Amulet Text
Part One
الحرز … بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم الحمدلله رب العالمین الی آخرها؛ أَ لَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ سَخَّرَ لَکُمْ ما فِی الْأَرْضِ وَ الْفُلْکَ تَجْرِی فِی الْبَحْرِ بِأَمْرِهِ وَ یُمْسِکُ السَّماءَ أَنْ تَقَعَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِالنَّاسِ لَرَؤُفٌ رَحِیمٌ اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ الْوَاحِدُ الْمَلِکُ (الدَّیَّانُ) یَوْمَ الدِّینِ تَفْعَلُ مَا تَشَاءُ؛ بِلَا مُغَالَبَهٍ وَ تُعْطِی مَنْ تَشَاءُ بِلَا مَنٍّ وَ تَفْعَلُ مَا تَشَاءُ وَ تَحْکُمُ مَا تُرِیدُ وَ تُدَاوِلُ الْأَیَّامَ بَیْنَ النَّاسِ وَتُرَکِّبُهُمْ طَبَقاً عَنْ طَبَقٍ أَسْأَلُکَ بِاسْمِکَ الْمَکْتُوبِ عَلَى سُرَادِقِ الْمَجْدِ وَ أَسْأَلُکَ بِاسْمِکَ الْمَکْتُوبِ عَلَى سُرَادِقِ السَّرَائِرِ السَّابِقِ الْفَائِقِ الْحَسَنِ الْجَمِیلِ النَّضِیرِ رَبِّ الْمَلَائِکَهِ الثَّمَانِیَهِ وَ الْعَرْشِ الَّذِی لَا یَتَحَرَّکُ وَ أَسْأَلُکَ بِالْعَیْنِ الَّتِی لَا تَنَامُ وَ بِالْحَیَاهِ الَّتِی لَا تَمُوتُ وَ بِنُورِ وَجْهِکَ الَّذِی لَا یُطْفَأُ وَ بِاالسْمِ الْأَکْبَرِ الْأَکْبَرِالْأَکْبَرِ وَ بِاالسْمِ الْأَعْظَمِ الْأَعْظَمِ الْأَعْظَمِ الَّذِی هُوَ مُحِیطٌ بِمَلَکُوتِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَ بالْأَرْضِ وَ بِاالسْمِ الَّذِی أَشْرَقَتْ بِهِ الشَّمْسُ وَ أَضَاءَ بِهِ الْقَمَرُ وَ سُجِّرَتْ بِهِ الْبُحُورُ وَ نُصِبَتْ بِهِ الْجِبَالُ وَ بِاالسْمِ الَّذِی قَامَ بِهِ الْعَرْشُ وَ الْکُرْسِیُّ وَ بِاسْمِکَ الْمَکْتُوبِ عَلَى سُرَادِقِ الْعَرْشِ وَ بِاسْمِکَ الْمَکْتُوبِ عَلَى سُرَادِقِ الْعَظَمَهِ وَبِاسْمِکَ الْمَکْتُوبِ عَلَى سُرَادِقِ الْبَهَاءِ وَ بِاسْمِکَ الْمَکْتُوبِ عَلَى سُرَادِقِ الْقُدْرَهِ وَ بِاسْمِکَ الْعَزِیزِ وَ بِأَسْمَائِکَ الْمُقَدَّسَاتِ الْمُکَرَّمَاتِ الْمَخْزُونَاتِ فِی عِلْمِ الْغَیْبِ عِنْدَکَ وَ أَسْأَلُکَ مِنْ خَیْرِکَ خَیْراً مِمَّا أَرْجُو وَ أَعُوذُ بِعِزَّتِکَ وَ قُدْرَتِکَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا أَخَافُ وَ أَحْذَرُ وَ مَا لَا أَحْذَرُ یَا صَاحِبَ مُحَمَّدٍ یَوْمَ حُنَیْنٍ وَ یَا صَاحِبَ عَلِیٍّ یَوْمَ صِفِّینَ أَنْتَ یَا رَبِ مُبِیرُ الْجَبَّارِینَ وَ قَاصِمُ الْمُتَکَبِّرِینَ. أَسْأَلُکَ بِحَقِّ طه وَ یس وَ الْقُرْآنِ الْعَظِیمِ وَ الْفُرْقَانِ الْحَکِیمِ أَنْ تُصَلِّیَ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ أَنْ تَشُدَّ بِه عَضُدَ صَاحِبِ هَذَا الْعَقْدِ وَ أَدْرَأُ بِکَ فِی نَحْرِ کُلِّ جَبَّارٍ عَنِیدٍ وَ کُلِّ شَیْطَانٍ مَرِیدٍ وَ عَدُوٍّ شَدِیدٍ وَ عَدُوٍّ مُنْکَرِ الْأَخْلَاقِ وَ اجْعَلْهُ مِمَّنْ أَسْلَمَ إِلَیْکَ نَفْسَهُ وَ فَوَّضَ إِلَیْکَ أَمْرَهُ وَ أَلْجَأَ إِلَیْکَ ظَهْرَهُ اللَّهُمَّ بِحَقِّ هَذِهِ الْأَسْمَاءِ الَّتِی ذَکَرْتُهَا وَ قَرَأْتُهَا وَ أَنْتَ أَعْرَفُ بِحَقِّهَا مِنِّی
Translation
This is the amulet: I begin in the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. [All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds; The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful; Sovereign of the Day of Recompense; It is You we worship and You we ask for help; Guide us to the right path; The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have earned [Your] anger or of those who are astray. Did you not know that God made what is on the earth subdued to you; and subjugated the ships while they run on the seas under His command? And did you not know that God keeps the sky from falling on the earth except with His will? Verily, God is kind and merciful to people. O, God! You are the One, and the king who rewards on the judgment day. You do what You want without being overcome, and You forgive whoever You want without any obligation. You do whatever You want and fix whatever You intend. You have made the world in turn among people, and You know them in state after state. I request You in Your Name written on the encampment of every hidden affair, which is pioneering, in high position, good and excellent, and most delightful is the Lord of the angels whose number is eight and the Lord of the heaven that is fixed. I ask You with the eyes that do not sleep, and the life that does not die, and with the light of Your face that does not extinguish; and with that Name which is the greatest of all; and with the Name which is supreme, the supreme, the supreme, in a way that it includes all kingdom of the heavens and the earth; and the Name with which the Sun and the moon are enlightened; and because of it the seas are filled, and because of it the mountains are fixed; and with the Name because of it the heavens are established. And with Your Name written on the encampment of the heavens, written on the encampment of grandeur, and Your Name written on the encampment of beauty, Your Name written on the encampment of ability, and Your Name that is overcoming, and Your Names that are purified and respected as great, and are saved and hidden with You. And I ask you for Your goodness better than what I hope, and seek refuge to Your dominance and ability from the evil of what I fear and avoid and what I do not fear. O, the assistant of Mohammad in the battle of Hunayn, and the companion of Ali in the battle of Seffin! You are, my Lord, the exterminator of the tyrants and breaker of arrogant people. I ask You because of Tāhā and Yāsīn and the Quran, which is great, and the one that distinguishes between the rightness and the falsehood to salute Mohammad and his household and to strengthen the arm of the owner of this amulet. I repulse with my power in the hollow of the neck of any oppressive tyrant and any rebel evil and tough enemy whose attributes are abominable and vile. And place the owner of the amulet among those who obey You and leaves open his affairs to You and take refuge to You. O, God! I ask You by these Names I mentioned and You are aware more than me of their rights and positions.
Terms And Expressions
تُرکّبهُم طَبَقاً عن طَبَق
(turakibuhum ṭabaqan ꜥan ṭabaq):
You turn them from a state to another state.
This phrase is found in numerous prayers including the prayer in the six day of Ramadan.
سُرادِقِ المجد
(surādiq al-majd):
encampment of the hidden affairs.
سرادق السرائر السابق الفائق الحسن الجمیل النضیر
(surādia al-sarāʾir al-sābiq al-fāʾiq al-ḥasan al-jamīl al-naḍīr):
Your surpassing and splitting good and fresh encampment.
رب الملائکه الثمانیه
(rabbu-l malāʾika al-thamāniya):
it refers to God’s words in Sura al-Ḥāqqa where He says:
“يَحْمِلُ عَرْشَ رَبِّكَ فَوْقَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ ثَمَانِيَةٌ”
(and the Throne of your Lord will be borne that day by eight [angels]).
The phrase
رب الملائکة الثّمانیة
(meaning: “the Lord of eight angels”)
is found in many prayers and supplications.
وَ بِالِاسْمِ الْأَکْبَرِ الْأَکْبَرِ الْأَکْبَرِ وَ بِالِاسْمِ الْأَعْظَمِ الْأَعْظَمِ الْأَعْظَمِ
(wa bil-ism al-akbar la-akbar al-akbar wa bil-ism al-aꜥẓam al-aꜥẓam al-aꜥẓam):
the word “supreme” (al-aꜥẓam) after the “great” (al-akbar) is for emphasis, and repeating them three times shows more emphasis.
سُرادق البَهَاء
(surādiq al-bahāʾ):
bahāʾ means beauty, but when it is used for God, it means grandeur.
مُبیرُالجَبّارِین
(mubīr al-jabbārīn):
the exterminator of the tyrants and oppressors.
قاصم المتکبّریِنَ
(qāṣim al-mutakabbirīn):
qaṣm means breaking one’s back; and here, it means exterminating.
ادرأ بک
(adraʾ bika):
I repulse with Your power.
الجأ الیک ظهره
(aljaʾu ilayka ẓahrihī):
he has made You his refuge.
Points
Many parts of this amulet is also found in other prayers.
For instance, the phrase:
وَ بِالِاسْمِ الَّذِی أَشْرَقَتْ بِهِ الشَّمْسُ وَ أَضَاءَ بِهِ الْقَمَرُ وَ سُجِّرَتْ بِهِ الْبِحَارُ وَ نُصِبَتْ بِهِ الْجِبَالُ
We find in prayers and supplications in the nights of Ramadan:
أَشْرَقَتْ بِهِ الشَّمْسُ وَ أَضَاءَ بِهِ الْقَمَرُ وَ سُجِّرَتْ بِهِ الْبِحَارُ وَ نُصِبَتْ بِهِ الْجِبَالُ
Each of the phrases of this sentence refers to different verses of the Quran.
اَشْرَقَتْ بِهِ الشَّمْسُ وَ أَضَاءَ بِهِ الْقَمَرُ
refers to the verse
هُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ الشَّمْسَ ضِيَاءً وَالْقَمَرَ نُورًا
سجرت بهِ البحار
refers to the verse
وَإِذَا الْبِحَارُ سُجِّرَتْ
And
نُصِبَت به الجبال
refers to the verses
وَالْجِبَالَ أَوْتَادًا
and
وَإِلَى الْجِبَالِ كَيْفَ نُصِبَتْ
السُرَادِق
(al-surādiq):
it is the name of a great tent, pavilion or encampment.
This term is a Persian one used in Arabic through Arabization, because there is no word in Arabic whose third letter is “A” with two other letters after it.
Majmaꜥ al-Bahrain writes: “Verily, the word السُّرادقُ (surādiq) is everything surrounded by something else, including a wall or a tent. And it is said, ‘whatever surrounded by a tent and there is a door for it from which people enter the tent. And it is said, whatever is extended over the house’ as we see in the glorified verse ‘Lo! We have prepared for disbelievers Fire. Its tent encloses them.’ Glory be to Him, what surrounds them from the fire from their sides with the pavilions that revolve around the tent. And we see expressions like surādiq al-jalāl (the tent of splendor) and surādiq al-ꜥaẓima (the tent of grandeur) and the like, all of which are metaphors.”
This is like the sentences in some prayers which reads as follows:
أَسْأَلُکَ بِاسْمِکَ الْمَکْتُوبِ فِی سُرَادِقِ السَّرَائِرِ السَّابِقِ الْفَائِقِ الْحَسَنِ النَّضِیرِرَبِّ الْمَلَائِکَةِ الثَّمَانِیَةِ
I ask You by Your Name which is written in the foremost tents of secrets, the Exalted, the Sublime, the Beautiful, and the Lord of the Eight Angels.
Here, we see the word surādiq used in many prayers and supplications, like Imam Sajjad’s prayers near the Black Stone (Ḥajar al-Aswad):
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّی أَسْأَلُکَ بِاسْمِکَ الْمَکْتُوبِ فِی سُرَادِقِ الْمَجْدِ وَ أَسْأَلُکَ بِاسْمِکَ الْمَکْتُوبِ فِی سُرَادِقِ الْبَهَاءِ وَ أَسْأَلُکَ بِاسْمِکَ الْمَکْتُوبِ فِی سُرَادِقِ الْعَظَمَةِ وَ أَسْأَلُکَ بِاسْمِکَ الْمَکْتُوبِ فِی سُرَادِقِ الْجَلَالِ وَ أَسْأَلُکَ بِاسْمِکَ الْمَکْتُوبِ فِی سُرَادِقِ الْعِزَّة ِوَ أَسْأَلُکَ بِاسْمِکَ الْمَکْتُوبِ فِی سُرَادِقِ الْقُدْرَةِ وَ أَسْأَلُکَ بِاسْمِکَ الْمَکْتُوبِ فِی سُرَادِقِ السَّرَائِرِ السَّابِقِ الْفَائِقِ الْحَسَنِ النَّضِیرِوَ رَبِّ الْمَلَائِکَةِ الثَّمَانِیَةِ وَ رَبِّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِیمِ
Translation:
Oh God, I ask you in your Name written in the pavilions of glory. And I ask you by your Name which is written in the pavilions of Beauty. And I ask you by your Name which is written in the pavilions of grandeur. And I ask you by your Name which is written in the pavilions of majesty. And I ask you by your Name which is written in the pavilions of glory. And I ask you by your Name which is written in the pavilions of power. And I ask You by Your Name, which is written in the pavilions of secrets, the foremost eminent, the noble, the Lord of the eight angels and the Lord of the Mighty Throne.
The phrases: یاصاحب محمد یوم حنین ویاصاحب علیٍ یوم صفین (O, the companion of Mohammad in the day of Hunayn Battle, and the companion of Ali in the day of Seffin Battle) are found in some other prayers. For instance, in the prayer on 17th night of Ramadan, we read:
یاصاحب محمد صلی الله علیه و آله و سلم یوم حنین
And in the prayer on the 6th day, we read:
یاصاحب محمد یوم حنین وصاحبه ومویده یوم بدر وخیبر والمواطن التی نصرت فیها نبیک علیه وآله السّلام.
The phrase یاصاحب علیٍ یومَ صفین “(O, the companion of Ali in the day of Seffin Battle”) is also found in Imam Sadeq’s prayer and amulet.
The almighty God has assisted Islam’s armies in all battles, but mentioning those two battles among others may be due to their especial importance. The Holy Quran refers to the angels’ assistance for Islam in Hunayn Battle.
Vaqedi has reported the account transmitted from the polytheists in the day of Hunayn Battle as follows:
“After the Muslims ran away in Hunayn Battle, and we approached the Prophet’s horse to kill him, we suddenly saw handsome men, in white clothes and with red turbans, mounted on skewbald horses surrounding the Prophet. They told us, ‘may your faces be ugly, go back!’ we were scared and ran away and scattered in a way that a group went to Tawaʾif and entered the castles, but they were still frightened and thought the men in white were chasing them.”
The importance of Seffin was due to the fact that, at that time, truth and falsehood were so mixed – because of poisonous propaganda – that it was difficult for Imam Ali’s soldiers to discern them; and due to insufficient insight, many of them were afflicted with doubt and vibration and went out of Imam’s army. In such a situation, there was nothing except God’s assistance and grace that could preserve the army’s pillars and prevent it from complete annihilation.
Surādiq in each of the abovementioned sentences means the manifestations of Almighty God’s beauty and splendor, including abstract and material creatures, each of which God has manifested with name or names; and indeed, they are the written manifestations of the name or names and their veils, because as we mentioned repeatedly, according to the Book and the Prophet’s tradition, as well as the intuition of people of intuition and rational foundations, the Exalted God is not apart from the beings and their manifestations; rather, all are manifestations of His Names of beauty and splendor, and the creational aspect of manifestations “including both abstract and material beings” are pavilion and encampment of the Exalted God. Thus, only through the creational and earthly world of the manifestations can one enter the ordinance and celestial world.
أَسْأَلُکَ بحق طه وَیس وَالقرآن العظیم و الفرقان الحَکیم (asʾaluka bi-ḥaqq ṭahā wa yāsīn wal-Qurʾān al-ꜥaẓīm wal-furqān al-ḥakīm): this statement is found in many prayers. Ṭāhā and yāsīn are among the attributes and names of the Prophet (PBUH). Similarly, it is among the Quran’s detached letters and two suras of the Quran, i.e. Ṭāhā and Yāsīn start with those letters.
اسم مکرم ومخزون در روایات: the phrase bismik al-makhzūn is found in many prayers and, apparently, it refers to the divine great name.
و أنتَ أَعْرَفُ بحقها مِنّی (wa anta aꜥrafu bihā minnī): this phrase – which comes after the divine names, the Prophet’s name and the Holy Quran’s name – is indeed a kind of acknowledgement of the little capacity of the person who prays for knowing the grandeur of the status of those intermediators.
Part Two
وأَسْأَلُكَ يَا ذَا الْمَنِّ الْعَظِيمِ وَ الْجُودِ الْكَرِيمِ وَلِيَّ الدَّعَوَاتِ الْمُسْتَجَابَاتِ وَ الْكَلِمَاتِ التَّامَّاتِ وَ الْأَسْمَاءِ النَّافِذَاتِ وَ أَسْأَلُكَ يَا نُورَ النَّهَارِ وَ يَا نُورَ اللَّيْلِ وَ يَا نُورَ السَّمَاءِ وَ الْأَرْضِ وَ نُورَ النُّورِ وَ نُوراً يُضِيءُ بِهِ كُلُّ نُورٍ يَا عَالِمَ الْخَفِيَّاتِ كُلِّهَا فِي الْبَرِّ وَ الْبَحْرِ وَ الْأَرْضِ وَ السَّمَاءِ وَ الْجِبَالِ وَ أَسْأَلُكَ يَا مَنْ لَا يَفْنَى وَ لَا يَبِيدُ وَ لَا يَزُولُ وَ لَا لَهُ شَيْءٌ مَوْصُوفٌ وَ لَا إِلَيْهِ حَدٌّ مَنْسُوبٌ وَ لَا مَعَهُ إِلَهٌ وَ لَا إِلَهَ سِوَاهُ وَ لَا لَهُ فِي مُلْكِهِ شَرِيكٌ وَ لَا تُضَافُ الْعِزَّةُ إِلَّا إِلَيْهِ لَمْ يَزَلْ بِالْعُلُومِ عَالِماً وَ عَلَى الْعُلُومِ وَاقِفاً وَ لِلْأُمُورِ نَاظِماً وَ بِالْكَيْنُونِيَّةِ عَالِماً وَ لِلتَّدْبِيرِ مُحْكِماً وَ بِالْخَلْقِ بَصِيراً وَ بِالْأُمُورِ خَبِيراً أَنْتَ الَّذِي خَشَعَتْ لَكَ الْأَصْوَاتُ وَ ضَلَّتْ فِيكَ الْأَحْلَامُ وَ ضَاقَتْ دُونَكَ الْأَسْبَابُ وَ مَلَأَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ نُورُكَ وَ وَجِلَ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ مِنْكَ وَ هَرَبَ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ إِلَيْكَ وَ تَوَكَّلَ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ عَلَيْكَ وَ أَنْتَ الرَّفِيعُ فِي جَلَالِكَ وَ أَنْتَ الْبَهِيُّ فِي جَمَالِكَ وَ أَنْتَ الْعَظِيمُ فِي قُدْرَتِكَ وَ أَنْتَ الَّذِي لَا يُدْرِكُكَ شَيْءٌ وَ أَنْتَ الْعَلِيُّ الْكَبِيرُ الْعَظِيمُ مُجِيبُ الدَّعَوَاتِ قَاضِي الْحَاجَاتِ مُفَرِّجُ الْكُرُبَاتِ وَلِيُّ النِّعَمَاتِ يَا مَنْ هُوَ فِي عُلُوِّهِ دَانٍ وَ فِي دُنُوِّهِ عَالٍ وَ فِي إِشْرَاقِهِ مُنِيرٌ وَ فِي سُلْطَانِهِ قَوِيٌّ وَ فِي مُلْكِهِ عَزِيزٌ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ احْرُسْ صَاحِبَ هَذَا الْعَقْدِ وَ هَذَا الْحِرْزِ وَ هَذَا الْكِتَابِ بِعَيْنِكَ الَّتِي لَا تَنَامُ وَ اكْنُفْهُ بِرُكْنِكَ الَّذِي لَا يُرَامُ وَ ارْحَمْهُ بِقُدْرَتِكَ عَلَيْهِ فَإِنَّهُ مَرْزُوقُكَ…
Translation
And I ask You, O owner of great blessings, and O owner of generous forgiveness, O worthy of fulfilled prayers, O worthy of complete words and obeyed names, and I ask You, O giver of light to the day (with the sun) and O bright representative of the night (with the stars and the moon) and O enlightener of the heavens and the earth, and O light that shines, and O light that everything shines because of Him, O knower of hidden things, whether they are in the desert or in the sea, on the earth, and in the sky, and in the mountains. I ask You, O one who does not die, does not perish, and does not disappear, and there is nothing for Him that can be described, and there is no praise attributed to Him, and there is no god with Him, and there is no god other than Him, and there is no god for Him. There is no partner in His kingdom and no honor is attributed except to Him. He is always aware of all sciences and is aware of all knowledge and is the giver of all things and knows the existence of all things and has fixed the destiny of things and is the seer in the creation of things and is aware of all things. You are such that the songs are for You, and the intellects went astray in Your glory, and the reasons are short with You, and everything is filled with Your light, and everything is afraid of You, and everything has fled to You, and everything has trusted in You. And You are high in Your greatness and You are the owner of water and color in Your goodness and beauty, and You are high in Your ability and You are such that nothing understands You, and You are high in greatness and You are the answerer of prayers. You are the fulfiller of desires. You are the remover of sorrows. You are the possessor of blessings. You are the one who is inferior in His height, and He is high in His proximity, and He is bright in His light, and He is the owner of strength in His kingdom, and His kingdom has been conquered, send mercy to Muhammad and watch over the owner of this fastened prayer and the owner of this amulet and writing with Your eyes that do not sleep, and protect him with Your strength that does not weaken, and have mercy on him with Your power on him. Verily, it is true that he is provided with Your provision.
Terms And Expressions
وَالجُود الکَرِیمِ (wal-jūd al-karīm): Karīm may mean generous and attributing generosity to jūd (also “generosity”) may be for exaggeration. That is, the person may be so generous that his generosity is also generous; and karīm may also mean gracious, beneficent, noble and the like.
الکَلِمات التَّامَّاتِ (al-kalimāt al-tāmmāt): this means those words with no deficiency in eloquence and diction. It means they are complete in protecting the person from blights and harms. And it may mean the Prophet and his household.
کینونه (کَینوُنَه) (keynūna): for some scholars of naḥv (Arabic grammar), this word is rhymed with faꜥlūla which was originally kownūna, and it has been turned into keynūna because the association of ُ with و is ungainly and ugly. But Sibaweyh says that keynūna is rhymed with fanꜥalūla, and has turned into kanūna after the process of diphthong and omission of ی, as we see also in the mayyit (meaning ‘dead body’) wherein the letter ی has been omitted and the original form was myūt. And if the word keynūna has not been pronounced in its original form, it is because that form is difficult to pronounce.
Tāj al-ꜥarīs says:
«وکان الخلیل یقولُ کَینونه فیعوله هی فی الاَصل کَینوَنه، الَتقَت منها یاءٌ و واوٌ. الاولی منهما ساکنةٌ فصیرتا یاءً مشدَّدة مثلَ ما قالوا الهیِّن من هُنتُ، خفَّفوها کینونه کما قالوا هَیّن لَبنٌ»
Here, it refers to all beings.
جلیل، کبیر، عظیم (jalīl, kabīr, ꜥaẓīm): these words mean ‘great’, but jalīl means greatness in one’s virtues, kabīr means greatness in one’ essence, and ꜥaẓīm means greatness both in one’s essence and attributes. Of course, sometimes, each of these words are metaphorically used in another sense.
أنتَ البَهّیُّ فی جَمالک (anta-l bahīʾ fī jamālik): this formula which is used in the supplication after the prayer in the first night of Rajab month as well as Imam Musa bin Jaꜥfar’s prayer, refers to God’s grandeur and His good attributes.
ضَلَت فیک الاحلام (ḍallt fīka-l aḥlām): Fantasies and disturbed dreams do not enter your sanctity. Aḥlām is the plural form of ḥulum meaning disturbed dreams, just as the dream interpreters in the Sura Yūsuf said, “These are disturbed dreams and we do not know their interpretation.”
ضاقت دونک الاسباب (ḍāqat dūnika-l asbāb): any tool becomes ineffective before Your power.
وجل (wajal): feeling and perceiving fear. The verb forms are wajala-yūjalu-wajalan. As we see in a glorified verse:
«انَّمَا المُؤمِنونَ الَّذينَ إِذا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَجِلَت قُلوبُهُم»
(“Those only are believers whose hearts become full of fear when Allah is mentioned”),
إِنَّا مِنْكُمْ وَجِلُونَ
(“We are indeed afraid of you”),
قالوا لا تَوجل
(“They said, ‘do not be afraid!’”).
الهَرَبُ (al-harab) : escape, run away.
Points
In that amulet, there are several compound words derived from nūr (light):
اسألک یا نور النهار و یا نور اللیل و یا نور السماء و الأرض، و نور النور و نورا یضی‌ء به کل نور
The word نور (nūr meaning ‘light’) is among the divine Names found in many supplications and prayers, as we see the phrase نوراً یُضیءُ بِهِ کُلُّ نُور in one of the prayers of Friday.
ولا له شیء موصوفٌ ولاَ الیهِ حدُّ منسوب (wa lā lahū shaʾun mowsūf wa lā ilayhi ḥaddun mansūb): it is an emphasis on the Exalted God’s limitlessness.
لا معه اله ولا إله سواه (lā maꜥahū ilāhun wa lā ilāhun siwāh): “there is no God with Him and there is no God except Him.” This negates two important types of polytheism, and it seems that the first part (لا معه اله) negates believing in a partner for God in the form of cooperation, but the second part (لا اله سِواه) negates polytheism in the form of believing in another independent God.
لاتضافُ العزّةُ الّا الیه (lā tuḍāfu-l ꜥizzatu illā ilayh): refers to the glorified verse فإن العزة لله جمیعا and acknowledges that dignity is for the Exalted God and in His hands.
یامن هوَ فی عُلوه وَ فی دُنوه عالٍ (yā man huwa fī ꜥuluwwihī wa fī dunuwwihī ꜥāl): “O, One who is near to His servants while He owns a high position, and the One who has a high position while He is near to His servants”. It refers to the glorified verse ونحن اقرب الیه مِن حَبلِ الوَرید (“…and We are nearer to him than his jugular vein.”). It means that He is aware of all His servants’ affairs. This expression is found in other supplications as well, including the supplication after the prayer of the first night of Rajab month.
وَاحرس صاحبَ هَذا العَقد و هَذا الحِرز (waḥris ṣāḥib hādha-l ꜥaqd wa hādha-l ḥirz): in the previous part, it first praises God and then salutes the Prophet and his Ahl al-Bayt, and then states its request, that is protecting the owner of the amulet. And this is quite in line with the Infallibles’ way of life and character.
اللهم فَاحرسنی بعینک الّتی لاتنام واکنفه برُکنک الّذی لایُرام (allāhuma faḥrisnī biꜥaynika-llatī lā tanām wak-nifhī bi-ruknika-lladhī lā yurām): this sentence is quite in line with the amulet and is also found in many of the amulets including that of Imam Sajjad, Imam Kazem, and Imam Hassan ꜥaskari.
The letter ف in the expression فانه مَرزُقُک refers to the causality, not the conclusion. That is, this statement: ‘O, God! Put mercy on him, because he eats Your aliment and, indeed, he is Your servant and no one – except the Lord – has mercy towards the servant’.
Part Three
بسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ وَ بِاللَّهِ الذی لَا صَاحِبَةَ لَهُ وَ لَا وَلَدَ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ قَوِيِّ الشَّأْنِ عَظِيمِ الْبُرْهَانِ شَدِيدِ السُّلْطَان مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ كَانَ وَ مَا لَمْ يَشَأْ لَمْ يَكُنْ أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ نُوحاً رَسُولُ اللَّهِ وَ أَنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ خَلِيلُ اللَّهِ وَ أَنَّ مُوسَى كَلِيمُ اللَّهِ وَ نَجِيُّهُ وَ أَنَّ عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ صَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ وَ عَلَيْهِمْ أَجْمَعِينَ كَلِمَتُهُ وَ رُوحُهُ وَ أَنَّ مُحَمَّداً صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ آلِهِ خَاتَمُ النَّبِيِّينَ لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدَهُ وَ أَسْأَلُكَ بِحَقِّ السَّاعَةِ الَّتِي يُؤْتَى فِيهَا بِإِبْلِيسَ اللَّعِينِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَ يَقُولُ اللَّعِينُ فِي تِلْكَ السَّاعَةِ وَ اللَّهِ مَا أَنَا إِلَّا مُهَيِّجُ مَرَدَةٍ اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ وَ هُوَ الْقاهِرُوهوالقادروهوالظاهر وَ هُوَ الْغَالِبُ لَهُ الْقُدْرَةُ السَّابِقَةُ وَ هُوَ الْحَكِيمُ الْخَبِيرُ….
اللَّهُمَّ وَ أَسْأَلُكَ بِحَقِّ هَذِهِ الْأَسْمَاءِ كُلِّهَا وَ صِفَاتِهَاوصورتها وَ (صُوَرِهَا) وَ هِيَ.. سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْعَرْشَ وَ الْكُرْسِيَّ وَ اسْتَوَى عَلَيْهِ أَسْأَلُكَ أَنْ تَصْرِفَ عَنْ صَاحِبِ كِتَابِي هَذَا كُلَّ سُوءٍ وَ مَحْذُورٍ فَهُوَ عَبْدُكَ وَ ابْنُ عَبْدِكَ وَ ابْنُ أَمَتِكَ وَ أَنْتَ مَوْلَاهُ…
Translation
“I take refuge in the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. I take refuge in the name of God, who has no partner or child. I take refuge in the name of God, who is mighty, great is His authority, His word is kingdom, and what God willed has happened and what He did not want has not happened. I bear witness that Noah, peace be upon him, is God’s messenger, and Abraham, peace be upon him, is God’s friend, and Moses, peace be upon him, is God’s interlocutor and the place of His secret, and that Jesus, peace be upon him, the son of Mary, is God’s word and His soul, may God’s mercy be upon him and all the prophets. And the one who sent Muhammad, may God bless him and his family, have mercy on him and his family, who is the seal of the prophets, there is no prophet after him. And I ask you about the hour that will be brought, in which the cursed Satan will say on the Day of Judgment, and the cursed one will say in that hour that I was not the only instigator of rebels. God is the light of the heavens and the earth, and He is the dominant, and He is the conqueror, for Him is the complete power, and He is the All-Knowing, the Wise. O, Allah! I ask You for these names and attributes and their forms… Glory be to God who created the Throne and the Seat and is sovereign seated over it. I ask You to repulse from the owner of this letter all evils, and he is Your servant and the son of Your servant and the son of Your bondwoman; and You are his owner, so take care of him.
Terms And Expressions
مهیج: inciter
مَرَدَه: It is the plural form of mārid. It means rebel, conceited, aggressive, high and elevated. A high building is called banāʾ mārid.
The difference between غالب (conqueror) and قاهر (dominant): Although قهر is used to mean dominance, its other meaning is debasing and prostrating. Ibn Athir says, “القاهر هو الغالب جمیع الخلق” (the dominant is conqueror of all creatures). And the verbs قَهَرَ/ یقهَرُ/ قَهراً mean dominating someone. And when someone says “ اَخَذتُهُم قَهراً” (I dominated over them), he means that he did that without their consent. Ragheb says, “qahr is exerting dominance in practice.” He adds, “qahr in the sense of dominance is associated with ability, like واِّنّا فَوقَهُم قاهِرون (‘and we are dominant over them’”. It seems that qāhirūn (قاهرون) is the predicate after the predicate, as we see in the verse و هُو القاهِرُ فوقَ عِبادِه (and He is dominant over His servants) the word فوق (over) is the predicate after the predicate; that is, He is dominant and above all His servants.
Points
«بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم» (In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful): this formula has been used in many of the Infallible’s prayers, because these divine attributes are not specified to the beginning of the speech, and on many occasions, the Exalted God has been described with the epithets raḥmān and raḥīm.
As an example, in Imam Sajjad’s amulet, we read:
« … وجَمِيعَ نِعَمِ اللَّهِ عِنْدِي بِبِسْمِ اللَّهِ الَّذِي خَضَعَتْ لَهُ الرِّقَابُ وَ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الَّذِي خَافَتْهُ الصُّدُورُ وَ بسم اللّهِ الذی.»
In Imam Baqer’’ amulet, we read:
«وصلی الله علی محمد الرسول النبی الاُمی سیدنا محمد وآله الطاهرین وسلَّم تسلیما. بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم ومن قوم موسی اُمة یهدون بالحق وبه یعدلون یاحی یا قیوم یادیان یا دیان…»
Similarly, in Imam Sadeq’s amulet, we read:
«… لایاتیه الباطل من بین یدیه ولا من خلفه تنزیل من حکیم حمید و هو بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم الحمدلله الذی هدانی للاسلام …»
ماشاءالله کان ومالم یشا لم یکن (mā shāʾallāh kān wa mā lam yashaʾ lam yakun): this expression emphasizes the divine absolute and limitless will, and is amply found in prayers and supplications.
قوی الشان عظیم البرهان شدید السلطان (qawi al-shaʾn, ꜥaẓīm al-burhān, shadīd al-sultān): praising God the Exalted with these three epithets suggests His power to perform anything, because the necessary condition for realization of something is one of these three tools, and if someone has a high status, strong argument and steadfast power and sultanate, he will have the essential tools for performing anything. This very formula is not found in other amulets and prayers, but similar expressions are found in the prayer for resolving the problem of insomnia:
«سبحان الله ذی الشان دائم السُلطان البُرهان کُلَ یَومٍ هو فی شان. اشهد ان نوحا رسول الله و ان ابراهیم خلیل الله وان موسی کلیم الله ونجیّه و انَّ عیسی ابن مریم صلوات الله علیه و علیهم اجمعین کَلِمته و روحه و انَّ محمدا صلی الله علیه و آله و سلم خاتم النبیین لا نبی بعده»
Witnessing to the prophetic mission of divine prophets and stating the attributes of each is an acknowledgement to one’s beliefs done by the person when he requests something from the Exalted God. This method has been common and effective in fulfilling one’s requests because it is considered a kind of making those personages as intermediators before God.
How is the Satan’s condition in the Day of Resurrection according to the traditions?
Part Four
فَقِهِ اللَّهُمَّ یا رَبِّ ادْفَعْ عَنْهُ الْأَسْوَاءَ کُلَّهَا وَ اقْمَعْ عَنْهُ أَبْصَارَ الظَّالِمِینَ وَ أَلْسِنَهَ الْمُعَانِدِینَ وَ الْمُرِیدِینَ لَهُ السُّوءَ وَ الضَّرَّ وَ ادْفَعْ عَنْهُ کُلَّ مَحْذُورٍ وَ مَخُوفٍ وَ أَی عَبْدٍ مِنْ عَبِیدِکَ أَوْ أَمَهٍ مِنْ إِمَائِکَ أَوْ سُلْطَانٍ مَارِدٍ أَوْ شَیطَانٍ أَوْ شَیطَانَهٍ أَوْ جِنِّی أَوْ جِنِّیهٍ أَوْ غُولٍ أَوْ غُولَهٍ أَرَادَ صَاحِبَ کِتَابِی هَذَا بِظُلْمٍ أَوْ ضَرٍّ أَوْ مَکْرٍ أَوْ مَکْرُوهٍ أَوْ کَیدٍ أَوْ خَدِیعَهٍ أَوْ نِکَایهٍ أَوْ سِعَایهٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ أَوْ غَرَقٍ أَوِ اصْطِلَامٍ أَوْ عَطَبٍ أَوْ مُغَالَبَهٍ أَوْ غَدْرٍ أَوْ قَهْرٍ أَوْ هَتْکِ سِتْرٍ أَوِ اقْتِدَارٍ أَوْ آفَهٍ أَوْ عَاهَهٍ أَوْ قَتْلٍ أَوْ حَرَقٍ أَوِ انْتِقَامٍ أَوْ قَطْعٍ أَوْ سِحْرٍ أَوْ مَسْخٍ أَوْ مَرَضٍ أَوْ سَقَمٍ أَوْ بَرَصٍ أَوْ جُذَامٍ أَوْ بُؤْسٍ أَوْ فَاقَهٍ أَوْ آعَهٍ أَوْ سَغَبٍ أَوْ عَطَشٍ أَوْ وَسْوَسَهٍ أَوْ نَقْصٍ فِی دِینٍ أَوْ مَعِیشَهٍ فَاکْفِنِیهِ بِمَا شِئْتَ وَ کَیفَ شِئْتَ وَ أَنَّى شِئْتَ إِنَّکَ عَلى کُلِشَیءٍ قَدِیرٌ وَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى سَیدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ أَجْمَعِینَ وَ سَلَّمَ تَسْلِیماً کَثِیراً وَ لَا حَوْلَ وَ لَا قُوَّهَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ الْعَلِی الْعَظِیمِ وَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعالَمِینَ یا مَشْهُوراً فِی السَّمَاوَاتِ یا مَشْهُوراً فِی الْأَرَضِینَ یا مَشْهُوراً فِی الدُّنْیا وَ الْآخِرَهِ جَهَدَتِ الْجَبَابِرَهُ وَ الْمُلُوکُ عَلَى إِطْفَاءِ نُورِکَ وَ إِخْمَادِ ذِکْرِکَ فَأَبَى اللَّهُ إِلَّا أَنْ یتِمَّ نُورَکَ وَ یبُوحَ بِذِکْرِکَ وَ لَوْ کَرِهَ الْمُشْرِکُونَ…
Translation
O God, my Lord! Remove all evils from his body and remove from his body the eyes of the wicked and the tongues of his enemies and the will of his representatives for evil and harm, and remove from him everything that should be avoided from him, and anyone who is afraid of him and any servant of Your servants or a bondswoman of Your bondswomen or a rebel kingdom or an evil man or an evil woman or a jinni man or a jinni woman or a devil man or a devil woman who has the will to oppress this person, to cause harm or unhappiness or enmity or trickery or injury or evil work or corruption or drowning or burning or destroying or defeating or cunning or overpowering or tearing a veil or having power or calamity or pestilence or killing or burning or punishing or cutting off or bewitching or disfiguring or disease or harassment or poverty or leprosy or indigence or hunger or thirst or tempting or deficiency in religion or in life, then show the sufficiency of that servant, so make me sufficient for what You want and in the way You want and what You want is true because You are capable of everything and may God’s mercy be upon Muhammad and his family. And there is no movement and no ability except for God, who is high and great, and everything is for God, who is the Lord of all the worlds.
The Text Which Must Be Inscribed On The Silver Tube
The prayer that must be inscribed on a silver tube, which must be made out of the pure silver, is as follows:
“O, the one who is apparent and well-known in the heavens; O, the one who is well-known on the earth; O, the one who is apparent in this world and the hereafter; the powerful persons and the kings have tried to turn off your light and remove your name; but God wished to complete your light and make your name well-known and apparent, even if this is unwelcomed by the infidels.”
Terms And Expression
الاَسواءَ (al-aswaʾ): as Muꜥjam al-Maqāʾīs al-Lugha writes, “suʾ is synonym with qubḥ (meaning ugliness). When one says, ‘رجلٌ اَسواءَ’ it means ugly man. The Prophet said, ‘an ugly (سوآءٌ) fertile woman is better that a sterile beautiful woman’. And the sin is called سیّئة. And the fire is called سُوای because its appearance is ugly. And the Almighty God says, ‘and that is the end of those who committed misdeeds was that …(السُّوای).’ (ثمَّ كَانَ عَاقِبَةَ الَّذِينَ أَسَاءُوا السُّوأَىٰ) ”
قمع (qamꜥ): means beating, scorning, humiliating, and turning away from somthing. Here, it means turning away.
مارد (mārid): the mārid and marīd among the men or devils are those who lack any goodness. The amrad tree is a leafless tree. The ramla mardā is a sandy land wherein no plant is grown. Amrad is a young person with no beard. The Holy Quran says, “وَحِفْظًا مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْطَانٍ مَارِدٍ” (and to guard from any froward devil). Elsewhere, it says, “وَمِنْ أَهْلِ الْمَدِينَةِ ۖ مَرَدُوا عَلَى النِّفَاقِ” ( and from among the people of Medina (also); they are stubborn in hypocrisy).
جن (jinn): jinni; a group pf supernatural beings. Islam believes that they are created from smokeless fire. Some traditions have forbidden associating with them. For instance, Abi Rabiꜥ Shami asked Imam Sadeq, “a group lives in our region. They always come for transactions and we associate with them. What should we do?” Imam replied, “O, Aba Rabiꜥ! Do not associate with them, because they are a group of jinni that God has uncovered them. Thus, do not associate with them.”
غول (ghūl): devil. It seems to be an imaginary creature. In a hadith from Imam Sadeq, we read, “اذا تَغَوّلَت لَکُمُ الغُولُ فاَذِّنُوا” (“whenever a devil appeared to you, recite adhān!”) In an exposition to this hadith, Master Ali Akbar Ghaffari writes, “Devil is a being of human species but a wild being living in deserts. They seem frightening because of long hair and nails. They often live in deserts and far from humans. Some scholars consider ghūl as an imaginary creature, and from the words in the hadith (اذا تغوّلت لکم الغول), we find out that the verb is from the bāb tafaꜥul, which means forcing someone to do something. Thus, it seems that Imam says, ‘Whenever you were taken by the illusion and fancy of a devil, recite adhān!’ And reciting adhān in a desert loudly causes one to be at relief and strengthens his spirit. Perhaps devil is a creature like jinni that cannot be seen by everyone.”
خدعه (khudꜥa): khudꜥa or khadꜥa. According to Jowhari, the latter is more fluent. It means trickery, artifice and deception. Muꜥjam Maqāʾīs al-Lugha writes, “ikhdāꜥ means hiding something.”
کَید (keyd): according to Tāj al-ꜥarūs, the word keyd means trick and artifice… and “our Sheikh says, ‘Apparently, the words keyd and makr are synonymous, and some of the scholars have distinguished them by referring to the fact that keyd is the harm and makr is hiding the keyd and reaching the harm. And it is said that keyd is taking secretly… and keyd is trickery, as God Almighty says: ‘فَجَمَعَ کَیده ثُم أتى’ (he summoned up his guile, and then arrived)’ and ‘فيكيدوا لك كيدا’ (lest they should devise schemes against you).”
مکر (makr): it means when someone is deviated from his destination by deception and guile. It is of two types: ‘desirable artifice’ by which some good intention is pursued, like the holy verse “وَاللّه خیرُ الماکرین” (and Allah is the best of devisers), and ‘vicious artifice’ by which a vicious goal is intended, like the following holy verses: “وَلَا يَحِيقُ الْمَكْرُ السَّيِّئُ إِلَّا بِأَهْلِهِ” (and evil schemes beset only their authors) and “فانظر کیف کان عاقبه مکرهم” (So observe how was the outcome of their plotting).
نکایه (nikāya): overcoming the enemy by injuring and killing.
اصطلام (iṣṭilām): cutting off from the root. Eradicating.
عطب (ꜥaṭab): perishing.
مغالبه (mughālaba): fighting someone and overcoming him.
غدر(ghadar): breaching one’s promise.
هتک (hatk): breaking and removing the cover of something.
عاهه (ꜥāha): it means the blight in the plants or livestock. Thus, ahl al-ꜥāhāt means people afflicted with blight.
مسخ (maskh): it means distortion and lack of taste in something. Thus, مَسَخَهُ اللّه (masakhahullāh) means He distorted its creation form pretty to ugly.
Ragheb says, “maskh means distortion of the nature and becoming ugly.” Some philosophers have stated that maskh is in two forms: ‘objective’, which is specific to apparent figure and nature; and ‘moral’, which is specific to internal attributes, and is acquired by the man at any time. That is, the man acquires disgusting and indecent attributes among the animal attributes, like greedy as a dog or filthy as a pig and ignorant as a cow. Thus, God’s words in the verse “وَجَعَلَ مِنْهُمُ لْقِرَدَةَ وَالْخَنَازِيرَ وَعَبَدَ الطَّاغُوتَ” (and turned some of whom into apes and swine, and worshippers of fake deities) and “ولَمَسَخْنَاهُمْ عَلَىٰ مَكَانَتِهِمْ” (We would have deformed them in their place) include both meanings of maskh, while the physical and natural meaning seems more proper.
سحر (siḥr): Muꜥjam Maqāʾīs al-Lugha has defined it as “presenting falsehood in the form of truth”. Ragheb writes, “one of the meanings of siḥr is trickery and deception, but it also means fanciful and false ideas, such as jugglery and conjure. Similarly, the behavior of a talkative person who prevents people from hearing the truth with deceptive words and glamorous speech is also called siḥr, like what we read in the verse, “قالَ أَلْقُوا ۖ فَلَمَّا أَلْقَوْا سَحَرُوا أَعْيُنَ النَّاسِ وَاسْتَرْهَبُوهُمْ وَجَاءُوا بِسِحْرٍ عَظِيمٍ” (He said, ‘Throw [yours].’ So when they threw, they bewitched the people’s eyes and overawed them, producing a tremendous magic), and the verse, “یُخیَّلَ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ سِحْرِهِمْ” (their ropes and staffs appeared to him by their magic).”
مرض و سقم (maraḍ and suqm): in defining the word suqm, Ibn Athir writes, “it means illness”; but in defining maraḍ, he writes, “it denotes what the man exits the limits of health in any form.” Ragheb writes, “suqm is specified to physical illness (انّی سَقیمٌ = I’m ill); but maraḍ is sometimes physical like what we read in the verse ‘وَلَا عَلَى الْمَرِيضِ حَرَجٌ’ (there is no blame on the one afflicted with illness), and sometimes, it is in one’s soul, like what we read in the verse, ‘فی قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ فَزَادَهُمُ اللَّهُ مَرَضًا’ (In their hearts is a disease; and Allah has increased their disease).”
برص (baraṣ): white marks or stains on one’s skins, which are known as blotch. The moon is also called abraṣ because of the marks on its surface. In the Quran, the word has been used twice about Jesus’ miracles: “وَأُبْرِئُ الْأَكْمَهَ وَالْأَبْرَصَ وَأُحْيِي الْمَوْتَىٰ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ” (I heal the blind and the leper and I revive the dead by Allah’s leave) and “وَتُبْرِئُ الْأَكْمَهَ وَالْأَبْرَصَ بِإِذْنی” (and you would heal the blind and the leper, with My leave).
بُؤس (buʾs): al-buʾa and baʾs and baʾsā are used to mean severe hardship, indecency and wrongness. But the word buʾs is mostly used for war and poverty, and the words al-baʾs and al-baʾsā are used for killing or injuring enemies and the like. They are found in the following verses:
وَاللَّهُ أَشَدُّ بَأْسًا وَأَشَدُّ تَنْكِيلًا
“For Allah is greatest in might and severest in punishment.”
فَأَخَذْنَاهُمْ بِالْبَأْسَاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ
“Then We seized them with stress and distress.”
وَالصَّابِرِينَ فِي الْبَأْسَاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ وَحِينَ الْبَأْسِ
“And those who are patient in stress and distress, and in the heat of battle.”
وبَأْسُهُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ شَدِيدٌ
“Their fierceness is great only within themselves.”
The verb from this word is baʾusa/ yabʾusu.
الفاقه (al-fāqa): need and poverty.
سغب (saghb): it denotes hunger. Some scholars maintain that saghb means hunger along with fatigue.
قصبه (qaṣba): it bears two meanings: one of them denotes cutting of the thing, and the other denotes an extension in corrugated things.
مغشوشه (maghshūsha): impure, gross.غیر مغشوشة (Ghayr maghshūsha): pure, refined.
اخماد (ikhmād): it denotes immobility and fall, as we see in the Quran: “فَإِذَا هُمْ خَامِدُونَ” (and, behold, they were stilled).
Points
الأسوأَ کَلَها (al-aswaʾ kulahā): Imam requests, firstly, rejection of all evils outright, then he names some instances for it.
اَلسِنَةُ المُعانِدین وَالمُریدین (alsinat al-muꜥānidīn wal-murīdīn): in this phrase, Imam has mentioned a very interesting point: evil is not always from opponents; rather, it may be from proponents or the so-called well-wishers.
بظُلْمٍ أَوْ ضَرٍّ أَوْ مَکْرٍ أَوْ مَکْرُوهٍ أَوْ کَیدٍ أَوْ خَدِیعَهٍ أَوْ نِکَایهٍ أَوْ سِعَایهٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ أَوْ غَرَقٍ أَوِ اصْطِلَامٍ أَوْ عَطَبٍ أَوْ مُغَالَبَهٍ أَوْ غَدْرٍ أَوْ قَهْرٍ أَوْ هَتْکِ سِتْرٍ أَوِ اقْتِدَارٍ أَوْ آفَهٍ أَوْ عَاهَهٍ أَوْ قَتْلٍ أَوْ حَرَقٍ أَوِ انْتِقَامٍ أَوْ قَطْعٍ أَوْ سِحْرٍ أَوْ مَسْخٍ أَوْ مَرَضٍ أَوْ سَقَمٍ أَوْ بَرَصٍ أَوْ جُذَامٍ أَوْ بُؤْسٍ أَوْ فَاقَهٍ أَوْ آعَهٍ أَوْ سَغَبٍ أَوْ عَطَشٍ أَوْ وَسْوَسَهٍ أَوْ نَقْصٍ فِی دِینٍ أَوْ مَعِیشَهٍ فَاکْفِنِیهِ بِمَا شِئْتَ وَ کَیفَ شِئْتَ وَ أَنَّى شِئْتَ إِنَّکَ عَلى کُلِشَیءٍ قَدِیرٌ وَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى سَیدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ أَجْمَعِینَ وَ سَلَّمَ تَسْلِیماً کَثِیراً.
Imam refers to the evils one by one. What we can infer here is that it is advisable for the man to request what he wishes in detail and speak them. This was common in the Infallible’s way of life.
ونقص فی دِین اَومعیشة (wa naqṣ fī dīn ow maꜥīsha) : Imam refers to beings secure both in religious and spiritual affairs and in worldly affairs.
فاکفینه بِماشئت وکَیفَ شِئتَ و اَنی شِئتَ (fakfinīhi bimā shiʾt, wa kyfa shiʾt wa annā shiʾt): this is an emphasis on God’s absolute and limitless will.
This shows Imam’s polite manner in praying; that is, while he requests his needs from God, he leaves – finally – its being fulfilled to God’s will.
یامَشهوراً فِی الاَرضین یا مشهورا في الآخرةیا مشهورا فی الذنیا جَهَدَت الْجَبَابِرَهُ والملوک علی إطفاء نَورک وإخماد ذِکرک فَاَبی اللّه
These formula are found in many prayers and supplications transmitted from the Infallibles.
Regarding the formula ‘illā ʾan yutimma nūrak’, Sayyid bin Tavoos says, “I have seen wa abayta illā ʾan yutimma Nūrak. It means Your refrain from doing something except completing Your light. But the formula ‘wa abayta illā ʾan yutimma Nūrak’, it means Your light, i.e. The Great Name, written in the amulet in the form of a spell.
Regarding the meaning of “یامَشهوراً فِی الدنیا والآخرة جَهَدَت الْجَبَابِرَهُ و المُلوک علی إِطْفَاءِ نورک واِخماد ذکرک” the late Ibn Tavoos says, “I found in the part three of a book that the phrase yā mashhūran fis-Samāwāt… refers to Imam Ali (PBUH).”
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