O Lord, Thou who dost ultimately satisfy our needs;
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Thou with whom lies the success of prayers; who selleth not his favour for prices; whose gifts are not accomplished with reproaches; through whom independence can be obtained and of whom
none can be independent; towards whom men are attracted with irresistible attraction; whose stores cannot be exhausted by requests, and whose wisdom cannot be altered by any means;
from whom the needs of the needy are never cut off, whom prayers do not fatigue. Thou hast prided Thyself on being independent of Thy creatures, and Thou art worthy of being independent of
them.
Thou hast called them needy and they are needy towards Thee.
Therefore, whosoever resolved upon the satisfaction of his need through Thee; and desired that his need be removed by Thee, surely he sought this satisfaction in the right place; and
approached the object of his desire directly.
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And whosoever directed his petition to any of Thy creatures or considered him to be the one to grant its fulfilment, in preference to Thee! verily, he exposed himself to disappointment, and
deserved from Thee privation of blessings.
And I, O Lord, have a need toward Thee. My efforts have fallen short, and my desires are of on avail. My soul induced me to seek the satisfaction of my need from one who is not independent
of Thee, and places his necessities before Thee. This was one of the slips of the erring, and one of the mistakes of sinners.
Then I was aroused from my ignorance by Thy warning; and rose by Thy grace from my fall, and returned;* and with Thy help I corrected my blunder and said, Holy is my Lord!
How can one needy creature beg from another who is in need; and why should a pauper be attracted to another pauper? So I returned unto Thee with sincere longing, and laid my hope
before
* Drew back.
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Thee, with perfect trust in Thee, and I was sure that the utmost I would beg of Thee, would be trivial in comparison with Thy wealth; and the utmost that I would desire from Thee, would be
insignificant along side of Thy prosperity;
and that Thy bounty is not encompassed by any one's request; and that Thy hand is exalted far above every hand, in liberality.
O Lord, therefore, bless Mohammad and his ?l (family), and deal with me kindly according to Thy grace; and do not in Thy justice, deal with me according to my merit.
For, I am not the first applicant who applied to Thee, and Thou didst grant my request, whilst I deserved refusal, and I am not the first petitioner who petitioned Thee and Thou didst
favour me whilst entitled to disappointment.
O Lord, bless Mohammad and his ?l (family) , and grant, acceptance to my prayer, hear my call, hearken to my supplication and listen to my voice; and do not cut off my
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hope from Thee, and do not sever my connection with Thee, and do not permit me in this and another needs to turn to any other besides Thee; and undertake the fulfilment of my request, and
the satisfaction of my need, and the answering of my prayer, before I leave this my spot, by making easy for me that which is difficult, and by bestowing upon me Thy excellent decree in all
matters.
And bless Mohammad and his ?l (family), with a blessing perpetual, growing, having no end to its duration, and no limit to its extent, and let it be a help to me, and a cause for granting
my request.
Verily Thou art generous and gracious,
And my request O Lord, is such and such-(mention it and prostrate thyself and say in the prostration)* * The words within brackets do not form part of the prayer, but are intended to
instruct the person praying how to prefer his request to the Almighty.
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Thy grace has comforted me; and Thy goodness has guided me, so I request Thee, for Thy sake and that of Mohammad and his ?l (family)-Thy blessings on them- not to turn me away
disappointed.
