13) His (Imam Sajjad's) Supplication in Seeking Needs from God

1- O God, O ultimate object of needs!

2- O He through whom requests are attained!

3- O He whose favours are not bought by prices!

4- O He who does not muddy His gifts by the imposition of obligations!

5- O He along with whom nothing is needed and without whom nothing can be done!

6- O He toward whom desire is ever directed and never turned away!

O He along with whom nothing is needed and without whom nothing can be done! O He whose treasuries cannot be exhausted by demands! O He from whom the needs of the needy are never cut off! O He who is not distressed by the supplications of the supplicators!

7- O He whose treasuries cannot be exhausted by demands!

8- O He whose wisdom cannot be altered by any means!

9- O He from whom the needs of the needy are never cut off!

10- O He who is not distressed by the supplications of the supplicators!

11- Thou hast lauded Thyself for having no need for Thy creatures, and it suits Thee to have no need for them,

12- and Thou hast attributed to them poverty, and it suits them to be poor toward Thee.1

So he who strives to remedy his lack through what is with Thee and wishes to turn poverty away from himself through Thee has sought his need in the most likely place and come to his request from the right quarter. But he who turns in his need toward one of Thy creatures or assigns the cause of its being granted to other than Thee, has exposed himself to deprivation and deserves to miss Thy beneficence.

13- So he who strives to remedy his lack through what is with Thee and wishes to turn poverty away from himself through Thee has sought his need in the most likely place and come to his request from the right quarter.

14- But he who turns in his need toward one of Thy creatures or assigns the cause of its being granted to other than Thee, has exposed himself to deprivation and deserves to miss Thy beneficence.

15- O God, I have a need of Thee: My exertion has fallen short of it and my stratagems have been cut back before reaching it. My soul induced me to present it to him who presents his needs to Thee and can do nothing without Thee in his requests, but this is one of the slips of the offenders, one of the stumbles of the sinners!

16- Then through Thy reminding me, I was aroused from my heedlessness, through Thy giving success, I stood up from my slip, and through Thy pointing the way, I returned and withdrew from my stumble.

17- I said: Glory to my Lord! How can the needy ask from the needy? How can the destitute beseech the destitute?

18- So I went straight to Thee, my God, in beseeching, and I sent Thee my hope with trust in Thee.

19- I came to know that the many I request from Thee are few before Thy wealth, the weighty I ask from Thee is vile before Thy plenty; Thy generosity is not constrained by anyone's asking, Thy hand is higher in bestowing gifts than every hand!

O God, so bless Muhammad and his Household, take me through Thy generosity to Thy gratuitous bounty and take me not through Thy justice to what I deserve! I am not the first beseecher to beseech Thee and Thou bestowed upon him while he deserved withholding, nor am I the first to ask from Thee and Thou wast bounteous toward him while he merited deprivation.

20- O God, so bless Muhammad and his Household, take me through Thy generosity to Thy gratuitous bounty and take me not through Thy justice to what I deserve! I am not the first beseecher to beseech Thee and Thou bestowed upon him while he deserved withholding, nor am I the first to ask from Thee and Thou wast bounteous toward him while he merited deprivation.

21- O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, respond to my supplication, come near my call, have mercy on my pleading, listen to my voice,

22- cut not short my hope for Thee, sever not my thread to Thee, turn not my face in this my need, and other needs, away from Thee,

23- attend for my sake to the fulfillment of my request, the granting of my need, and the attainment of what I have asked before I leave this place through Thy making easy for me the difficult and Thy excellent ordainment for me in all affairs!

24- Bless Muhammad and his Household with a permanent, ever-growing blessing, whose perpetuity has no cutting off and whose term knows no limit, and make that a help to me and a cause for the granting of my request! Thou art Boundless, Generous!

25- And of my needs, My Lord, are such and such.

HERE YOU SHOULD STATE YOUR NEEDS, THEN PROSTRATE YOURSELF, AND SAY IN YOUR PROSTRATION

Thy bounty has comforted me and Thy beneficence has shown the way, So I ask Thee by Thee and by Muhammad and his Household (Thy blessings be upon them) that Thou sendest me not back in disappointment!

1. Reference to such Qur'anic verses as: O people, you are the poor toward God, and He is without need, praiseworthy (35:15).