FORTY HADITHS ON THE VIRTUES AND IMPACTS OF THE HOLY QUR'AN AND THE ETIQUETTES OF THE RECITATION OF' IT

In the presentation of the following forty Hadiths, I will rather stop at citing the texts of the Hadith than mention the series and ways of narrators. I will also use suitable titles according to their contents. The explanations of these Hadiths will be put off to another occasion. Finally, I will not bind myself with exactly forty Hadiths since traditions that urge on retaining forty Hadiths have not specified this number as stipulation; rather any addition to the number will be good.

Part 5

(1)               Imam 'All ibn al-Husayn's Supplication on the

Completion of Reciting the Holy Qur'an

"O Allah, Thou hast helped me complete Thy Book, which Thou sent down as a light and appointed as a guardian over every book Thou hast sent down, preferring it over every narrative which Thou hast recounted, a separator, through which Thou hast separated Thy lawful from Thy unlawful, a Qur'an through which Thou hast made plain the approaches to Thy ordinances, a book, which Thou hast distinguished very distinctly for Thy servants, a revelation, which Thou hast sent down, a sending down, upon Thy prophet Muhammad (Thy blessings be upon him and his Household). Thou appointed it a light through following which we may be guided from the shadows of error and ignorance, a healing for him who turns ear toward hearing it with the understanding of attestation, a just balance whose tongue does not incline away from truth, a light of guidance whose proof is not extinguished before the witnesses, and a guidepost of deliverance, so that he who repairs straight way to its prescription will not go astray and he who clings to its preservation's handhold will not be touched by the hands of disasters.

O Allah, since Thou hast given us help to recite it and made smooth the roughness of our tongues through the beauty of its expression, place us among those who observe it as it should be observed, serve Thee by adhering in submission to the firm text of its verses, and seek refuge in admitting both its ambiguous parts and the elucidations of its clear signs.

O Allah, Thou sent it down upon Thy prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and his household) in summary form inspired him with the science of its wonders to complement it, made us the heirs of its knowledge as interpreters, made us to surpass him who is ignorant of its knowledge, and gave us strength over it to raise us above those not able to carry it.

O    Allah, just as Thou hast appointed our hearts as its carriers and made known to us through Thy mercy its nobility and excellence, so also bless Muhammad, its preacher, and his Household, its guardians, and place us among those who confess that it has come from Thee, lest doubt about attesting to it assail us, or deviation from its straightforward path shake us.

O    Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household and make us one of those who hold fast to its cord, seek haven from its ambiguities in its fortified stronghold, rest in the shadow of its wing, find guidance in the brightness of its morning, follow the shining of its disclosure, acquire light from its lamp, and beg not guidance from any other.

O   Allah, just as through it Thou hast set up Muhammad as a guidepost to point to Thee and through his Household Thou hast made clear Thy good pleasure's roads to Thee, so also bless Muhammad and his Household and Make the Qur'an our mediation to the noblest stations of Thy honor, a ladder by which we may climb to the place of safety, a cause for our being repaid with deliverance at the Plain of Resurrection, and a means whereby we may reach the bliss of the House of Permanence.

O  Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household, lessen for us through the Qur'an the weight of heavy sins, give to us the excellent qualities of the pious, and make us follow the tracks of those who stood before Thee in the watches of the night and the ends of the day, such that Thou purifiest us from every defilement through its purification and makest us to follow the tracks of those who have taken illumination from its light and whom expectation has not distracted from works, cutting them off through its delusions' deceptions!

O    Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household and appoint the Qur'an for us an intimate in the shadows of nights and a guardian against the instigations of Satan and confusing thoughts, for our feet an obstruction from passing to acts of disobedience, for our tongues a silencer without blight preventing a plunge into falsehood, for our limbs a restrainer from committing sins, and for the scrutiny of heedfulness rolled up in heedlessness an unroller, such that Thou attachest to our hearts the understanding of the Qur'an's wonders and its restraining similitudes, which immovable mountains in all their solidity were too weak to carry!

O   Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household and through the Qur'an make permanent the rightness of our outward selves, veil the ideas of confusing thoughts from the soundness of our innermost minds, wash away the dirt of our hearts and the ties of our heavy sins, gather our scattered affairs, quench the thirst of our burning heat in the standing place of the presentation to Thee, and clothe us in the robes of security on the Day of the Greatest Terror at our uprising!

O    Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household and through the Qur'an redress our lack—our destitution in poverty—drive toward us the comforts of life and an abundance of plentiful provisions, turn aside blameworthy character traits and base moral qualities, and preserve us from the pit of unbelief and the motives for hypocrisy, such that the Qur'an may be for us at the resurrection a leader to Thy good pleasure and Thy gardens, for us in this world a protector against Thy displeasure and transgressing Thy bounds, and for what is with Thee a witness by its declaring lawful the lawful and its declaring unlawful the unlawful!

O   Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household and through the Qur'an make easy for our souls at death the distress of the driving, the effort of the moaning, and the succession of the rattling, (when souls reach the throats and it is said, Where is the enchanter?) when the angel of death discloses, himself to seize them from behind the veils of unseen things,

letting loose at them from the bow of destinies the arrows of the terror of lonesome separation, and mixing for them from sudden death a cup poisoned to the taste; and when departure and release for the hereafter come close to us, works become collars around the necks, and the graves become the haven until the appointed time of the Day of Encounter!

O    Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household, make blessed for us the arrival at the house of decay and the drawn out residence between the layers of the earth, appoint the graves, after separation from this world, the best of our way stations, make roomy for us through Thy mercy the narrowness of our tombs, and disgrace us not among those present at the Resurrection through our ruinous sins!

Through the Qur'an have mercy upon the lowliness of our station at the standing place of presentation to Thee, make firm the slips of our feet during the shaking of the bridge across hell on the day of passage over it, illuminate the darkness of our graves before the Uprising, and deliver us from every distress on the Day of Resurrection and from the hardships of terrors on the Day of Disaster! Whiten our faces on the day when the faces of wrongdoers are blackened during the Day of Regret and Remorse, appoint love for us in the breasts of the faithful, and make not life for us troublesome!

O     Allah, bless Muhammad, Thy servant and Thy messenger, just as He delivered Thy message, executed Thy command, and counseled Thy servants! O Allah, on the Day of Resurrection make our Prophet (Thy blessings be upon him and his Household) the nearest of the prophets to Thee in seat, the ablest of them before Thee with intercession, the greatest of them with Thee in measure, and the most eminent of them with Thee in rank!

O    Allah, bless Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad, ennoble his edifice, magnify his proof, make weighty his balance, accept his intercession, bring near his mediation, whiten his face, complete his light, and raise his degree!

Make us live according to his Sunnah, make us die in his creed, take us on his road, make us travel his path, place us among the people who obey him, muster us in his band, lead us to up his pool, and give us to drink of his cup! And bless Muhammad and his Household with a blessing through which Thou wilt take him to the most excellent of Thy good, Thy bounty, and Thy generosity for which he hopes! Thou art Possessor of boundless mercy and generous bounty.

O Allah, repay him for Thy messages which he delivered, Thy signs which he passed on, the good counsel he gave to Thy servants, and the struggle he undertook in Thy way, with the best Thou hast repaid any of Thy angels brought nigh and Thy prophets sent out and chosen! And upon him and his Household, the good, the pure, be peace, Allah's mercy, and His blessings!"