid against so-and-so, son of so-and-so; so aid me, for You are stronger in might and stronger in exemplary punishment. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 301)
The imprecation of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) against an oppressor: You perform the ritual bath, pray two rak'as, and say: O God, so-and-so, son of so-and-so, has wronged me ...
His supplication on the Night of Clamour (Laylat al-Harir), which is the supplication for distress: O God, do not make beloved to me what You detest, and do not make hateful to me what You love. O God, I take refuge in You from being pleased with what angers You, or being angered by what pleases You, or rejecting Your decree, or exceeding Your word, or wishing well to Your enemies and thereby transgressing Your command concerning them. O God, whatever deed or word draws me near to Your good pleasure and distances me from Your wrath, turn me toward it and carry me upon it, O Most Merciful of the merciful. O God, I ask You for a tongue that remembers, a heart that is grateful, a true certainty, a pure faith, and a humble body; grant me love from You, and cast into my heart awe of You. O God, if You have mercy on me, then my thought of You has been good; and if You punish me, it is because of my wrongdoing, my injustice, my crime and my excess against myself, and I have no excuse to plead and no recompense to count upon. O God, when the appointed terms arrive, the days are spent, and there is no escape from meeting You, then decree for me a dwelling in Paradise for which the first and the last shall envy me — after which there is no regret, and no companion after its companion — in the noblest of its dwellings. O God, clothe me in the humility of faith joined with honour, before the humiliation of abasement in the Fire. I praise You, my Lord, with the best of praise, for Your trial of me is the best of trials. O God, let me taste of Your aid, Your support, Your granting of success, and Your gift; grant me longing to meet You, and a share in Your victory, until I find the sweetness of that in my heart. Resolve for me upon the most rightly guided of my affairs, for You see my station and the station of my companions, and nothing of my affair is hidden from You. O God, I ask You for the victory with which You aided Your Messenger, and by which You separated truth from falsehood, until by it You established Your religion and made Your proof triumph — O You who are with me in every station. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 307)
The supplication of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) on the Night of Clamour (Laylat al-Harir): O God, do not make beloved to me what You detest ...
His supplication when some matter grieved him: In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate. O God, guard me with Your eye that never sleeps, shelter me in Your support that is never overcome, and forgive me by Your power over me. My Lord, let me not perish, for You are the hope. O God, You are mightier and greater than what I fear and dread. With God I seek an opening, with God I seek success, and by Muhammad the Messenger of God (PBUH) I turn toward You. O You who sufficed Abraham against Nimrod and Moses against Pharaoh, suffice me in that in which I am. God, God is my Lord; I associate nothing with Him. Sufficient for me is the Lord, over all that is lorded over; sufficient for me is the Creator, over all creatures; sufficient for me is the Withholder, over all who are withheld from; sufficient for me is He who has never ceased to be my sufficiency; He has been my sufficiency ever since I was. God is sufficient for me; there is no god but He; upon Him I rely, and He is the Lord of the mighty Throne. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 327)
His supplication when something preoccupied his mind: In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate. O God, guard me with Your eye that never sleeps ...
Likewise, for the recovery of something lost, after praying two rak'as in which Ya Sin is recited after al-Hamd: O God, O Restorer of what is lost, restore to me what I have lost. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 334)
The supplication of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) for finding something lost, after two rak'as of prayer in which Ya Sin is recited after al-Hamd in each rak'a: O God, O Restorer of what is lost, restore to me what I have lost.
His supplication when people praised him to his face: O God, You know me better than I know myself, and I know myself better than they do. O God, make me better than what they suppose, and forgive me what they do not know. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 334)
The intimate prayer of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) whenever someone praised him: O God, You know me better than I know myself, and I know myself better than they do. O God, make me better than what they suppose, and forgive me what they do not know!
His supplication following every obligatory prayer: O You whom no act of hearing distracts from another; O You whom the petitioners never confuse; O You whom the insistence of the insistent never wearies — let me taste the coolness of Your pardon and the sweetness of Your mercy and Your forgiveness. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 366)
The supplication of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) following the obligatory prayers: O You whom no act of hearing distracts from another ...
His supplication at the end of every prayer: Glory be to Him who does not wrong the people of His kingdom. Glory be to Him who does not seize the people of the earth with the various kinds of punishment. Glory be to the All-Kind, the All-Merciful. O God, place in my heart light, insight, understanding and knowledge; indeed You have power over all things. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 367)
Another supplication of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) following the obligatory prayers: Glory be to Him who does not wrong the people of His kingdom ...
And from his supplication (AS) in the two prostrations of thanksgiving: O my Lord, You admonished me and I did not heed; You restrained me from what You have forbidden and I was not restrained; You overwhelmed me with Your bounties and I did not give thanks. Your pardon, Your pardon, O Generous One! I ask You for ease at the time of death, and I ask You for pardon at the time of the reckoning. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 378)
His (AS) supplication in the prostrations of thanksgiving: O my Lord, You admonished me and I did not heed ...
His supplication at the time of sleep: In the name of God, I lay my side down for God, upon the creed of Abraham, the religion of Muhammad (PBUH), and the guardianship (walaya) of those whose obedience God has made obligatory upon me. What God wills comes to be, and what He does not will does not come to be. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 380)
The supplication of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) before sleep: In the name of God, I lay my side down for God ...
His supplication when turning over upon the bed at the time of sleep: There is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting. Glory be to God, Lord of the prophets and messengers; and glory be to God, Lord of the heavens and all that is in them, and Lord of the mighty Throne. And peace be upon the messengers, and praise be to God, Lord of the worlds. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 381)
The supplication of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) when he awoke in the middle of the night: There is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting ...
His supplication for sitting up after sleep: Sufficient for me is the Lord, over all servants; sufficient for me is He who is my sufficiency; He has been my sufficiency ever since I was; God is sufficient for me, and what an excellent Guardian. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 381)
His (AS) supplication when he rose from sleep at night and sat up: Sufficient for me is the Lord, over all servants ...
His supplication, among those he taught to al-Husayn, and it is a comprehensive supplication: O God, I praise You for every blessing, I thank You for every good deed, I seek Your forgiveness for every sin, I ask You for every good, and I seek refuge in You from every affliction; and there is no power and no strength save in God, the Most High, the Most Great. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 383)
A comprehensive supplication of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) that he taught to Imam al-Husayn (AS): O God, I praise You for every blessing ...
His supplication upon completing the Qur'an: O God, expand my breast by the Qur'an, employ my body by the Qur'an, illuminate my sight by the Qur'an, loosen my tongue by the Qur'an, and help me with it for as long as You keep me alive; for there is no power and no strength save through You. (al-Sahifa al-Alawiyya, vol. 1, p. 389)
The supplication of the Commander of the Faithful (AS) whenever he completed a full recitation of the Qur'an: O God, expand my breast by the Qur'an ...
Awalim al-Ulum wa al-Ma'arif — or Jami al-Ulum wa al-Ma'arif wa al-Ahwal min al-Ayat wa al-Akhbar wa al-Aqwal — is a work by Abdullah al-Bahrani al-Isfahani. Al-Bahrani composed this work after Allama Majlisi had written Bihar al-Anwar. The subjects of the book include divine unity, prophethood, death, the intermediate realm (barzakh), the states of the world, creation, the heavens and the earth, the principles of belief, and the life histories of the prophets, of the Prophet of Islam and of the Shi'i Imams, together with arguments for the soundness of Shi'i beliefs, as well as juridical traditions. The book runs to more than one hundred and twenty-eight volumes and is somewhat longer than Bihar al-Anwar. However, a portion of the book has been entirely lost and has not reached us. For example, the traditions concerning Imam al-Jawad, Imam al-Hadi and Imam al-Askari (AS) are not available, and to this day no one has come upon them.
The author introduces himself as a student of twenty years' standing under Allama Majlisi, and no other information about him is available. Since many of the traditions of Awalim are shared with Bihar al-Anwar, and since the author of Awalim was among Majlisi's students and collaborators and one of the compilers of Bihar, one may say that Awalim is his own edition of Bihar al-Anwar, with several differences: first, he removed those opinions of Majlisi which he considered rationalistic and contrary to his own Akhbari approach; second, he also included hadith from Sunni sources; third, he included traditions that Majlisi did not include in Bihar. Perhaps he even fell into disagreement with Majlisi over the inclusion of these traditions and decided to compose his own independent book.