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Supplication of Allahumma 'Arrifni Nafsak

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Supplication of Allahumma Arrifni Nafsak
Other namesSupplication of Ma'rifa (Knowledge)
SubjectThe correlation between knowing God, the Prophet, and the Imam
Shi'a sourcesAl-Kafi ● Kitab al-Ghayba ● Kamal al-din wa tamam al-ni'ma ● Kitab al-Ghayba


Supplication of Allāhumma ʿarrifnī nafsak (Arabic: دعاء اللهم عرفني نفسك; lit. O Allah, make Yourself known to me) or the Supplication of Ma'rifa (Knowledge) is a supplication narrated from Imam al-Sadiq (a), the recitation of which is recommended for the preservation of religion and faith during the Era of Occultation.

According to the content of the supplication, knowing the Prophet (s) is based on knowing God, knowing the Imams depends on knowing the Prophet, and knowing the true religion is possible only through knowing the Imam. This supplication has been narrated in Shi'a sources with various chains of transmission, and the "Proof" (Hujja) mentioned in it refers to Imam al-Mahdi (a).

A more detailed version of this supplication has also been narrated from one of the Special Deputies of Imam al-Mahdi (a), which Sayyid b. Tawus emphasized reciting on Friday afternoons. Some scholars consider the short supplication to be a part of this detailed version.

Introduction and Importance

The supplication Allahumma arrifni nafsak, also called the Supplication of Ma'rifa (Knowledge),[1] is narrated from Imam al-Sadiq (a).[2] This supplication is recommended for the preservation of faith during the challenging era of the Occultation,[3] and Imam al-Sadiq (a) emphasized persistence in reciting it.[4] Furthermore, scholars such as Muhammad Taqi Bahjat[5] and Mirza Jawad Maliki Tabrizi[6] have recommended reciting this supplication after prayers.

Sayyid Ibn Tawus also emphasized reading this supplication on Friday afternoons.[7] Shi'as have been diligent in reciting it during the Occultation era.[8]

Sources and Chain of Transmission

The supplication Allahumma arrifni nafsak is narrated in two forms: short and detailed.[9] The short version is narrated from Imam al-Sadiq (a) by Zurara and appears in hadith sources of the 4th and 5th centuries AH, such as al-Kafi ,[10] al-Ghayba by al-Nu'mani,[11] Kamal al-din by al-Shaykh al-Saduq,[12] and al-Ghayba by al-Shaykh al-Yusi[13] with various chains of transmission.

The detailed version is narrated from one of the Deputies of Imam al-Mahdi (a) and is recorded in books such as Kamal al-din[14] and Misbah al-mutahajjid.[15] Shaykh 'Abbas Qummi also included the detailed supplication in Mafatih al-jinan.[16] According to the research of the Encyclopedia of Imam al-Mahdi (a), the short supplication is a part of the same detailed version.[17]

Additionally, due to its transmission through the Four Deputies, this supplication is recorded among the Tawqi'at of Imam al-Mahdi (a)[18] and is attributed to Imam al-Mahdi (a).[19]

Chain of Transmission

According to Lutfullah Safi Gulpaygani, this supplication has been narrated with multiple chains of transmission by Shi'a hadith scholars such as al-Kulayni, al-Shaykh al-Saduq, Muhammad b. Ibrahim al-Nu'mani, al-Shaykh al-Tusi, and Sayyid Ibn Tawus,[20] and all these chains narrated from Imam al-Sadiq (a) are considered authentic.[21] However, Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi in Mir'at al-uqul considered two chains of this supplication in the book al-Kafi to be unknown[22] and weak.[23] Nonetheless, citing the rule of the Principle of Leniency in Evidences for Non-Obligatory Acts, Safi Gulpaygani considered the recitation of this supplication permissible even if the chain is weak.[24]

Content

The content of the supplication Allahumma arrifni nafsak is based on two main axes: first, true knowledge of God, the Prophet (s), and the Imams is possible only through divine succor; and second, these recognitions are linked to each other in a chain.[25] Based on this, knowing the Prophet depends on knowing God, knowing the Imams depends on knowing the Prophet,[26] and knowing the true religion is possible only through knowing the Imam.[27]

Abdullah Jawadi Amuli considers this supplication not merely a request, but a theological argument clarifying the logical relationship between Tawhid (Monotheism), Nubuwwa (Prophethood), and Imamate.[28] Lutfullah Safi Gulpaygani, considering the historical context of the supplication, identifies the "Proof" mentioned in it as Imam al-Mahdi (a) and regards the goal of the supplication as requesting stable knowledge and immunity from deviation during the Era of Occultation.[29]

In the Supplication of Ma'rifa, the supplicant possesses a certain level of knowledge regarding God, the Prophet, and the Proof; therefore, requesting knowledge from God means asking for one of these three: stability and continuity of this knowledge, attaining higher levels of knowledge, or receiving special grace for deeper understanding.[30]

Text of the Supplication

According to a narration by Zurara from Imam al-Sadiq (a), the Qa'im (a) will have an Occultation before his uprising to protect his life. In this narration, Imam al-Sadiq (a) points to some specific characteristics of the Qa'im, such as: he is a newborn whose birth is doubted, a group denies his existence, and he is awaited. Then, in response to Zurara's question, "If I reach that time, what should I do?", the Imam instructed him to recite this supplication continuously:

O Allah, make Yourself known to me, for if You do not make Yourself known to me, I will not know Your Prophet. O Allah, make Your Messenger known to me, for if You do not make Your Messenger known to me, I will not know Your Proof. O Allah, make Your Proof known to me, for if You do not make Your Proof known to me, I will go astray from my religion. عَرِّفْنِی نَفْسَکَ فَإِنَّکَ إِنْ لَمْ تُعَرِّفْنِی نَفْسَکَ لَمْ أَعْرِفْ نَبِيَّکَ اللَّهُمَّ عَرِّفْنِی رَسُولَکَ فَإِنَّکَ إِنْ لَمْ تُعَرِّفْنِی رَسُولَکَ لَمْ أَعْرِفْ حُجَّتَکَ اللَّهُمَّ عَرِّفْنِی حُجَّتَکَ فَإِنَّکَ إِنْ لَمْ تُعَرِّفْنِی حُجَّتَکَ ضَلَلْتُ عَنْ دِینِی

[31]

The text of another chain is as follows:

O Allah, make Yourself known to me, for if You do not make Yourself known to me, I will not know You. O Allah, make Your Prophet known to me, for if You do not make Your Prophet known to me, I will never know him... اللَّهُمَّ عَرِّفْنِی نَفْسَکَ فَإِنَّکَ إِنْ لَمْ تُعَرِّفْنِی نَفْسَکَ لَمْ أَعْرِفْکَ اللَّهُمَّ عَرِّفْنِی نَبِيَّکَ فَإِنَّکَ إِنْ لَمْ تُعَرِّفْنِی نَبِيَّکَ لَمْ أَعْرِفْهُ قَطُّ ...

[32]

See Also

Notes

  1. ↑ Muḥammadī Rayshahrī, Dānishnāma-yi Imām Mahdī, 1393 Sh, vol. 5, pp. 414–415; vol. 6, p. 260; Ṣāfī Gulpāygānī, Maʿrifat ḥujjat Khudā, 1392 Sh, p. 63; Muḥammadī Rayshahrī, Sharḥ-i Ziyārat-i Jāmiʿa-yi Kabīra, 1390 Sh, p. 304.
  2. ↑ Kulaynī, Al-Kāfī, 1407 AH, vol. 1, p. 337.
  3. ↑ Muḥammadī Rayshahrī, Sharḥ-i Ziyārat-i Jāmiʿa-yi Kabīra, 1390 Sh, p. 304.
  4. ↑ Ṣadūq, Kamāl al-dīn, 1395 AH, vol. 2, p. 342.
  5. ↑ Markaz-i Tanẓīm wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Āyatullāh Bahjat, “ʿAks-niwisht-i maʿrifat bih nūrāniyyat-i Ahl al-Bayt (a),” https://bahjat.ir/fa/content/13664.
  6. ↑ Muḥammadī Rayshahrī, Sharḥ-i Ziyārat-i Jāmiʿa-yi Kabīra, 1390 Sh, p. 305.
  7. ↑ Ibn Ṭāwūs, Jamāl al-usbūʿ, 1330 AH, p. 521.
  8. ↑ Ṣāfī Gulpāygānī, Maʿrifat ḥujjat Khudā, 1392 Sh, p. 20.
  9. ↑ Muḥammadī Rayshahrī, Dānishnāma-yi Imām Mahdī (aj), 1393 Sh, vol. 6, p. 270.
  10. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1407 AH, vol. 1, p. 337, hadith 5; p. 342, hadith 29.
  11. ↑ Nuʿmānī, Kitāb al-Ghayba, 1397 AH, p. 116.
  12. ↑ Ṣadūq, Kamāl al-dīn, 1395 AH, vol. 2, pp. 342–343.
  13. ↑ Ṭūsī, Kitāb al-Ghayba, 1411 AH, p. 334.
  14. ↑ Ṣadūq, Kamāl al-dīn, 1395 AH, vol. 2, pp. 512–515.
  15. ↑ Ṭūsī, Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid, 1411 AH, vol. 1, pp. 411–416.
  16. ↑ Qumī, Mafātīḥ al-jinān, Nashr-i Uswa, The Seventh Supplication of the Appendices section, p. 588.
  17. ↑ Muḥammadī Rayshahrī, Dānishnāma-yi Imām Mahdī (aj), 1393 Sh, vol. 6, pp. 270–271.
  18. ↑ Ṣadūq, Kamāl al-dīn, 1395 AH, vol. 2, p. 512.
  19. ↑ Kafʿamī, Al-Balad al-amīn, 1418 AH, p. 306; Muḥammadī Rayshahrī, Dānishnāma-yi Imām Mahdī (aj), 1393 Sh, vol. 6, pp. 270–271.
  20. ↑ Ṣāfī Gulpāygānī, Maʿrifat ḥujjat Khudā, 1392 Sh, p. 21.
  21. ↑ Ṣāfī Gulpāygānī, Maʿrifat ḥujjat Khudā, 1392 Sh, p. 21.
  22. ↑ Majlisī, Mir'at al-uqul, 1404 AH, vol. 4, p. 39.
  23. ↑ Majlisī, Mir'at al-uqul, 1404 AH, vol. 4, p. 59.
  24. ↑ Ṣāfī Gulpāygānī, Maʿrifat ḥujjat Khudā, 1392 Sh, p. 24.
  25. ↑ Website of the Office of Ayatollah Shubayri Zanjani, “Allāhumma ʿarrifnī ḥujjatak,” https://zanjani.ir.
  26. ↑ Office of Marja'iyya, “Jalasa-yi dars-i akhlāq (1394/7/9)”; “Intiẓār-i faraj az bihtarīn-i ʿibādat-hāst,” https://javadi.esra.ir.
  27. ↑ Office of Marja'iyya, “Duʿā-yi Allāhumma arrifnī nafsak kumak mīkunad…,” https://javadi.esra.ir.
  28. ↑ Office of Marja'iyya, “Intiẓār-i faraj az bihtarīn-i ʿibādat-hāst”; “Duʿā-yi Allāhumma ʿarrifnī nafsak kumak mīkunad…”.
  29. ↑ Ṣāfī Gulpāygānī, Maʿrifat ḥujjat Khudā, 1392 Sh, pp. 108, 124.
  30. ↑ Ṣāfī Gulpāygānī, Maʿrifat ḥujjat Khudā, 1392 Sh, pp. 95–96, 102–103, 108.
  31. ↑ Kulaynī, Al-Kāfī, 1407 AH, vol. 1, p. 337, hadith 5; Ṣadūq, Kamāl al-dīn, 1395 AH, vol. 2, pp. 342–343.
  32. ↑ Kulaynī, Al-Kāfī, 1407 AH, vol. 1, p. 342, hadith 29.

References

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