Abu Hamza Thumali Supplication

Abu Hamza Thumali Supplication

Abu Hamza Thumali (r.a) was a close companion of Imam Sajjad (pbuh) He has related that during the month of Ramadan Imam Sajjad (pbuh) used to spend a greater part of the night in prayers and when it used to be the time of beginning of the fast he recited the following supplication. This application has been recorded in the book Misabh In ‘Misbah al-Mutahajjid’, it has been narrated on the authority of Abu-hamza al-Thamali that Imam Ali (pbut) ibn al-Hussein (pbut) Zain al-Abideen (pbut) used to offer prayers the whole nights of Ramadan. At the last hour of Ramadan nights, he used to say the following supplication:

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 anywhere save with You

And 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

Repeat this phrase as many times as possible in one breath:

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 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 settles 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 the 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

And I find the springs to hoping for You overflowing

And I find seeking the help of Your favor reachable for them who have hopefully looked forward to You

And I find the doors of praying You vulnerable for them who cry to You

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

And that You relentlessly succor the aggrieved

And that to long for Your beneficence and to accept Your will and judgment are well compensation for that which the close-fisted misers deny

And an alternative to that which is possessed by the stingy

And that he who travels towards You will easily reach his destination

And that 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 I am directing towards You carrying my needs

And I have sought the help of You alone

And I am 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

And I have relied upon the truthfulness of Your promise

And 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)

And 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

And 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 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

And 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 please do answer my prayers

O the 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

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

And I am fleeing from You towards You

Hoping for the amnesty that You have promised to confer upon him who keeps good idea about You

What am I? O Lord! And 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 have watched me while committing these sins, I may not commit them

And 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)

And the wisest of those who judge

And the most generous of those who act generously

The concealer of defects

the Forgiver of sins

the Knower of the unseen

You conceal the defects out of Your liberality

And puts 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 to me that gives me latitude and makes me dare to break Your laws

And it is Your concealing my faults that makes me act shamelessly before You

And 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 Eternal,

O Forgiver of sins,

O Acceptor 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 are 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 Mohammad and the Family of Mohammad, save me

And by 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 You 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 the Beloved of those who endear themselves to Him

O the 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

And there is no period that may be longer than Your tolerance

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

And 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 the 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

And verily You do whatever You will

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

And 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

and non can ever contend with You about Your authority

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

And none can ever object to Your decisions

And none can ever protest against that which You administer

To You alone is creation and determination

Blessed be Allah, the Lord of the worlds

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

And resorts to Your liberality

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

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

And Whose favor never reduces

And Whose mercy never diminishes

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

And 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

And 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 that which 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

And act generously with us for we are in need from Your conferral

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

And 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 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