Dua Abu Hamza Thumali (shumali) - sahar - commencing the fast

O Allah, do not discipline me by means of Your punishment

and do not subject me to Your planned strategy.

How can I attain welfare, O Lord,

while it is not found elsewhere save with You?

How can I find redemption

while it cannot be attained save through You?

Neither he who has done righteous deeds can dispense with Your aid and mercy

nor can he who did evildoings, dare to challenge you,

and did not arrive at Your pleasure find an exit out of Your power.

O Lord…

Through You have I known You.

You showed me the way to You

and invited me to come towards You.

Had it been not for You, I would have never known who You are.

All praise be to Allah alone Who gives answer to me whenever I pray Him

although I am slow whenever He invites me.

All praise be to Allah alone Who gives me whenever I ask Him

although I become close-fisted when He asks me.

All praise be to Allah alone Whom I call whenever I need something

and Whom I secretly converse whenever I want without need for an intercessor;

He thus grants my need.

All praise be to Allah alone other than Whom I never pray,

and even if I pray anyone else, he shall never be able to respond to my prayer.

All praise be to Allah alone for other than Whom I do not hope,

and even if I hope for anyone else, he shall certainly disappoint me.

All praise be to Allah alone Who has accepted me to depend upon Him and, thus, bestowed favors upon me.

He has not left me to people who will thus definitely humiliate me.

All praise be to Allah alone Who has sought my friendship

while He can dispense with me.

All praise be to Allah alone Who showed Himself gentle and considerate towards me

as if I have not sinned.

Accordingly, my Lord is the only One Whom I should thank

and He is the worthiest of being thanked by me.

O Allah, I find the courses to asking from You wide open,

the springs to hoping for You overflowing,

seeking the help of Your favors reachable for them who have hopefully looked forward to You,

and the doors of praying You vulnerable for them who cry to You.

I know for sure that You give favorable reply to the petitioners

and relentlessly succor the aggrieved;

and to long for Your beneficence

and to accept Your will and judgment

are well compensations for that which the close-fisted misers deny

and alternative to that which is possessed by the stingy.

He who travels towards You will easily reach his destination.

You do not conceal Yourself against Your creatures

unless their evildoings stand between them and You.

I am thus turning to You carrying my appeals

and directing towards You carrying my needs.

I have sought the help of You alone

and begging You through my prayer

although I do not deserve to be observed by You

or to be pardoned by You.

Rather, I have full confidence in Your generosity,

I have relied upon the truthfulness of Your promise,

I have sought shelter with my faith in Your Oneness

and my certitude in the fact -which you know-

that I have no Lord other than You

and there is no god save You

alone, without having any partner.

O Allah, It is You Who have said, and Your sayings are always true

and Your promise is always valid:

“Ask Allah of His bounty.

Verily Allah is ever Merciful to you.”

It is not Your habit, O my Chief,

that You instruct us to implore You and then You stop giving us,

while You are the All-benefactor Who confers upon the people of Your Kingdom with (innumerable) donations

and You are the All-generous Who meets them with the kindness of Your compassion.

O my God, You brought me up amid Your bounties and favors when I was little

and You have mentioned me when I have grown up.

So, O He Who brought me up in this world with His bounties,

favors, and graces,

and, in the Hereafter, will have referred to me with His amnesty and generosity!

My acquaintance with You, O my Lord, is the path taking me to You

and my love for You is the intermediary between You and me.

I am sure of the path to which You have lead me

and I rely upon my intermediary’s success before You.

I pray You, O my Chief, with a tongue muted by its sins.

O Lord! I confidentially speak to You with a heart degraded by its offenses.

I pray You, O Lord, with terror, desire,

hope, and fear.

Whenever I think of my sins, O my Master, I panic,

but when I think of Your generosity, I feel desirous (for Your pardon).

Therefore, if You forgive me, You are already the best of those who show mercy,

and If You punish me, You are then not wronging me.

Yet, it is Your munificence and Your generosity, O Allah, that gave me the courage to pray You,

despite that I have committed things that You dislike.

It is Your kindness and mercy that I use as my means during misfortunes inflicting me despite my shamelessness.

I thus hope that my expectation will not be disappointed amid these two matters.

So, make my hopes become real

and answer my prayers.

O Greatest Besought One that has been ever besought,

and the Most Favorable Hoped One!

My expectation, O my Chief, has been great but my deed has been bad.

So, grant me Your pardon as much as my expectation,

and do not punish me for the worst of my deed.

Verily, Your generosity is too great to be compared to the penalty of the guilty,

and Your tolerance is too immense to be compared to the punishment of the negligent.

I, O my Chief, am seeking refuge with Your benevolence,

fleeing from You towards You,

hoping for the amnesty that You have promised to confer upon one who keeps good idea about You.

What am I? O Lord! What importance do I have?

Do me a favor out of Your benevolence

and be charitable to me by means of pardoning me.

O my Lord! Cover me with Your protective covering

and overlook reproaching me out of the generosity of Your Face.

In fact, if anyone other than You has watched me while committing these sins, I may not commit them.

Had I anticipated immediateness of punishment, I might have avoided doing them.

Yet, this does not mean that You are the least important of those who watch over me

or You are the least weighty of those who observe me.

Rather, this is because You, O my Lord, are the best of those who cover up (one’s defects),

the wisest of those who judge,

the most generous of those who act generously,

the concealer of defects,

the Forgiver of sins,

and the Knower of the unseen.

You conceal the defects out of Your liberality

and put off punishment because of Your forbearance.

Hence, all praise be to You, for You act tolerably although You have full knowledge

and for Your pardon even though You have the absolute authority.

It is Your forbearance with me that gives me latitude and makes me dare to break Your laws.

It is Your concealing my faults that makes me act shamelessly before You.

It is my acquaintance with the broadness of Your mercy and the magnitude of Your pardon that make me hurry to violate that which You have deemed forbidden.

O Indulgent! O Compassionate!

O Ever-living! O Self-subsistent!

O Forgiver of sins!

O Accepter of repentance!

O Owner of matchless bounties!

O He who has been doing favors since eternity!

Where is Your magnificent concealment (of one’s faults)?

Where is Your irreversible pardon?

Where is Your abrupt relief?

Where is Your immediate aid?

Where is Your boundless mercy?

Where is Your overflowing gifts?

Where are Your pleasant endowments?

Where are Your beautiful benefits?

Where is Your outstanding grace?

Where are Your giant bounties?

Where are Your eternal favors?

Where is Your generous liberality? O Generous Giver!

In Your name and in the name of Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad, save me!

In the name of Your mercy, deliver me!

O All-benevolent!

O All-beneficent!

O All-gracious! O All-compassionate!

In my salvation from Your punishment, I do not rely upon my deeds;

rather, I depend on Your liberal generosity to us,

because You are verily the Lord of righteousness and the Lord of forgiveness.

You take the initiative in doing good out of Your graciousness

and overlook the sins out of Your generosity.

We thus do not know which of Your graces we should thank:

should it be the handsome elegance that you spread over us, or our offensive deeds that you conceal?

Or should it be the fabulous favor that You grant and present,

or the numerous misfortunes from which You have saved and relieved?

O Beloved of those who endear themselves to Him!

O delight of the eyes of those who resort to Him and communicate Him incessantly!

You are the All-benevolent and we are the malevolent.

So, overlook, O Lord, the offensive that we hold by means of the good that You hold.

There is not definitely any foolishness that can be uncovered by Your liberality.

There is no period that may be longer than Your tolerance.

What value remains for our deeds if compared to Your favors?

How can we ever deem much any deeds if compared to Your generosity?

Moreover, how may Your broad mercy be narrow for the guilty?

O Extensive Forgiver!

O He Who extends both hands with mercy!

By Your Majesty I swear, O my Lord,

even if you chide me, I shall never leave Your Door

and I shall never stop flattering You!

This is because I have full acquaintance with Your (indescribable) generosity and bounty.

Verily, You do whatever You will.

You punish whomsoever You want however You want by whatever means You want.

You have mercy upon whomsoever You want however You want by whatever means You want.

None is supposed to interrogate You for whatever You do,

non can ever contend with You about Your authority,

none can ever have a share in that which You hold,

none can ever object to Your decisions,

and none can ever protest against that which You administer.

To You alone are creation and determination.

Blessed be Allah, the Lord of the worlds.

O my Lord, this is the manner of one who seeks Your shelter,

resorts to Your liberality,

and has been accustomed to be included with Your benevolence and graciousness.

You are certainly the All-munificent Whose amnesty never shrinks,

Whose favor never reduces,

and Whose mercy never diminishes.

We have full confidence in You on account of Your eternal habit of pardons,

boundless kindness, and limitless mercy.

Is it ever expectable, O Lord, that You may disappoint us or may act on the contrary of our expectations?

No, never. O Compassionate! This is neither our idea about You

nor our desire from You!

O my Lord, verily we have hope, big and large, in You.

Verily, we have great expectation in You.

Albeit that we have disobeyed You, we still hope that You will cover our faults.

We have prayed You hoping that You will respond to us.

So, give success to our hopes, O our Lord!

We now know for sure what we deserve in exchange of our deeds.

Yet, Your knowledge about us and our knowledge that You shall never let us down

have urged us to desire for You

even if we do not deserve Your mercy.

However, You are the worthiest of conferring upon us and upon the guilty with the grace of Your broad benevolence.

So, confer upon us with that of which You are worthy

and act generously towards us, for we are in need for Your conferral.

O Oft-Forgiving, in Your light have we found the right path,

due to Your favor have we dispensed with the others,

and Your grace have we experienced in morns and eves.

Our sins are before You;

we beseech You, O Allah, to forgive them and we repent before You.

Whilst You show affection to us through Your graces, we take ourselves away from You through our sins.

You good descend upon us

while our evildoing ascends to You.

Albeit that a noble angel always carries to You our offensive deeds,

this has never made you stop encompassing us with Your graces

and conferring upon us your elegances.

Glory be to You! How Forbearing, Magnificent,

and Generous You are at all times!

Sacred be Your Names.

Grand be Your praise.

Munificent be Your deeds and acts.

You, O my God, are too expansive in graciousness and too great in forbearance

to punish me for my evildoings and sins.

(Here I am asking for) Amnesty! Amnesty! Amnesty!

O my Lord! O my Lord! O my Lord!

O Allah, cause us to be engaged with mentioning You,

save us from Your wrath,

deliver us from Your torture,

grant us Your donations,

confer upon us with Your grace,

and provide us the opportunity to go on pilgrimage to Your House

and to visit the tomb of Your Prophet,

may Your blessings, mercy,

forgiveness, and pleasure be upon him and his Household.

Verily, You are nigh and ready to answer.

Bless us with acting upon the obedience to You,

and receive us following the rule of You and Your Prophet,

blessings of Allah be on him and on his Household.

O Allah, forgive me and my parents,

and have mercy on them as they cared for me when I was little.

Reward them generously for their good deeds

and forgive their sins.

O Allah, forgive the faithful men and women,

be they alive or dead,

and join us together in bliss and happiness.

O Allah, forgive our living and dead persons,

our present and absent ones,

our male and female ones,

our infants and adults,

and our free ones and slaves.

Liars are those who ascribe rivals to Allah;

they have wandered far astray

and they will have suffered a manifest loss.

O Allah, send blessings to Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad,

seal my life with decency,

help me overcome all that which aggrieves me in this world as well as the Hereafter,

do not let him who does not have mercy upon me prevail on me,

always keep on me an everlasting, protective covering,

do not divest me of the well-mannered graces that You have conferred upon me,

and provide me, out of Your grace, with lawfully gotten, delightful sustenance.

O Allah, keep me under Your alert surveillance,

protect me with Your support,

take care of me with Your comprehensive care,

grant me opportunity to go on pilgrimage to Your Holy House

in this year as well as all coming years,

grant me to go on pilgrimage to the tombs of Your Prophet and the Imams, peace be upon them,

and do not deprive me, O Lord, of such honorable scenes

and noble situations.

O Allah, accept my repentance so that I will not disobey you ever again,

inspire me with goodness, good-doing,

and fear of You all over day and night as long as You keep me alive.

O Lord of the worlds!

O Allah, each time I decide to prepare and ready myself

for offering prayers before You and conversing confidentially with You,

You throw on me slumber whenever I stand for prayer;

thus, You deprive me of conversing with You confidentially whenever I try so.

What is the wrong with me? Whenever I feel that my inner self has become decent

and that my session has become similar to the sessions of those who turn much to You,

a misfortune would inflict me, causing my feet to be shaken, and standing against my showing servitude to You.

O my Master, perhaps You have pushed me away from Your door

and You have dismissed me from Your service!

Or, perhaps, You have noticed that I belittled the duties that You have made incumbent upon me, and You thus set me aside!

Or, perhaps, You have seen me turning away from You and thus You have turned away from me!

Or, perhaps, You have found me in the manner of the liars and thus You have rejected me!

Or, perhaps, You have observed me showing no gratitude for Your graces and thus You have deprived me of them!

Or, perhaps, You have not found me in the meetings of the scholars and thus You have let me down!

Or, perhaps, You have seen me among the inattentive ones and thus You have made me despair of Your mercy!

Or, perhaps, You have found me fond of the sessions of the wrongdoers and thus You have referred me to them!

Or, perhaps, You have not willed to hear my prayers and thus You have kept me away from You!

Or, perhaps, You have punished me for my offenses and sins!

Or, perhaps, You have penalized me for my shamelessness!

If You forgive me, O Lord, then You have occasionally forgiven the sinners like me,

because Your compassion, O my Lord, is too great to be compared to the punishment of the negligent.

I am now seeking refuge with Your generosity and fleeing for You to You,

hoping for the promise that You have taken as regards pardoning those who have good idea about You.

O my God, You are too expansive in favor

and too great in forbearance to punish me for my deed

or to chastise me for my sin.

What am I? O Master! What is my weight?

Excuse me out of Your favor, O my Master,

act to me charitably our of Your pardon,

cover me with Your covering,

and let off chiding me out of the liberality of Your Face.

O my Master! I am the little that You have brought up,

I am the ignorant that You have taught,

I am the straying that You have guided,

I am the humble that You have given rise,

I am the afraid that You have given security,

I am the hungry that You have satiated,

I am the thirsty that You have watered,

I am the naked that You have dressed,

I am the poor that You have given affluence,

I am the weak that You have strengthened,

I am the lowly that You have given might,

I am the ill that You have cured,

I am the beggar that You have donated,

I am the sinner that You have covered,

I am the guilty that You have excused,

I am the valueless that You have evaluated,

I am the helpless that You have backed,

and I am the expelled that You have boarded.

I am, O my Lord, the one who has not felt ashamed of You in secrets

and the one who has not considered Your watching over him in the public.

I am the committer of the grave transgressions,

I am the one who challenged his Master,

I am the one who disobeyed the All-great of the heavens,

I am the one who has given bribes violating the laws of the All-lofty Lord,

I am the one who has been delighted for committing such sins,

I am the one who, although You have respited, has not cared,

I am the one whom, although You have covered him, has not felt ashamed,

who committed so many acts of disobedience that he has violated (all terms),

and who, although You have disregarded, has not minded.

So, out of Your forbearance have You given me respite.

You have concealed (my faults) with Your untouchable concealment as if You have been unaware of my acts.

You have not applied to me the punishments of committing acts of disobedience (to You) as if You are ashamed to face me.

O my God, as I disobeyed You, I have never denied Your Lordship,

have never belittled Your ordains,

have never wished for exposing myself to Your chastisement,

and have never disparaged Your threat.

Nevertheless, sins showed themselves desirable before me, my self commended to me,

my whim overwhelmed me,

my impudence helped me accordingly,

and I have been deceived by Your covering that You have laid on me.

So, I have exerted efforts in violating Your orders and disobeying You.

Now, who can ever save me from Your chastisement?

Tomorrow, who can save me from the hands of my rivals?

Whose rope will I catch if You cut off the rope between You and me?

Shame on me for my evildoings that Your Book has recorded.

Had it not been for Your generosity, the breadth of Your mercy,

and Your warning me against being desperate—the matters that I hopefully depend on, I would have despaired whenever I remember my sins.

O Greatest Besought Who has been ever besought!

O Most Favorable Hoped!

O Allah! I beseech You in the name of the liability of Islam,

I rely upon You in the name of the sanctity of the Qur’an,

in the name of my love for the Prophet; the Ummi (inhabitant of Mecca),

the Qurayshite, the Hashemite,

the Arab, the Tuhamite,

the Meccan, and the Madanite,

I hope for proximity to You.

So, do not disturb my familiarity with faith

and do not make my reward the same as reward given to those who serve one other than You.

Certainly, some people outwardly declared the faith so that they could prevent their blood from being shed.

However, they attained their goals.

We have believed in You by heart and tongue so that You may excuse us.

Hence, make us attain our goals,

make firm our hope for You in our hearts,

make not our hearts to deviate after You have guided us aright,

and grant us from You mercy.

Surely, You are the most liberal Giver.

By Your Majesty I swear, O my Lord, even if You chide me, I shall never leave Your Door

and I shall never stop flattering You.

This is because I have full acquaintance with Your (indescribable) generosity and bounty.

To whom may a servant go save to his Lord?

To whom may a mortal resort save to his Creator?

O my God, even if You tie me with chains,

deprive me of the stream of Your bounties in the presence of people,

divulge all my scandalous acts before the eyes of all Your servants,

order me to Hell,

and prevent me from communicating the Pious ones,

(in spite of all that) I will never stop hoping for You,

I will never stop expecting Your pardon,

and Your love will never exit my heart.

I never forget Your graces that I enjoy

and Your having concealed my defects in the worldly abode.

O my Master, (please) expel love for the world out of my heart,

join me with the Divinely-chosen Prophet and his Household,

the choicest of Your creatures and the seal of the Prophets:

Muhammad, blessings of Allah be on him and on his Household.

Move me to the rank of repentance with You,

help me weep for myself after I have come upon the last of my age,

being in the manner of those who despair of any self-decency.

Who is then worse than I am

when I, such being my case, will be taken to a grave

that I have neither paved for my long stay

nor furnished with righteous deed for my extended abode.

Why should I not weep

while I do not know what my destiny will be?

And while I notice that my self is cheating me,

my days are deceiving me,

and the wings of death are fluttering over my head.

So, why should I not weep?

I weep for my soul’s departing my body.

I weep for the darkness of my grave.

I weep for the narrowness of my vault.

I weep for Munkar and Nakir (the two angels interrogating in graves) being interrogating me.

I weep for my coming out of my grave (on the Resurrection Day) naked, humiliated,

carrying my burdens on my back,

distributing my sights to my right and my left.

Behold! The creatures will each be engaged with matters other than mine.

Every man that day will have concern enough to make him heedless of others.

Many faces on that day shall be bright, laughing, joyous.

And many faces on that day, on them shall be dust. Darkness, and humiliation shall cover them.

O my Master, on You I depend and rely.

In You I put my hope and faith.

To Your mercy I hang.

You direct Your mercy towards whomsoever You like

and You guide, out of Your honoring, whomsoever You will.

So, all praise be to You for You have purified my heart from polytheism.

All praise be to You for You have made my tongue express utterly.

How can I praise You properly while my tongue is too short to do so?

How can I please You while the extent of my efforts is too short to do so?

What extent can my tongue reach if compared to the limitless extent of thanking You?

What amount can my efforts reach if compared to the limitless amount of Your graces and favors?

O my God! It is certainly Your benevolence that has given me hope.

It is my thanks to You that have granted approval for my deeds.

O my Master, for You do I desire,

You do I fear,

and to You do I look forward.

It is my hope that has driven me towards You.

To You, O my One and Only God, do I direct my determination.

Towards what You have in possession are my desires directed.

For You is the ultimate of my hope and fear.

With You have I become familiar.

To You have I submitted my hand.

To the rope of obedience to You have I extended my fears.

O my Master, only through mentioning You have my heart lived.

Only through my confidential conversations with You have I cooled the pains of my fear.

So, O my Master! O my Trusty Patron! O Ultimate Hope!

Separate me from my transgressions which prevent me from adhering to the obedience to You.

I only pray You on account of my eternal faith in You

and my desire for Your mercy and kindness

that You have made incumbent upon Yourself.

So, the whole affair is Yours alone. There is no partner with You at all.

All the creatures are dependent upon You and are in Your grip.

All things are submissive to You.

Blessed be You, O Lord of the worlds.

O my God, have mercy on me when my argument is proven nil,

when my tongue can no longer find any answer,

and when my mind scatters as soon as You start interrogating me.

So, O my great hope, do not forsake me when my need terribly increases,

do not reject me on account of my ignorance,

and do not stop conferring upon me on account of my lack of patience.

Grant me for I am poor.

Have mercy upon me for I am weak.

O my Master, on You do I rely and lean.

You are my hope, and in You do I have faith.

To Your mercy do I attach myself.

In Your courtyard do I dwell.

On account of Your benevolence do I declare my request.

With Your generosity, O my Lord, do I begin my prayers.

With You do I desire for meeting my needs.

Through Your wealth do I settle my poverty.

Under the shade of Your pardon do I stand.

Towards Your benevolence and generosity do I raise my sight.

I persistently look for Your favors;

so, do not let the flames of the Fire consume me while You are my ultimate hope,

and do not embed me in the deep black abyss while You are the delight of my eyes.

O my Master, do not thwart my idea about Your grace and favors,

for in You I trust.

Do not deprive me of Your rewards,

for You best know my poverty.

O my God, if my death is drawing near while my deeds have not yet drawn me near You,

then let my confession of having committed sins be my means of justification.

O my God, if You forgive, then who is worthier than You in forgiveness?

And if You punish, then who is fairer than You in judgment?

Have mercy on my misery in this world,

on my grief at the time of death,

on my loneliness in the grave,

on my lonesomeness in the underground hole,

and on my humiliating situation when I shall be resurrected for account before You.

Forgive my deeds that have been concealed from the other human beings,

make permanent for me that on account of which You have covered my faults,

have mercy on me when I am thrown on the death bed turned over at the hands of my dear ones,

do a favor to me when I am laid on the table of the dead bathroom turned over at the hands of my righteous neighbors,

act kindly towards me when I am carried while my relatives hold the edges of my coffin,

be generous with me when I am carried, alone, to my hole,

have mercy on my loneliness in that (new) dwelling so that I will not feel at ease with anyone other than You.

O my Master, if You leave me for myself, I will certainly perish.

O my Master, to whom will I resort if You do not overlook my slips?

To whom will I run for help if I miss Your care for me in my stay (in grave)?

To whom will I refer if You do not relieve my grief?

O my Master! Who will be with me?

Who will have mercy on me if You do not?

Whose favor will I expect if I miss Your favors on the day of my neediness?

To whom will I flee from my sins when my deadline comes?