Dua Iftitah

O Allah, I begin the glorification of You with praising You

and You always guide us to the right out of Your favors upon us.

I am certain that You are the most Merciful of all those who show mercy

in situations of pardon and mercy,

the harshest in punishments

in situations of giving exemplary punishment and chastisement (to the wrongdoers),

and the greatest Omnipotent

in the domain of absolute power and might.

O Allah, You have permitted me to pray and beseech You.

So, listen, O All-hearer, to my words of praise,

reply my prayer, O All-merciful,

and overlook my slips, O Oft-Forgiving.

You, O my God, have relieved so many of my grievances,

dispelled so many of my sorrows,

overlooked so many of my slips,

spread over me many of Your mercies,

and unlocked so many rings of misfortunes (in which I was detained).

All praise be to Allah Who has not betaken wife or son,

Who has no partner in the sovereignty

nor does He have any protecting friend through dependence.

And Magnify Him with all magnificence.

All praise be to Allah with full gratitude

for all His bounties.

All praise be to Allah Who has no opposition in His rule

nor there is any challenge to His commands.

All praise be to Allah Who has no counsel to meddle with His operation of creation

nor there is anything similar to Him in His greatness.

All praise be to Allah Whose commandments and praise are active in the creation,

His glory is evident through His kindness,

His distinct overflowing generosity is freely available,

His unlimited bestowals do not exhaust,

and Whose opulent bestowals increase Him nothing but magnanimity and generosity.

Verily He is Mighty, Abundantly Giver.

O Allah, I beseech You for little from the much,

along with my great need for it

and Your needlessness for it is since eternity.

For me, it is so big

but for You, it is effortless and easy.

O Allah, as You pardon my sins,

overlook my mistakes,

take a lenient view of my disorderly conduct,

cover up my hideous actions,

and treat my numerous offenses with forbearance,

which I have committed mistakenly and willfully—

all that tempted me to ask for that which I do not deserve from You,

that is You may grant me part of Your mercy,

show me part of Your all-powerfulness,

and show me signals of Your response to me.

So, I am now supplicating You with security

and beseeching You with entertainment

neither afraid nor fearful,

insisting on You in that which I face to You.

But when Your response delayed, I, out of my ignorance, would blame You

although perhaps slowing down may be a blessing in disguise,

because You alone know the consequences of all matters.

So, I have never seen such a noble Master

more accommodating to such a dissatisfied servant than You are to me.

O Lord! You give an invitation but I turn down,

You become familiar with me but I do not care for You,

and You show affection to me but I do not correspond to You,

as if You are overreaching me!

Yet, all that have not stopped You from having mercy upon me,

doing favors to me,

and blessing me out of Your magnanimity and generosity.

So, (please) have mercy on Your ignorant servant

and bestow upon him with the favors of Your beneficence.

Verily, You are All-magnanimous and All-generous.

All praise be to Allah: the Lord of the sovereignty,

Who allows arks to flow [on seas],

Who controls the winds,

Who causes the day to break,

Who administers the authority,

and Who is the Lord of the worlds.

All praise be to Allah for His indulgence although He has full acquaintance with all things.

All praise be to Allah for His amnesty although He has full power over all things.

All praise be to Allah for the respite that He allows in spite of provocation.

He is able to do whatever He wills.

All praise be to Allah, the Creator of all created beings,

Who makes sustenance freely available,

Who starts the day,

Who is the Owner of glory, might,

favors and bounties;

and Who is so far away that none can ever see Him

and, in the same time, He is so nigh that He is fully aware of even the whispering secrets.

Blessed and Exalted be He.

All praise be to Allah Who has no equal to challenge Him,

nor is there an image comparable to Him,

nor is there a helper to assist Him.

He tames the powerful by His force,

and disgraced are the great ones before His Greatness.

So, He, through His power, fulfills that which He wills.

All praise be to Allah Who gives answer to me whenever I call Him,

covers up my shortcomings, yet I disobey Him,

and gives me the largest part of bounties, yet I do not show him gratitude.

Many an auspicious favor had He given me,

many a terrible danger had He turned off,

and many a blossoming joy had He made available for me.

Therefore, I praise Him with thankfulness

and mention Him with exaltation.

All praise be to Allah Whose screen cannot be penetrated,

Whose door is not blocked,

Whose beseecher is not rejected,

and one who hopes Him is not disappointed.

All praise be to Allah Who secures the frightened ones,

comes to the help of the upright ones,

promotes the cause of the weak ones,

annihilates the autocrats,

destroys rulers, and appoints others instead.

All praise be to Allah; the Eradicator of the tyrants,

the Terminator of the unjust ones,

the Catcher of the fugitives,

the Punisher of the unjust ones,

the Aide of the aid-seekers,

the Settler of the needs of the beseechers,

and the support of the faithful believers.

All praise be to Allah! In His awe-inspiring fear the heavens and its dwellers tremble and shiver,

the earth and its inhabitants shake and quiver,

and the oceans and all that which float and swim in their waters flow together in excitement and tumult.

All praise be to Allah Who has guided us to this.

We could not truly have been led aright if Allah had not guided us.

All praise be to Allah Who creates but He is not created,

gives subsistence but He needs no provisions,

feeds but He takes no nourishment,

causes the living to die,

and brings the dead to life,

but He is the Ever-living Who never dies.

In His hands is all the good

and He is able to do all things.

O Allah, (please do) send blessings to Muhammad; Your servant, Messenger,

confidant, friend, beloved intimate,

the choicest of Your created beings,

the bearer of Your sacraments,

and the conveyor of Your messages,

with the most superior, the most exquisite, the most handsomer,

the most perfect, the most upright, the most prospering,

the most pleasant, the most thoroughly purified, the most sublime,

the most and the best blessings, advantages,

mercies, affections,

and salutations that You have ever bestowed upon anyone of Your servants, Prophets,

Messengers, choicest people,

and those honored by You from among Your created beings.

O Allah, (please do) send blessings to 'Ali; the Commander of the Believers,

the successor of the Messenger of the Lord of the worlds,

Your servant, Your beloved representative, the brother of Your Messenger,

Your decisive argument over the mankind,

Your most important sign,

and the great news (from You).

(Please do) send blessings to the truthful and pure Lady,

Fatimah; the Doyenne of the women of the world.

(Please do) send blessings to the sons of ‘the mercy to the worlds’

and the two leaders of true guidance;

al-Hasan and al-Husayn,

the two Chiefs of the dwellers of Paradise.

(Please do) send blessings to the leaders of the Muslims;

'Ali bin al-Husayn,

Muhammad bin 'Ali,

Ja'far bin Muhammad,

Musa bin Ja'far,

'Ali bin Musa,

Muhammad bin 'Ali,

'Ali bin Muhammad,

al-Hasan bin 'Ali,

and the successor, the guide, and the rightly guided:

(Those Imams are) Your decisive arguments over Your servants

and Your trustworthy confidants in Your lands

with blessings that are numerous and non-stop.

O Allah, (please do) send blessings to the custodian of Your commandments,

the vigilant guardian, the reliable patron,

and the awaited establisher of justice.

And (please) surround him with Your favorite angels

and assist him with the Holy Spirit.

O Lord of the worlds!

O Allah, (please) choose him to be the caller to Your Book

and the establisher of Your religion;

make him succeed in the earth

as You caused those who were before him to succeed,

establish for him his faith which You have approved for him,

and give him in exchange safety after the fear.

He serves You. He ascribes nothing as partner to You.

O Allah, (please) grant him power, make him the source of power,

grant him support, make him the means of Your victory,

help him with a mighty help,

make him prevail over all with easiness,

and delegate him Your controlling authority.

O Allah, (please) make prevalent Your religion and the norms of Your Prophet through him

so that he will not have to hide any item of truth

for fear of any of the creatures.

O Allah, we ardently desire that You confer upon us a respectful government

through which You may give might to Islam and its followers,

humiliate hypocrisy and its people,

and include us among those who invite people to the obedience to You and

and lead them to Your approved path.

Give us the good of this world and the world to come.

O Allah, let us bear out that which You make known to us as the truth

and let us attain that which we fall short to do.

O Allah, through him, set in order our disorder,

through him gather and unite our flock,

through him stitch together our ripped open separation,

through him increase our few numbers,

through him lift us up from our degradation,

through him grant wealth to the needy among us,

through him pull us out from our debts,

through him set up our poverty,

through him fill the gap of confusion among us,

through him make easy all difficulties we may face,

through him refine our substance and style,

through him release us from captivity,

through him make successful our applications,

through him fulfill Your promises to us,

through him give answer to our prayers,

through him respond to our requests,

through him make us attain our hopes in this world as well as the world to come,

and through him grant us beyond our wishes.

O Most Favorable of all those whom may be besought

and Most magnanimous of all those who may grant requests!

Through him, heal our breasts,

Through him, remove the rage of our hearts,

and in the event of dispute in the matter of truth, Through him, show us the right path.

Verily, You guide whosoever You will to the Right Path.

Grant us victory Through him, over Your and our enemy.

O God of Truth, respond to us!

O Allah, we complain to You

about the departure of our Prophet, Your blessings be on him and on his Household,

the absence of our leader,

the big numbers of our enemies,

the few number of us,

widespread disorder,

and vicissitudes of time against us.

So, (please do) send blessings to Muhammad and his Household

and help us overcome all that through victory from You that You expedite,

through relieving us from our injuries,

through Your help that You confirm,

through bringing in the rule of justice and fair-play,

through mercy that You expand over us,

and through good health that You cover us with,

in the name of Your mercy, O most Merciful of all those who show mercy!