Munajat al-arifin

Munajat al-arifin

Subject	Knowing God
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	Tuesday

Munājāt al-ārifīn (Arabic: مُناجاتُ الْعارِفین, The Whispered Prayer of the Knowers) 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. According to Allama al-Majlisi, the preferred day for reciting this prayer is Tuesday.

Themes

• Human beings' inability to know God's essence
• Asking God to place us among those who love Him and long to meet Him
• Asking God to remove the veils from our sight so that we can see the truth and reach certainty
• Asking God to bestow upon us deep love for Him
• Asking God to grant us such knowledge that elevates our existence

Text and Translation

In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.	بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
My God, tongues fall short of attaining praise of You proper to Your majesty,	إِلـٰهِي قَصُرَتِ الأَلْسُنُ عَنْ بُلُوغِ ثَنائِكَ، كَما يَلِيقُ بِجَلالِكَ،
intellects are incapable of grasping the core of Your beauty,	وَعَجَزَتِ الْعُقُولُ عَنْ إدْراكِ كُنْهِ جَمالِكَ،
eyes fail before gazing upon the glories of Your face,	وَانْحَسَرَتِ الأَبْصارُ دُونَ النَّظَرِ إلىٰ سُبُحاتِ وَجْهِكَ،
and You have assigned to Your creatures no way to know You	وَلَمْ تَجْعَلْ لِلْخَلْقِ طَرِيقاً إلىٰ مَعْرِفَتِكَ
save incapacity to know You!	إلاَّ بِالْعَجْزِ عَنْ مَعْرِفَتِكَ.
My God, place us among those within the gardens of whose breasts the trees of yearning for You have taken firm root	إِلـٰهِي فَاجْعَلْنا مِنَ الَّذِينَ تَرَسَّخَتْ أَشْجارُ الشَّوقِ إلَيْكَ فِي حَدائِقِ صُدُورِهِمْ،
and the assemblies of whose hearts have been seized by the ardour of Your love!	وَأَخَذَتْ لَوْعَةُ مَحَبَّتِكَ بِمَجامِعِ قُلُوبِهِمْ،
They seek shelter in the nests of meditation,	فَهُمْ إِلَىٰ أَوْكارِ الأَفْكارِ يَأْوُونَ،
feed upon the gardens of nearness and disclosure,	وَفِي رِياضِ الْقُرْبِ وَالْمُكاشَفَةِ يَرْتَعُونَ،
drink from the pools of love with the cup of gentle favour,	وَمِنْ حِياضِ الْمَحَبَّةِ بِكَأْسِ الْمُلاطَفَةِ يَكْرَعُونَ،
and enter into the watering-places of warm affection.	وَشَرايِعَ الْمُصافاةِ يَرِدُونَ
The covering has been lifted from their eyes,	قَدْ كُشِفَ الْغِطاءُ عَنْ أَبْصَارِهِمْ،
the darkness of disquiet has been dispelled from their beliefs and their innermost minds	وَانْجَلَتْ ظُلْمَةُ الرَّيْبِ عَنْ عَقائِدِهِمْ وَضَمَائِرِهِمْ،
the contention of doubt has been negated from their hearts and their secret thoughts,	وَانْتَفَتْ مُخالَجَةُ الشَّكّ ِ عَنْ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَسَرائِرِهِمْ،
their breasts have expanded through the verification of true knowledge,	وَانْشَرَحَتْ بِتَحْقِيقِ الْمَعْرِفَةِ صُدُورُهُمْ،
their aspirations have ascended through precedent good fortune in renunciation,	وَعَلَتْ لِسَبْقِ السَّعادَةِ فِي الزَّهادَةِ هِمَمُهُمْ،
their drinking is sweet from the spring of devotion to good works,	وَعَذُبَ فِي مَعِينِ الْمُعامَلَةِ شِرْبُهُمْ
their secret thoughts are delicious in the sitting-place of intimacy,	وَطابَ فِي مَجْلِسِ الأُنْسِ سِرُّهُمْ،
their minds are secure in the place of terror,	وَأَمِنَ فِي مَوْطِنِ الْمَخافَةِ سِرْبُهُمْ،
their souls are serene through the return to the Lord of lords,	وَاطْمَأَنَّتْ بِالرُّجُوْعِ إلىٰ رَبّ ِ الأَرْبابِ أَنْفُسُهُمْ،
their spirits have reached certitude through triumph and prosperity,	وَتَيَقَّنَتْ بِالْفَوْزِ وَالْفَلاحِ أَرْواحُهُمْ،
their eyes have been gladdened through gazing upon their Beloved,	وَقَرَّتْ بِالنَّظَرِ إلىٰ مَحْبُوبِهِمْ أَعْيُنُهُمْ،
their settling place has been settled through reaching the request and attaining the expectation,	وَاسْتَقَرَّ بِإِدْراكِ السُّؤْلِ وَنَيْلِ الْمَأْمُولِ قَرَارُهُمْ،
and their commerce has profited through the sale of this world for the next!	وَرَبِحَتْ فِي بَيْعِ الدُّنْيَا بِالآخِرَةِ تِجارَتُهُمْ.
My God, how agreeable for hearts are the thoughts inspiring Your remembrance,	إِلـٰهِي ما أَلَذَّ خَواطِرَ الإِلْهامِ بِذِكْرِكَ عَلَىٰ الْقُلُوبِ،
how sweet travelling to You through imagination upon the roads of the unseen worlds,	وَما أَحْلَىٰ الْمَسِيرَ إلَيْكَ بِالأَوْهامِ فِي مَسالِكِ الْغُيُوبِ،
how pleasant the taste of Your love,	وَما أَطْيَبَ طَعْمَ حُبّـِكَ،
how delightful the drink of Your nearness!	وَما أَعْذَبَ شِرْبَ قُرْبِكَ،
So give us refuge from Your casting out and Your sending far,	فَأَعِذْنا مِنْ طَرْدِكَ وَإبْعادِكَ،
and place us among the most elect of Your knowers, the most righteous of Your servants,	وَاجْعَلْنا مِنْ أَخَصّ ِ عارِفِيكَ، وَأَصْلَحِ عِبادِكَ،
the most truthful of Your obeyers, the most sincere of Your worshipers!	وَأَصْدَقِ طائِعِيكَ وَأَخْلَصِ عُبَّادِكَ،
O All-mighty, O Majestic, O Generous, O Endower!	يا عَظِيمُ، يا جَلِيلُ، يا كَرِيمُ، يا مُنِيلُ،
By Your mercy and kindness, O Most Merciful of the merciful!	بِرَحْمَتِكَ وَمَنّـِكَ يا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ.

References

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