Praise belongs to God,
who created night and day
through His strength,
set them apart
through His power,
and appointed for each
a determined limit
and a drawn-out period.5
He makes each of the two enter into its companion,
and makes its companion enter into it,6
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1. Al-Shirazi points out that the Imam first gives the Day of Resurrection as the outer limit of His praise, then as a sort of admonition lest he be misunderstood extends it in conformity with Him who is praised. In the same way in another prayer he says, "A praise eternal (khalid) with Thy Eternity" (p.88).
2. The term "friend" (wali) of God, referred to for example in the verse, "He befriends the righteous" (VIII, 190), is interpreted in many ways. According to certain theologians the wali is a person whose belief is sound, who performs his religious duties and who as a result has attained proximity to God. In Sufism the term takes on a technical meaning and is often translated as "saint". See al-Shirazi, pp.91-92.
3. According to a hadith of the Prophet related through the sixth Imam, "Beyond every one who possesses piety, there are other pious acts, until he is killed in the path of God: when he has been killed in the path of God, there is no further act of piety" (al-Shirazi, p. 93). See also such Quranic verses as III, 157; III, I69 and IV, 74.
4. Al-Shirazi remarks, "The appropriateness of terminating this prayer, which is dedicated to praise, with the name 'Praiseworthy' is obvious" (p.93).
5. Cf. Quran XXXVI, 39: "It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day."
6. Cf. Quran XXXV, 13: "He makes the night enter into the day and He makes the day enter into the night." The same or similar verses occur several times in the Quran, including III, 27; XXII, 61; XXXI, 29; and LVII, 6.
as an ordainment from Him for His servants
in that through which He feeds them
and with which He makes them grow.
He created for them the night,
that they might rest in it
from tiring movements
and wearisome exertions1
and He made it a garment for them
that they might be clothed
in its ease and its sleep,2
that it might be for them refreshment and strength,
that they might reach therein pleasure and passion.
He created for them the daytime, giving sight,
that they might seek within it of His bounty,3
find the means to His provision,
and roam freely in His earth,
searching for that through which
to attain the immediate in their life in this world
and to achieve the deferred in their life to come.
Through all of this He sets right their situation,
tries their records,4
and watches their state in
the times for obeying Him,
the waystations of His obligations,
and the places of His ordinances,
that He may repay those who do evil with what they have done
and repay those who do good with goodness.(LIII,31)
O God,
to Thee belongs praise
for the sky Thou hast split into dawn for us,5
giving us to enjoy thereby the brightness of daytime,
showing us sought-after nourishments,
and protecting us from the striking of blights.
In the morning we and all things, every one, rise for Thee,
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1. Reference to Quran X, 68 and several identical or similar verses: "It is He who made for you the night to repose in it."
2. Cf Quran XXV, 47: "It is He who appointed the night for you to be a garment and sleep for a rest . . ." and other similar verses.
3. Cf. Quran XVII, 12: "We . . . made the sign of the day to see, and that you may seek bounty from your Lord" and other similar verses.
4. Cf. Quran XLVII, 31: "And We shall assuredly try you until We know those of you who struggle and are steadfast, and try your tidings."
5. Cf. Quran VI, 97: "He splits the sky into dawn ..."
the heaven and the earth
and what Thou hast scattered in each,1
the still and the moving,
the resident and the journeying,
what towers up in the air and what hides under the ground.
We rise in the morning in Thy grasp:
Thy kingdom and authority contain us
and Thy will embraces us.
We move about by Thy command2
and turn this way and that through Thy governing.
We own nothing of the affair
except what Thou hast decreed
and nothing of the good
except what Thou hast given.
This is a fresh, new day,
over us a ready witness.
If we do good,
it will take leave from us with praise,
and if we do evil,
it will part from us in blame.3
O God,
bless Muhammad and his Household,
provide us with the day's good companionship
and preserve us against parting from it badly
by doing a misdeed
or committing a sin, whether small or great!4
Make our good deeds within it plentiful
empty us therein of evil deeds,
and fill what lies between its two sides for us
with praise and thanksgiving,
wages and stores,
bounty and beneficence!
O God,
ease our burden on the Noble Writers,5
fill our pages for us
with our good deeds,6
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1. Cf. Quran XLV, 3-4: "Surely in the heavens and the earth there are signs for the believers; and in your creation, and the crawling things He scatters abroad, there are signs for a people having sure faith."
2. Al-Shirazi points out that "command" (amr) here means the "ontological (takwini) command" (p. 217). Philosophers and theologians distinguish this, which refers to the laws of creation and which all must obey by the very nature of things, from the "legislative (tashri'i) command", which refers to the laws set down by God in revelation and which man can obey or disobey according to his own free will. The "ontological command" is referred to in such verses as: "His command, when He desires a thing, is to say to it 'Be', and it is" (XXXVI, 81).
3. Al-Shirazi quotes a tradition from the sixth Imam: "No day comes upon the son of Adam without saying to him, 'O son of Adam, I am a new day and I am a witness against thee. So speak good in me and work good in me, and I shall witness for thee upon the Day of Resurrection, for after this thou shalt never see me again'" (p.218).
4. The distinction between minor (saghirah) and major (kabirah) sins is much discussed in Islamic theology. For a sample of Shi'ite views, see al- Shirazi, pp.219-223.
5. The angels who write down the deeds of men are referred to in Quran LXXXII, 10-11: "Yet there are over you watchers noble, writers who know whatever you do." In explaining what is meant by "Ease our burdens on them", al-Shirazi quotes the celebrated Safavid theologian, Shaykh-i Baha'i: "This is an allusion to seeking protection with God from excessive talk and from excessive occupation with what entails neither worldly nor other-worldly gain: then the Noble Writers will have fewer of our words and deeds to record." The Prophet said, "I am astonished at the son of Adam: his two angels are on his shoulders, his speech is their pen and his saliva their ink. How can he speak of that which does not concern him?" (p. 224).
6. Cf. Quran LXXXI, especially 10-14: "And when the pages are laid open, and when the sky is torn away, and when hell is ignited, and when the garden is brought nigh, (then) every soul will know what it has made ready."
and degrade us not before them
with our evil works!
O God,
appoint for us in each of the day's hours
a share from Thy servants,1
a portion of giving thanks to Thee,
and a truthful witness among Thy angels!
O God,
bless Muhammad and his Household
and safeguard us from before us and behind us,
from our right hands and our left hands
and from all our directions,2
a safeguarding that will preserve from disobeying Thee,
guide to obeying Thee,
and be employed for Thy love!
O God,
bless Muhammad and his Household
and give us success in this day of ours,
this night of ours,
and in all our days,
to employ the good,
stay away from the evil,
give thanks for favours,
follow the Sunna's norms,
avoid innovations,
enjoin good behaviour,
forbid the disapproved,3
defend Islam,
diminish falsehood and abase it,
help the truth and exalt it,
guide the misguided,
assist the weak,
and reach out to the troubled!
O God,
bless Muhammad and his Household
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1. According to al-Shirazi the meaning is, "Appoint for us some of Thy servants that we may seek illumination through their lights and follow in their tracks." He adds a long discussion of the elevated position of the "servant" ('abd), noting that in his highest form he is even more exalted than the messenger. This is the reason for the word order of the formula which every Muslim repeats in his canonical prayers: "Muhammad is His servant and His messenger". Al-Shirazi also points out that some manuscripts read "servanthood" ('ibadah) for "servants" ('ibad) and that this is more in keeping with the context (pp. 227-8).
2. This is a reference to the words of Satan in the Quran: "Then I shall come on them from before them and from behind them and from their right hands and their left hands; Thou wilt not find most of them thankful" (VII, 17).
3. Al-amr bi-l-ma'ruf wa-l-nahy 'an al-munkar, according to Shi'ites one of the pillars of Islam, and a command which is repeated many times in the Quran, such as VII, 157, and IX, 71.
and make this
the most fortunate day we have known,
the most excellent companion we have accompanied,
and the best time in which we have lingered!
Place us among
the most satisfied of all Thy creatures
whom night and day have passed by,
the most thankful of them
for the favours Thou hast done,
the firmest of them
in the laws Thou hast set down in the Shari'a,
and the most unyielding of them
toward the prohibited acts
against which Thou hast cautioned!
O God,
I call Thee to witness
- and Thou art sufficient witness -
and I call Thy heaven and Thy earth to witness
and Thy angels and Thy other creatures who inhabit them
in this my day,
this my hour,
this my night,
and this my resting place,
that I bear witness
that Thou art God,
other than whom there is no god,
Upholding justice,2
Equitable in judgement,
Clement to the servants,
Master of the kingdom,3
Compassionate to the creatures,
and that Muhammad is Thy servant and Thy messenger,
Thy chosen from among Thy creatures.
Thou didst charge him with Thy message
and he delivered it;4
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1. The verse "God is sufficient witness" occurs several times in the Quran, such as IV, 79; X, 29, etc.
2. These two lines are an almost word for word quotation from Quran III, 18.
3. A divine Name occurring in Quran III, 26.
4. Cf. such verses as the following: "Say: 'Obey God and obey the Messenger; then if you turn away, only upon him rests what is laid on him .... It is only for the Messenger to deliver the Message" (XXIV, 34).
Thou didsst command him to counsel his community
and he counselled it.
O God,
so bless Muhammad and his Household
more than Thou hast blessed any of Thy creatures!
Give him for our sake the best Thou hast given any of Thy servants,
and repay him on our behalf better and more generously
than Thou hast repaid any of Thy prophets
on behalf of his community!
Thou art All-kind with immensity,
the Forgiver of the great,
and Thou art more merciful
than every possessor of mercy!
So bless Muhammad and his Household,
the good, the pure, the chosen, the most distinguished!
