Divine Supplications: Sahifat-ul-Mahdi (as) A Bilingual Gilded Edition

A Collection of Supplications and
Devotional Rituals Attributed to Imam al-Mahdi (as)

Compiled by
Shaykh Isa Ahari

Translated by
Hamid Tehrani & Afzal Sumar

Allama Tabataba’i said, ‘I once had a discussion with Henri Corbin about supplications. I asked him, ‘What do you do when you feel that you need to supplicate?’… Corbin said, ‘I avail myself of the supplications reported from your Twelfth Imam. Since the person who has composed these supplications is alive, they inspire special fervour.’

— From Preface by Shaykh Isa Ahari

There are 42 supplications in this book. Each supplication has a note which explains how it originated from the 12th Imam (as) and reached his partisans (i.e., the Shi’a). All the notes appear as endnotes at the end of the book. Each note also provides information of the earlier works where the supplication is recorded. The work is, therefore, of benefit both for the laity and the scholars.

The following shows the supplications included in this edition, followed by the page number in the book:

1. The Supplication for Deliverance 1
2. The Supplication for Knowledge 3
3. The Supplication of the Unity of God 16
4. The Supplication of the Egyptian Alid 20
5. The Supplication of Blessings [al-Salawat] for Friday 59
6. The Supplication for the Fulfilment of Wishes 67
7. The Supplication for Accomplishment and Realisation 70
8. The Supplication for Wisdom 71
9. The Supplication for the Day of Bi’that 75
10. The Supplication for Everlasting Favours 77
11. The Supplication for Rajab 81
12. The Supplication for Relief from Difficulty 83
13. A General Supplication 86
14. The Supplication for General Concerns 88
15. The Supplication for Qunut 91
16. Another Supplication for Qunut 94
17. The Supplication of the Qa’im (as) 100
18. The Glorification [al-Tasbih] Recited by the Qa’im (as) 102
19. The Supplication for Relief from Distress 103
20. The Supplication for Deliverance from Hardships 105
21. The Supplication for a Cure 107
22. The Supplication of the Master of the Affair (as) 108
23. The Supplication of Veiling 109
24. The Supplication for Seeking Wellbeing 111
25. The Supplication for Refuge and Protection 113
26. The Supplication of Visitation 114
27. The Supplication of Lamentation [al-Nudba] 116
28. The Supplication for the Obtainment of Security and Protection 139
29. The Supplication of the Initiation of God’s Praise [al-Iftitah] 142
30. A Supplication for a Portion of the Night 156
31. A Supplication for Seeking the Best
and for Seeking Fulfillment of Needs 160
32. The Supplication of Tears 163
33. The Supplication after the Dawn Ritual Prayer
on the Day of Eid al-Fitr 181
34. The Supplication at the Moment of Orienting the Self
for Prayers, Which Is after the First Takbir 192
35. The Supplication after the dhikr of the Bowing [al-Ruku’]
in the Daily Obligatory Ritual Prayers 194
36. The Supplication after the Daily Obligatory Ritual Prayers 195
37. A Ritual to Seek Felicity and Wellbeing 196
38. A Supplication to Seek Solutions for Straitened Affairs 199
39. The Imam’s Supplication for the Forgiveness of
the Sins of Their Partisans [Shi’a] 200
40. The Twelfth Imam’s Supplication at the Time of His Birth 202
41. A Supplication for the One Who Enters the Place of the Twelfth Imam 203
42. The Supplication after Ziyarat al-Nahiya 205