Kumayl Supplication

Kumayl Supplication

As Taught by Imam Ali (a.s.)

ORIGIN OF THE SUPPLICATION Kumayl Ibn Ziyad Nakha'i was a confidant amongst the companions of Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.s.) and this sublime supplication was first heard from the beautiful, though anguished, voice of Imam Ali (a.s.).

According to Allama Majlisi Kumayl had attended an assembly in the Mosque at Basra which was addressed by Imam Ali (a.s.) in the course of which the night of the 15th of Shaban was mentioned. Imam Ali (a.s.) said-"Whosoever keeps awake in devoutness on this night and recites the supplication of Prophet Khizr, undoubtedly that person's supplication will be responded to and granted. When the assembly at the Mosque had dispersed, Kumayl called at the house where Imam Ali (a.s.) was staying, and requested him to acquaint him with Prophet Khizr's "supplication". Imam Ali (a.s.) asked Kumayl to sit down, record and memorize the "supplication" which Imam Ali (a.s.) dictated to Kumayl.

Imam Ali (a.s.) then advised Kumayl to recite this "supplication" on the eve of every Friday, or once a month or at least once in every year so that, added Imam Ali (a.s.), "Allah may protect thee from the evils of the enemies and the plots contrived by impostors. O' Kumayl! in consideration of thy companionship and understanding, I grant thee this honor of entrusting this "supplication" to thee."

In the Name of Allah, the All-merciful, the All-compassionate

O Allah, I ask You by Your mercy, which embraces all things;

And by Your strength, through which You dominatest all things,

And toward which all things are humble

And before which all things are lowly;

And by Your invincibility through which You overwhelmed all things,

And by Your might, which nothing can resist;

And by Your tremendousness, which has filled all things;

by Your force, which towers over all things;

And by Your face, which subsists after the annihilation of all things,

And by Your Names, which have filled the foundations of all things;

And by Your knowledge, which encompasses all things;

And by the light of Your face, through which all things are illumined!

O Light! O All-holy!

O First of those who are first

And O Last of those who are last!

O Allah, forgive me those sins which tear apart safeguards!

O Allah, forgive me those sins which drawdown adversities!

O Allah, forgive me those sins which alter blessings!

O Allah forgive me those sins which hold back supplication!

O Allah forgive me those sins which cut down the hopes!

O Allah, forgive me those sins which drawdown tribulation!

O Allah, forgive me every sin I have committed and every mistake I have made!

O Allah, verily I seek nearness to You through remembrance of You,

And I seek intercession from You with Yourself,

And I ask You through Your munificence to bring me near to Your proximity,

And to provide me with gratitude toward You

And to inspire me with Your remembrance.

O Allah, verily I ask You with the asking of a submissive, abased and lowly man to show me forbearance, to have mercy on me

And to make me satisfied and content with Your appointment and [make me] humble in every state.

O Allah, I ask You the question of one whose indigence is extreme,

And who has stated to You in difficulties his need

And whose desire for what is with You has become great.

O Allah, Your force is tremendous, Your place is lofty,

And Your deception is hidden, Your command is manifest,

And Your domination is overwhelming, Your power is unhindered

And escape from Your governance is impossible.

O Allah, I find no forgiver of my sins,

Nor concealer of my ugly acts

Nor transformer of any of my ugly acts into good acts but You

There is no god but You!

Glory be to You, and Thine is the praise!

I have wronged myself,

And I have been audacious in my ignorance

And I have depended upon Your ancient remembrance of me and Your favor toward me.

O Allah! O my Protector!

How many ugly things You have concealed!

How many burdensome tribulations You have abolished!

And how many stumbles You have prevented!

And how many ordeals You hast repelled!

And how much beautiful praise, for which I was unworthy, You hast spread abroad!

O Allah, my tribulation is tremendous,

And my bad state is excessive,

And my acts are inadequate,

And my fetters have tied me down,

And my far-fetched hopes have held me back from my gain

And this world with its delusions, my own soul with its offenses and my delay have deceived me.

O my Master! So I ask You by Your might not to let my evil works and acts veil my supplication from You,

And not to disgrace me through the hidden things You know of my secrets

And not to hasten me to punishment for what I have done in private:

My evil acts in secrecy and my misdeeds

And my continuous negligence and my ignorance

And my manifold passions and my forgetfulness.

And by Your might, O Allah, be kind to me in all states

And be gracious to me in all affairs!

My God and my Lord! Have I any but You from whom to ask removal of my affliction and regard for my affairs!

My God and my Protector! You put into effect through me a decree in which I followed the caprice of my own soul

And [I] did not remain wary of adorning my enemy.

So he deluded me through my soul's caprice and therein destiny favored him

So, in what was put into effect through me in that situation, I transgressed some of Your statutes

And disobeyed some of Your commands.

So Thine is the argument against me in all of that

I have no argument in what Your destiny put into effect through me therein

nor in what Your decree and Your tribulation imposed upon me.

Now I have come to You, My God, after my shortcoming and my immoderation toward myself,

Proffering my excuse, regretful,

Broken, apologizing,

Asking forgiveness, repenting,

Acknowledging, submissive, confessing.

I find no place to flee from what occurred through me,

Nor any place of escape to which I may turn in my affairs,

Other than Your acceptance of my excuse and Your entering me into the compass of Your mercy.

O Allah, so accept my excuse,

Have mercy upon the severity of my affliction

And release me from the tightness of my fetters,

My Lord, have mercy upon the weakness of my body, the thinness of my skin and the frailty of my bones.

O You who gave rise to my creation, to the remembrance of me, to the nurture of me, to goodness toward me and to nourishment on me,

Bestow upon me for the sake of Your having given rise [to me] with generosity and Your previous goodness to me!

O Allah, my Master and my Lord!

Can't You see Yourself tormenting me with Your fire after I have professed Your Unity

And after the knowledge of You my heart has embraced,

And the remembrance of You my tongue has constantly mentioned

And the love of You to which my mind has clung,

And after the sincerity of my confession and my supplication, humble before Your lordship?

Far be it from You! You art more generous than that You shouldst squander him whom You hast nurtured,

Or banish him whom You hast brought nigh,

Or drive away him whom You hast given an abode

Or submit to tribulation him whom You hast spared and shown mercy.

Would that I knew, my Master, My God and my Protector,

Whether You wilt give the Fire dominion over faces fallen down prostrate before Your Tremendousness,

And over tongues voicing sincerely the profession of Your Unity and giving thanks to You in praise,

And over hearts acknowledging Your Divinity through verification,

And over minds encompassing knowledge of You until they have become humble

And over bodily members speeding to the places of Your worship in obedience and beckoning for Your forgiveness in submission.

No such opinion is held of You! Nor has such been reported - thanks to Your bounty — concerning You,

O All-generous! My Lord,

And You know my weakness before a little of this world's tribulations and punishments,

And before those ordeals which befall its inhabitants,

Even though it is a tribulation and ordeal whose stay is short, whose subsistence is but little and, whose period is but fleeting.

So how can I endure the tribulations of the next world and the great ordeals that occur within it?

For it is a tribulation whose period is long, whose station endures and whose sufferers are given no respite,

Since it only occurs as a result of Your wrath, Your vengeance and Your anger,

And these cannot be withstood by the heavens and the earth.

O Master, so what about me?!

For I am Your weak, lowly, base, wretched and miserable slave.

My God! My Lord! My Master! My Protector!

For which things would I complain to You?

And for which of them would I lament and weep?

For the pain and severity of chastisement?

Or for the length and period of tribulation?

So if You take me to the punishments with Your enemies,

And gather me with the people of Your tribulation

And separate me from Your friends and saints,

Then suppose, My God, my Master, my Protector and my Lord that I am able to endure Your chastisement,

How can I endure separation from You?

And suppose that I am able to endure the heat of Your fire,

How can I endure not gazing upon Your generosity?

Or how can I dwell in the Fire while my hope is Your pardon?

So by Your might, my Master and my protector, I swear sincerely, if You leave me with speech,

I will lament to You from the midst of the Fire's inhabitants with lamentation of the hopeful;

I will cry to You with the cry of those crying for help;

I will weep to You with the weeping of the bereft;

And I will call to You, Where art You, O Sponsor of the believers,

O Goal of the hopes of Your knowers,

O Aid of those who seek assistance,

O Friend of the hearts of the sincere

And O God of all the world's inhabitants!

Can't You see Yourself — Glory be to You My God, and Thine is the praised — hearing within the Fire the voice of a slave surrendered to You,

Imprisoned there because of his violations,

Tasting the favor of its torment because of his disobedience,

And confined within its levels because of his sin and crime,

While he laments to You with the lament of one hopeful for Your mercy,

And calls to You with the tongue of those who profess Your Unity

And entreats You by Your lordship!

My Protector, so how should he remain in the chastisement, while he has hope for Your previous clemency?

Or how should the Fire cause him pain while he expects Your bounty and mercy?

Or how should its flames burn him, while You hearest his voice and seest his place?

Or how should its groaning encompass him, while You knowest his weakness?

Or how should he be convulsed among its levels, while You knowest his sincerity?

Or how should its keepers torture him while he calls out to You, O Lord?

Or how should he have hope of Your bounty in freeing him from it, while You abandoned him within it?

Far be it from You! That is not what is expected of You,

Nor what is well-known of Your bounty,

Nor is it similar to the goodness and kindness You have shown to those who profess Your Unity.

So I declare with certainty that were it not for what You hast decree concerning the chastisement of Your deniers

And what You hast foreordained concerning the everlasting home of those who stubbornly resist,

You wouldst make the Fire, all of it, coolness and safety,

And no one would have a place of rest or abode within it.

But You—holy are Your Names—hast sworn that You wilt fill it with the unbelievers,

Both Jinn and men together,

And that You will place those who stubbornly resist therein forever.

And You— majestic is Your eulogy— said at the beginning and weren't gracious through kindness as a favor,

(What? Is he who has been a believer like unto him who has been ungodly? They are not equal)

My God and my Master! So I ask You by the power You hast apportioned

And by the decision which You hast determined and imposed and through which You hast overcome him toward whom it has been put into effect,

That You forgivest me in this night and at this hour

Every offense I have committed,

And every sin I have performed,

And every ugly thing I have concealed

And every folly I have enacted

Whether I have hidden or announced it,

Or I have concealed it or manifested it

And every evil act which You hast commanded the Noble Writers to record,

Those whom You hast appointed to watch over what appears from me

And whom You hast made, along with my bodily members, witness against me.

And You waste Yourself the Watcher over me from behind them,

And the Witness of what is hidden from them

But through Your mercy You concealed it

And through Your bounty You veiled it.

[And I ask You] that You bestowed upon me an abundant share of every good You sendest down,

Or kindness You conferrest,

Or goodness You unfoldest,

Or provision You spreadest out,

Or sin You forgivest,

Or error You coverest.

My Lord! My Lord! My Lord!

My God! My Master! My Protector! Owner of my bondage!

O He in whose hand is my forelock!

O He who knows my affliction and my misery!

O He who is aware of my poverty and indigence!

My Lord! My Lord! My Lord!

I ask You by Your Truth and Your Holiness

And the greatest of Your Attributes and Names,

That You makes my times in the night and the day inhabited by Your remembrance,

And joined to Your service

And my works acceptable to You,

So that my works and my litanies may all be a single litany

And my occupation with Your service is everlasting.

My Master! O He upon whom I depend!

O He to whom I complain about my states!

My Lord! My Lord! My Lord!

Strengthen my bodily members in Your service,

And fortify my ribs in determination

And bestow upon me earnestness in my fear of You

And continuity in my being joined to Your service

So that I may move easily toward You in the battlefields of the foremost

And hurry to You among the prominent

And desire fervently Your proximity among the fervently desirous

And move nearer to You with the nearness of the sincere

And fear You with the fear of those who have certitude

And gather with the believers in Your vicinity.


O Allah, whoever desires evil for me, desire [it] for him!

whoever deceives me-deceive him!

And make me one of the most excellent of Your slaves in Portion from You,

And the nearest of them in station to You

And the most elected of them in proximity to You.

For that cannot be attained except by Your bounty.

And grant generously to me through Your munificence,

And incline toward me with Your splendor

And protect me with Your mercy!

And make my tongue remember You without ceasing

And my heart is enthralled by Your love!

And be gracious to me by answering me favorably,

And nullify my slips

And forgive my lapses!

For You has decreed Your worship for Your servants

And commanded them to supplicate You

And assured them that they would be answered.

So toward You, my Lord, I have turned my face

And toward You, my Lord, I have extended my hand.

So by Your might, comply with my supplication

And make me attain my desires!

Do not severe my hoping for Your Favors

And spare me the evil of my enemies from among the jinn and men!

O He, whose pleasure is quickly achieved!

Forgive him who owns nothing but supplication

For You dost what You wilt.

O He whose Name is a remedy,

And whose remembrance is a cure,

And whose obedience is wealth!

Have mercy upon him whose capital is hope

And whose weapon is tears!

O Ample in blessings!

O Repeller of adversities!

O Light of those who are lonely in the darkness!

O Knower who was never taught!

Bless Mohammad and Mohammad's household!

And do with me what is worthy of You!

And Allah bless His messenger and the holy Imams of his household

And give them abundant peace!