Al-Simat Supplication

Priority: b, Quality: c
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This article is an introduction to the al-Simat Supplication; to read its text see text:al-Simat Supplication.
Al-Simat Supplication
SubjectGreat Name of Allah • Remembrance of prophets (a) • Holy places
Hadith-Based/Non-Hadith-BasedHadith-Based
Issued byImam al-Baqir (a)
NarratorMuhammad b. 'Uthman al-'Amri
Shi'a sourcesMisbah al-mutahajjidJamal al-usbu'al-Balad al-aminBihar al-Anwar
MonographsKhulasat al-da'awat fi sharh du'a' al-Simat by Tunakabuni • Rawa'ih al-nasimatSafwat al-sifat fi sharh du'a' al-SimatKashf al-hijab 'an al-du'a' al-mustajab by Al-Sayyid Abd Allah Shubbar
TimeLast hours of Friday • Eve of Saturdays


Prayer

Al-Simāt Supplication or duʿā al-Simāt (Arabic:دعاء السمات) is a supplication narrated from Imam al-Baqir (a) which is recommended to be recited in the last hours of Friday. According to a narration from Imam al-Baqir (a), the Great Name of Allah is mentioned in this supplication. Shi'a scholars have written many commentaries on this supplication.

Cause of Naming

"Simat" is the plural form of "Simah" (سِمَه) meaning sign. It is said that this supplication has been named so because the signs of answering prayers are numerous in this supplication.[1]

Its Reference

Al-Simat supplication has been mentioned by al-Shaykh al-Tusi in Misbah al-mutahajjid,[2] Ibn Tawus in Jamal al-usbu',[3] al-Kaf'ami in al-Balad al-amin[4] and Misbah,[5] al-Majlisi in Bihar al-anwar[6] and Zad al-ma'ad[7] with authentic references from Muhammad b. 'Uthman al-'Amri [8] from Imam al-Sadiq (a) and from Imam al-Baqir (a).[9] In Jamal al-usbu' , al-Sayyid b. Tawus has narrated this supplication from three ways.[10] In Mafatih al-jinan,[11] Shaykh 'Abbas Qummi has narrated this supplication from al-Shaykh al-Tusi's Misbah al-Mutahajjid.

Al-Khoei did not approve the strength of the reference for this supplication.[12] According to al-Majlisi, this supplication has been greatly famous among companions of Imams (a) and they kept it well.[13]

Time of Recitation

Recitation of this supplication is recommended in the last hours[14] of Friday[15] and eve of Saturdays[16]. It is said that one's request will be fulfilled if he recites this supplication upon asking something or going to an enemy or a ruler of whom one fears. It is also said the reciter of this supplication will be saved from any harms of the enemy and one who cannot recite it, may write it and tie it to his arm or put it under his arm and it will have the same effect.[17]

Content

In al-Simat supplication, God is called by His Great Name, His prophets (a) and holy places where He has spoken with His Messengers and sent upon them revelation. The beginning of the supplication begins with imploration with God and then the blessings of God are mentioned. Companionship of Moses (a) with Banu Israel, their passage of the river and destruction of Pharaoh and his army are mentioned. In other parts, speaking of God with Moses (a), Abraham (a), Isaac (a), Jacob (a) and helping them by God has been mentioned. God's mercy towards Adam (a) and his descendants are mentioned and then God's blessings upon previous nations are reminded and then it stresses on God's blessings upon the nation and the people of Prophet Muhammad (s) and asks God to send peace upon his descendants and mercy and His blessings as He covered Abraham (a) and his family with His blessings and mercy.

Significance

In a hadith from Imam al-Baqir (a), it is mentioned that, "If I swear that God's Great Name is in this supplication, I have said something true."[18]

Aqa Buzurg Tihrani has listed about twenty commentaries on al-Simat supplication.[19]

Notes

  1. Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif tashayyuʿ, vol. 7, p. 527.
  2. Ṭūsī, Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid, vol. 1, p. 417-420.
  3. Ibn Ṭāwūs, Jamāl al-usbūʿ, p. 533-538.
  4. Kafʿamī, al-Balad al-amīn, p. 90-91.
  5. Kafʿamī, al-Miṣbāḥ, p. 424-426.
  6. Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 87, p. 96-100.
  7. Majlisī, Zād al-maʿād, p. 395-398.
  8. one of the Four Deputies of Imam al-Mahdi (a)
  9. Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 90, p. 96.
  10. Ibn Ṭāwūs, Jamāl al-usbūʿ, p. 321.
  11. Qummī, Mafātīḥ al-jinān, p. 128-135.
  12. Khoeī, Munyat al-sāʾil, p. 224.
  13. Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 87, 101.
  14. Before sunset
  15. Ṭūsī, Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid, p. 416.
  16. Friday nights
  17. Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif tashayyuʿ, vol. 7, p. 527.
  18. Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 87, p. 96-100.
  19. Āgā Buzurg al-Tihrānī, al-Dharīʿa, vol. 8, p. 190.

References

  • Āgā Buzurg al-Tihrānī, Muḥammad Muḥsin. Al-Dharīʿa ilā taṣānīf al-shīʿa. [n.p]. [n.d].
  • Kafʿamī, Ibrāhīm b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Balad al-amīn wa l-dirʿ al-ḥaṣīn. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1418 AH.
  • Kafʿamī, Ibrāhīm b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Miṣbāḥ fī al-adʿiya wa al-ṣalawāt wa al-ziyārāt. Qom: Dār al-Raḍī, 1405 AH.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Zād al-maʿād. Beirut: ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn al-Aʿlamī, 1423 AH.
  • Qummī, Abbās. Mafātīḥ al-jinān. Tehran: Markaz-i Nashr-i Farhangī-yi Rajāʾ, 1369 Sh.
  • Ṣadr Sayyid Jawādī, Aḥmad. Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif tashayyuʿ. volume 7. Tehran: Nashr-i Shahīd Saʿīd Muḥibbī, 1380 Sh.
  • Sayyid b. Ṭāwūs, ʿAlī b. Mūsā al-. Jamāl al-usbūʿ bi-kamāl al-ʿamāl al-mashrūʿ. Beirut: Dār al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, 1330 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥamamd b. al-Ḥasan al-. Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid wa silāḥ al-mutaʿabbid. Beirut: Muʾassisat Fiqh al-Shīʿa, 1411 AH.