| 1 |
O God,
O He through whose Mercy
sinners seek aid! |
| 2 |
O
He to the remembrance of whose beneficence the distressed flee! |
| 3 |
O
He in fear of whom the offenders weep! |
| 4 |
O
Comfort of every lonely stranger!
O Relief of all who are
downcast and distressed!
O Aid of everyone abandoned
and alone!
O Support of every needy
outcast! |
| 5 |
Thou art He
who
embracest everything in mercy and knowledge!94
|
| 6 |
Thou
art He
who
hast appointed for each creature a share of Thy favours! |
| 7 |
Thou
art He
whose
pardon is higher than His punishment! |
| 8 |
Thou
art He
whose
mercy runs before His wrath! |
| 9 |
Thou
art He
whose
bestowal is greater than His withholding! |
| 10 |
Thou
art He
by
whose mercy all creatures are embraced! |
| 11 |
Thou
art He
who
desires no repayment by him upon whom He bestows! |
| 12 |
Thou
art He
who
does not overdo the punishment of him who disobeys Thee! |
| 13 |
And I, my God, am Thy servant
whom
Thou commanded to supplicate
and who said:
I
am at Thy service and disposal!
Here am I, my Lord,
thrown
down before Thee. |
| 14 |
I
am he
whose
back offenses have weighed down!
I am he
whose
lifetime sins have consumed!
I am he
who
was disobedient in his ignorance,
while
Thou didst not deserve that from him! |
| 15 |
Wilt Thou, my God,
be merciful toward him who
supplicates Thee,
that
I should bring my supplication before Thee?
Wilt Thou forgive him who
weeps to Thee
that
I should hurry to weep?
Wilt Thou show forbearance
toward
him
who puts his face in the dust before Thee in lowliness?
Wilt Thou free from need
him
who complains to Thee of his indigent need with confidence? |
| 16 |
My God,
disappoint not him who finds
no bestower
other
than Thee,
and abandon not him who cannot
be freed from his need for Thee
through
less than Thee! |
| 17 |
My God,
so bless Muhammad and his
Household,
turn not away from me
when
I have turned my face toward Thee,
deprive me not
when
1 have besought Thee,
and slap not my brow with
rejection
when
I have stood before Thee! |
| 18 |
Thou art He who has described Himself by mercy,
so bless Muhammad and his
Household
and
have mercy upon me!
Thou art He who has named
Himself by pardon,
so
pardon me! |
| 19 |
Thou hast seen, my God,
the flow of my tears
in
fear of Thee,
the throbbing of my heart
in
dread of Thee,
and the infirmity of my limbs
in
awe of Thee. |
| 20 |
All
this from my shame before Thee
because
of my evil works!
So my voice has become silent,
no
longer crying to Thee,
and my tongue has gone dumb,
no
longer whispering in prayer. |
| 21 |
My God,
so to Thee belongs praise!
How many of my haws Thou hast
covered over
without
exposing me!
How many of my sins Thou hast
cloaked
without
making me notorious!
How many faults I have
committed, yet Thou didst not
tear
away from me their covering,
collar
me with their detested disgrace,
or
make their dishonour plain
to
those of my neighbours who search for my defects
and
to those who envy Thy favour toward me! |
| 22 |
But
that did not prevent me from passing on
to
the evil that Thou knowest from me! |
| 23 |
So
who is more ignorant than I, my God,
of
his own right conduct?
Who is more heedless than I
of
his own good fortune?
Who is further than I
from
seeking to set himself right?
For I spend the provision Thou
deliverest to me
in
the disobedience Thou hast prohibited to me!
Who sinks more deeply into
falsehood
and
is more intensely audacious in evil than I?
For I hesitate between Thy
call and the call of Satan
and
then follow his call
without
being blind in my knowledge of him
or
forgetful in my memory of him, |
| 24 |
while
I am certain that Thy call takes to the Garden
and
his call takes to the Fire! |
| 25 |
Glory be to Thee!
How marvellous the witness I
bear against my own soul
and
the enumeration of my own hidden affairs! |
| 26 |
And
more marvellous than that is Thy lack of haste with me,
Thy
slowness in attending to me!
That
is not because I possess honour with Thee,
but because Thou waitest
patiently for me
and
art bountiful toward me
that
I may refrain from disobedience displeasing to Thee
and
abstain from evil deeds that disgrace me,
and because Thou lovest to
pardon me more than to punish! |
| 27 |
But I, my God, am
more numerous in sins,
uglier in footsteps,
more repulsive in acts,
more reckless in rushing into
falsehood,
weaker in awakening to Thy
obedience,
and
less attentive and heedful toward Thy threats,
than that I could number for
Thee my faults
or
have the power to recount my sins. |
| 28 |
I
only scold my own soul,
craving
Thy gentleness,
through
which the affairs of sinners are set right,
and
hoping for Thy mercy,
through
which the necks of the offenders are freed. |
| 29 |
O
God,
this
is my neck,
enslaved
by sins,
bless
Muhammad and his Household
and
release it through Thy pardon!
This
is my back,
weighed
down by offenses,
bless
Muhammad and his Household
and
lighten it through Thy kindness! |
| 30 |
My God,
were I to weep to Thee until
my eyelids drop off,
wail until my voice wears out,
stand before Thee until my
feet swell up,
bow to Thee until my backbone
is thrown out of joint,
prostrate to Thee until my
eyeballs fall out,
eat the dirt of the earth for
my whole life,
drink the water of ashes till
the end of my days,
mention Thee through all of
that until my tongue fails,
and not lift my glance to the
sky's horizons in shame before Thee,
yet would I not merit through
all of that
the
erasing of a single one of my evil deeds! |
| 31 |
Though
Thou forgivest me when I merit Thy forgiveness
and
pardonest me when I deserve Thy pardon,
yet I have no title to that
through what I deserve,
nor
am I worthy of it through merit,
since my repayment from Thee
from
the first that I disobeyed Thee
is
the Fire!
So if Thou punishest me,
Thou
dost me no wrong. |
| 32 |
My God, since Thou hast
shielded me with Thy covering
and
not exposed me,
waited patiently for me
through Thy generosity,
and
not hurried me to punishment,
and shown me clemency through
Thy bounty,
and
not changed Thy favour upon me
or
muddied Thy kindly acts toward me,
have mercy on my drawn out
pleading,
my
intense misery,
and
my evil situation! |
| 33 |
O God,
bless Muhammad and his
Household,
protect me from acts of
disobedience,
employ me in obedience,
provide me with excellent
turning back [to Thee],
purify me through repentance,
strengthen me through
preservation from sin,
set me right through well
being,
let me taste the sweetness of
forgiveness,
make me the freedman of Thy
pardon
and
the slave released by Thy mercy,
and write for me a security
from
Thy displeasure!
Give me the good news of that
in
the immediate, not the deferred
-
a good news I recognize -
and make known to me therein a
sign
which
I may clearly see! |
| 34 |
That
will not constrain Thee in Thy plenty,
distress
Thee in Thy power,
ascend
beyond Thy lack of haste,
or
tire Thee in Thy great gifts,
which
are pointed to by Thy signs.
Verily Thou dost what Thou
wilt,
Thou
decreest what Thou desirest.
Thou art powerful over
everything.95 |