Munajat al-shakirin

Munajat al-shakirin

Hadith-Based/Non-Hadith-Based	Hadith-Based
Issued by	Imam al-Sajjad (a)
Shi'a sources	Al-Sahifa al-sajjadiyya al-thaniya • Bihar al-anwar • Mafatih al-jinan
Time	Wednesday

Munājāt al-shākirīn (Arabic: مُناجاتُ الشّاکِرین, The Whispered Prayer of the Thankful) is one of The Fifteen Whispered Prayers attributed to Imam al-Sajjad (a). It is narrated in al-Sahifa al-sajjadiyya al-thaniya, Bihar al-anwar, and Mafatih al-jinan. Allama al-Majlisi has mentioned that this supplication is to be recited on Wednesdays.

Themes

• Our inability to fully thank God due to the uninterrupted flow of His graciousness, the flood of His bounty, the succession of His kind acts, and the continuous rush of His benefits
• We even fail to thank God to the extent of our ability.
• The fact that God does not disappoint those who expect His mercy
• Counting some of the spiritual blessings
• Likening the light of faith to adorning clothes and divine mercy to crowns
• The fact that God's blessings are innumerable and beyond human imagination
• The fact that every act of thanksgiving itself is a blessing from God for which one has to give thanks

Text and Translation

In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.	بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
My God, the uninterrupted flow of Your graciousness hast distracted me from thanking You!	إِلـٰهِي أَذْهَلَنِي عَنْ إقامَةِ شُكْرِكَ تَتابُعُ طَوْلِكَ،
The flood of Your bounty has rendered me incapable of counting Your praises!	وَأَعْجَزَنِي عَنْ إِحْصاءِ ثَنَائِكَ فَيْضُ فَضْلِكَ،
The succession of Your kind acts has diverted me from mentioning You in laudation!	وَشَغَلَنِي عَنْ ذِكْرِ مَحامِدِكَ تَرادُفُ عَوائِدِكَ،
The continuous rush of Your benefits has thwarted me from spreading the news of Your gentle favours!	وَأَعْيانِي عَنْ نَشْرِ عوارِفِكَ تَوالِي أَيدِيكَ،
This is the station of him who confesses to the lavishness of favours,	وَ هٰذَا مَقامُ مَنِ اعْتَرَفَ بِسُبُوغِ النَّعْماءِ،
meets them with shortcomings,	وَقابَلَها بِالتَّقْصِيرِ،
and witnesses to his own disregard and negligence.	وَشَهِدَ عَلىٰ نَفْسِهِ بِالإِهْمالِ وَالتَّضْيِيعِ،
You are the Clement, the Compassionate, the Good, the Generous,	وَأَنْتَ الرَّؤُوفُ الرَّحِيمُ الْبَرُّ الْكَرِيمُ،
who does not disappoint those who aim for Him,	الَّذِي لا يُخَيّـِبُ قاصِدِيهِ،
nor cast out from His courtyard those who expect from Him!	وَلا يَطْرُدُ عَنْ فِنائِهِ آمِلِيهِ،
In Your yard are put down the saddlebags of the hopeful	بِساحَتِكَ تَحُطُّ رِحالُ الرَّاجِينَ،
and in Your plain stand the hopes of the help-seekers!	وَبِعَرْصَتِكَ تَقِفُ آمالُ الْمُسْتَرْفِدِينَ،
So meet not our hopes by disappointing and disheartening	فَلا تُقابِلْ آمالَنا بِالتَّخْيِيبِ وَالإِياسِ،
and clothe us not in the shirt of despair and despondency!	وَلا تُلْبِسْنا سِرْبالَ الْقُنُوطِ وَالإِبْلاسِ.
My God, my thanksgiving is small before Your great boons,	إِلـٰهِي تَصاغَرَ عِنْدَ تَعاظُمِ آلائِكَ شُكْرِي،
and my praise and news-spreading shrink beside Your generosity toward me!	وَتَضَاءَلَ فِي جَنْبِ إكْرَامِكَ إيَّايَ ثَنائِي وَنَشْرِي،
Your favours have wrapped me in the robes of the lights of faith,	جَلَّلَتْنِي نِعَمُكَ مِنْ أَنْوَارِ الإِيْمانِ حُلَلاً،
and the gentlenesses of Your goodness have let down over me delicate curtains of might!	وَضَرَبَتْ عَلَيَّ لَطائِفُ بِرّ ِكَ مِنَ الْعِزّ ِ كِلَلاً،
Your kindnesses have collared me with collars not to be moved	وَقَلَّدْتَنِي مِنْكَ قَلائِدَ لا تُحَلُّ،
and adorned me with neck-rings not to be broken!	وَطَوَّقْتَنِي أَطْوَاقاً لا تُفَلُّ،
Your boons are abundant - my tongue is too weak to count them!	فَآلاؤُكَ جَمَّةٌ ضَعُفَ لِسانِي عَنْ إحْصائِها،
Your favours are many - my understanding falls short of grasping them, not to speak of exhausting them!	وَنَعْماؤُكَ كَثِيرَةٌ قَصُرَ فَهْمِي عَنْ إدْرَاكِها فَضْلاً عَنِ اسْتِقْصائِها،
So how can I achieve thanksgiving?	فَكَيْفَ لِي بِتَحْصِيلِ الشُّكْرِ،
For my thanking You requires thanksgiving.	وَشُكْرِي إيَّاكَ يَفْتَقِرُ إلىٰ شُكْرٍ،
Whenever I say, 'To You belongs praise!',	فَكُلَّما قُلْتُ: لَكَ الْحَمْدُ،
it becomes thereby incumbent upon me to say, 'To You belongs praise'!	وَجَبَ عَلَيَّ لِذٰلِكَ أَنْ أَقُولَ: لَكَ الْحَمْدُ.
My God, as You have fed us through Your gentleness and nurtured us through Your benefaction,	إِلـٰهِي فَكَما غَذَّيْتَنا بِلُطْفِكَ، وَرَبَّيْتَنا بِصُنْعِكَ،
so also complete for us lavish favours, repel from us detested acts of vengeance,	فَتَمّـِمْ عَلَيْنَا سَوابِـغَ النّـِعَمِ، وَادْفَعْ عَنَّا مَكارِهَ النّـِقَمِ،
and of the shares of the two abodes, give us their most elevated and their greatest,	وَآتِنا مِنْ حُظُوظِ الدَّارَيْنِ أَرْفَعَهَا وَأَجَلَّها
both the immediate and the deferred!	عاجِلاً وَآجِلاً،
To You belongs praise for Your good trial	وَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ عَلىٰ حُسْنِ بَلاَئِكَ
and the lavishness of Your favours,	وَسُبُوغِ نَعْمائِكَ
a praise conforming to Your good pleasure	حَمْداً يُوافِقُ رِضاكَ،
and attracting Your great goodness and magnanimity.	وَيَمْتَرِي الْعَظِيمَ مِنْ بِرّ ِكَ وَنَداكَ،
O All-mighty, O All-generous!	يا عَظِيمُ يا كَرِيمُ،
By Your mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful!	بِرَحْمَتِكَ يا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ.

References

• The material for this article is mainly taken from مناجات الشاکرین in Farsi WikiShia.