First Supplication of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya

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First Supplication of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya
First Supplication of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya
First Supplication of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya
SubjectMonotheism and Tahmid
Hadith-Based/Non-Hadith-BasedHadith-Based
Issued byImam al-Sajjad (a)
NarratorMutawakkil b. Harun
Shi'a sourcesAl-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya


The first supplication in al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādīyya, (Arabic: الدعاء الأول من الصحيفة السجادية) attributed to Imam al-Sajjad (a), is devoted mostly to the theme of praising God. Among other themes found in this supplication are divine attributes, the criteria for human salvation or damnation, the ways of knowing God, and ease in Islamic religious obligations.

This supplication is expounded thoroughly in such commentaries as Fi Zilal al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya (in Arabic) by Muhammad Jawad Mughniya and Diyar-i ashiqan (in Farsi) by Husayn Ansarian.

Themes

The main theme of the first supplication of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya is praising and glorifying God. The root h-m-d (praise) is repeated in this supplication twenty-five times. A list of the themes found in this supplication, which is organized in thirty paragraphs, are the following:

  • Praising and glorifying God and mentioning some of His attributes.
  • The inability of eyes to see God and of describers to describe Him.
  • The creation of the world by God without the help of prior tools or materials.
  • Allotting provision to each creature by God.
  • Setting a fixed time for the end of each human being’s life.
  • All will be judged by God in the hereafter.
  • The ways to know God.
  • Praising God what the God-seeking human nature calls for.
  • Humans fall from the noble rank of humanity by failing to praise God.
  • The fruits of praising God in this world and the hereafter (the good pleasure of God, increase and continuation of blessings).
  • God cannot be questioned about anything He does.
  • Humans will not be wronged in the hereafter.
  • The fruits of praising God (enlightened face on the Day of Judgment, salvation, joining the angels and prophets).
  • The goodness and beauty in the creation of human beings and the purity of the provision allotted to them by God.
  • The special mercy of God towards human beings and creating good things for their sake.
  • Ungratefulness of human beings.
  • The blessing of repentance and returning to God.
  • God’s testing humans’ gratefulness.
  • The criteria of salvation and damnation.
  • God does not rush to punish humans.
  • Religious duties in Islam are not difficult.
  • Divine omniscience.
  • The ways of praising God and its fruits in human life.[1]

Commentaries

In various commentaries of al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya, such as Fi zilal al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya,[2] Riyad al-'arifin,[3] Afaq al-ruh,[4] and Riyad al-salikin,[5] the first supplication is explicated. The words used in the supplication is also elucidated in lexical commentaries such as Fayd Kashani's Ta'liqat 'ala l-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya.[6]

Moreover, Husayn Ansariyan has expounded the supplication thoroughly in his Diyar ashiqan.[7] Commentaries of this supplication can also be found in some other Farsi books such as Shuhud wa shinakht by Muhammad Hasan Mamduhi Kirmanshahi,[8] and Asrar-i khamushan by Muhammad Taqi Khalaji.[9]

Notes

  1. Anṣārīyān, Dīyār-i Āshiqān, vol. 1, p. 99-411; Khalajī, Asrār-i khāmūshān, vol. 1, p. 141-536.
  2. Mughnīya, Fī zilāl al-Ṣaḥīfa, p. 45-72.
  3. Dārābī, Rīyāḍ al-ʿārifīn, p. 15-47.
  4. Faḍl Allāh, Āfāq al-rūḥ, vol. 1, p. 21-54.
  5. Madanī Shīrāzī, Rīyāḍ al-sālikīn, p. 221-412.
  6. Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Taʿlīqāt ʿalā l-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādīyya, p. 14-20.
  7. Anṣārīyān, Dīyār-i Āshiqān, vol. 1, p. 99-411.
  8. Mamdūḥī Kirmanshāhī, Shuhūd wa shinākht, vol. 1, p. 217-265.
  9. Khalajī, Asrār-i khāmūshān, vol. 1, p. 141-536.

References

  • Anṣārīyān, Ḥusayn. Dīyār-i Āshiqān: tafsīr-i jāmiʿ al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādīyya. Tehran: Payām-i Āzādī, 1373 Sh.
  • Dārābī, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad. Rīyāḍ al-ʿārifīn fī sharḥ al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādīyya. Edited by Ḥusayn Dargāhī. Tehran: Nashr-i Uswa, 1379 Sh.
  • Faḍl Allāh, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Āfāq al-rūḥ. Beirut: Dār al-Mālik, 1420 AH.
  • Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Muḥammad b. al-Murtaḍā al-. Taʿlīqāt ʿalā l-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādīyya. Tehran: Muʾassisat al-Buḥūth wa l-Taḥqīqāt al-Thiqāfīyya, 1407 AH.
  • Khalajī, Muḥammad Taqī. Asrār-i khāmūshān. Qom: Partuw Khurshīd, 1383 Sh.
  • Madanī Shīrāzī, Sayyid ʿAlīkhān. Rīyāḍ al-sālikīn fī sharḥ al-Ṣaḥīfa Sayyid al-Sājjidīn. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1435 AH.
  • Mughnīya, Muḥammad Jawād al-. Fī zilāl al-Ṣaḥīfa al-Sajjādīyya. Qom: Dār al-Kitāb al-Islāmī, 1428 AH.
  • Mamdūḥī Kirmanshāhī, Ḥasan. Shuhūd wa shinākht; tarjuma wa sharḥ Ṣaḥīfa-yi Sajjādīyya. Qom: Būstān-i Kitāb, 1388 SH.