Supplications And Prayers

from Risale-i Nur Collection

We have collected some of the best supplications and prayers from Risale-i Nur Collection to use in request to God. May these prayers for safety bring you comfort and peace of mind. May these prayers for strength encourage your spirit and strengthen your faith.

Supplication (petitioning) is a form of prayer, wherein one party humbly or earnestly asks another party to provide something, either for the party who is doing the supplicating (e.g., “Please spare my life.”) or on behalf of someone else.

Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity (a god), The God, or a deified ancestor. More generally, prayer can also have the purpose of thanksgiving or praise, and in comparative religion is closely associated with more abstract forms of meditation and with charms or spells.

Risale-i Nur Collection

Risale-i Nur Collection

A Special Approach For Starting A Supplication

As God’s noble Messenger declares:

Whoever recites ‘All praise be to God, the Lord of the heavens and the Lord of the layers of the earth, the Lord of the Worlds: His is sublimity in the heavens and the earth, and He is the All Mighty, the All Wise. All praise be to God, the Lord of the heavens and the Lord of the layers of the earth, the Lord of the Worlds: His is grandeur in the heavens and the earth, and He is the All Mighty, the All Wise. His is the Kingdom, the Lord of the heavens, and He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.’ is given the reward of Moses and Aaron.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed You are the All-Knowing, the All Wise. O My Sustainer! Expand for me my breast. Make easy for me my affair. And loosen the knot on my tongue that they may understand my words. God! Grant blessings to us. O God! By his mystery in Your presence and by his journeying to You, succor my fear, and right my stumbling, and dispel my grief and my greed, and be mine, and take me from myself to Yourself, and bestow on me annihilation from myself, and do not make me captivated by my soul and veiled by my senses, and reveal to me all hidden secrets, O the Ever-Living and the Self-Subsistent One! O the Ever-Living and the Self-Subsistent One! O the Ever-Living and the Self-Subsistent One! And grant mercy to me and to my companions and to the people of belief and the Holy Book. Amen. O the Most Merciful of Merciful and the Most Generous of Generous! And the close of their prayer will be: All Praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds.


Glory be to You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are the All-Knowing, the All Wise.

O our Sustainer! Do not call us to task if we forget or fall into error. Our Sustainer! Lay not a burden on us like that which you laid on those before us; Our Sustainer! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have the strength to bear. Blot out our sins. And grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Protector; help us against those who stand against faith. Our Sustainer! Let not our hearts deviate now after You have guided us, but grant us mercy from Your presence; for You are the Granter of bounties without measure. Our Sustainer! You are He that will gather mankind together against a Day about which there is no doubt; for God never fails in His promise.


O God! Grant blessings and peace to the one whom You sent as a Mercy to all the worlds, and to all his Family and Companions. And have mercy of us and have mercy on his community, through Your Mercy, O the Most Merciful of the Merciful. Amen.

And the close of their prayer will be: Praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds!


My Lord! I am a stranger, I have no one, I am weak, I am powerless, I am impotent, I am old;
I am without will; I seek recourse, I seek forgiveness, I seek help from Your Court, O God!


O God! There is in the heavens no circulation, no star, and no motion of the planets…

In the atmosphere no cloud, no lightning, and no glorification of the thunder…

On the earth no profusion of animate beings and no wondrous artifact…

In the seas not a droplet of water nor a fish nor any strange creature…

On the mountains no stone or plant, and within them no mineral…

On the trees, no leaf or blossom, nor any decorated fruit…

In the bodies of living things no activity, nor any well-ordered member or system…

In man’s heart no thought, no inspiration, and no illumined belief…

But it testifies to the necessity of Your existence and is evidence for Your unity, and in Your dominions is utterly subjugated. Through the power by which You subjugate the heavens and earth, subjugate to me my soul and subjugate to me my wish, and subjugate to the Risale-i Nur and to service of the Holy Book and belief the hearts of Your servants and the hearts of the spirit beings, both elevated and lowly; O All-Hearing! O Near One! O Answerer of Prayer! Amen. And all praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.


O My Sustainer and Sustainer of the Heavens and Earth! O My Creator and Creator of All Things! For the sake of Your power, will, wisdom, sovereignty, and mercy, which subjugate the heavens and their stars, the earth and all it contains, and all creatures together with all their attributes and acts, subject my soul to me and subjugate to me my wishes! Subjugate the hearts of people to the Risale-i Nur, so they may serve the Holy Book and belief! And grant me and my brothers perfect belief and a happy death! As You subjugated the sea to Moses fire to Abraham, the mountains and iron to David, jinn and men to Solomon, and the sun and moon to Muhammad, subjugate hearts and minds to the Risale-i Nur! Preserve me and all the students of the Risale-i Nur from the evil of the soul and Satan, and the torment of the grave and Hell-fire, and grant us happiness in Paradise! Amen. Amen. Amen.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.


Sacred Texts

Holy Book

O God! Illuminate our hearts with the light of belief and the Holy Book.

O God! Enrich us with the need of You and do not impoverish us with the lack of need of You. Make us free of our own strength and power, and cause us to take refuge in Your strength and power. Appoint us among those who place their trust in You, and do not entrust us to ourselves. Protect us with Your protection. Have mercy on us and have mercy on all believing men and women. And grant blessings and peace to our Master, Your Servant and Prophet, Your Friend and Beloved, the Beauty of Your Dominion and the Sovereign of Your Art, the Essence of Your Favour and the Sun of Your Guidance, the Tongue of Your Proof and the Exemplar of Your Mercy, the Light of Your Creation and the Glory of Your Creatures, the Lamp of Your Unity in the Multiplicity of Your Creatures and the Discloser of the Talisman of Your Beings, the Herald of the Sovereignty of Your Dominicality and the Announcer of those things pleasing to You, the Proclaimer of the Treasuries of Your Names and the Instructor of Your Servants, the Interpreter of Your Signs and the Mirror of the Beauty of Your Dominicality, the Means of witnessing You and bearing witness to You, Your Beloved and Your Messenger whom You sent as a Mercy to All the Worlds, and to all his Family and Companions, and to his brothers among the prophets and messengers, and to Your angels and to the righteous among Your servants. AMEN


There is no god but God, the Necessary Existent, the One, the Unique; His are the Beautiful Names, His are the Supreme Attributes, and His is the Most Sublime Similitude. To His Necessary Existence in Unity points the necessarily existent Essence, with the consensus of all its sacred and comprehensive attributes and all of its Beautiful Names, manifested according to the consensus of His dominant qualities and deeds. By the testimony of the sublimity of the truth of the self-revelation of Divinity in the manifestation of dominicality, in the permanence of imperious activity through the act of bringing into being, creating, making and originating, in will and in power; and through the act of determining, forming and regulating, in choice and in wisdom; through the act of expending, preserving, ordering, administering, and nurturing in purposiveness and mercy, in complete order and equilibrium; as too by the testimony of the sublimity of the comprehensiveness of the truth of the mysteries of the verse: God bears witness that there is no god but He, as do the angels and the possessors of knowledge; steadfast in equity; there is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise!


There is no god other than God, the One, the Unique, to Whose Unity in Necessary Existence points the witnessing of the sublimity of the comprehensiveness of the truth of opening, through the unfolding of different forms of four hundred thousand species of living beings, perfect and without defect, according to the testimony of biology and botany; the witnessing of the sublimity of the comprehensiveness of the truth of mercifulness, all-embracing and regular, without any deficiency, as the eye can see; the witnessing of the sublimity of the truth of administering, that encompasses in orderly fashion all living beings, without error or defect; the witnessing of the sublimity of the comprehensivness of the truth of compassionateness and sustaining, embracing all consumers of sustenance, at every time of need, without any mistake or forgetfulness; Glory be unto Him, the Provider, the Merciful, the Compassionate, the Solicitous, the Generous; His gifts are universal, and His Generosity is all-embracing; there is no god but He!Glory be unto You; we have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise. O our Sustainer! For the sake of ‘In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,’ O God, O Merciful One, O Compassionate One! Bestow peace and blessings upon our master Muhammad, his Family and all his Companions, to the number of all the letters in the Risale-i Nur, multiplied by ten times the number of minutes in all of our lives in this world and the hereafter, and then by the number of particles in my body throughout the course of my life. The conclusion of our prayer is, ‘Praise be to God, the Sustainer of All The Worlds!’


So [give] glory to God, when you reach eventide and when you rise in the morning; Yea, to Him be praise, in the heavens and on earth; and in the late afternoon and when the day begins to decline.

It is He Who brings out the living from the dead, and brings out the dead from the living, and Who gives life to the earth after it is dead: and thus shall you be brought out [from the dead].

Among His Signs is this, that He created you from dust; and then,— behold, you are men scattered [far and wide]!

And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquillity with them, and He has put love and mercy between your [hearts]: verily in that are Signs for those who reflect.

And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colors: verily in that are Signs for those who know.

And among His Signs is the sleep that you take by night and by day, and the quest that you [make for livelihood] out of His bounty: verily in that are Signs for those who hearken.

And among His Signs, He shows you the lightning, by way both of fear and of hope, and He sends down rain from the sky and with it gives life to the earth after it is dead: verily in that are Signs for those who are wise.

And among His Signs is this, that heaven and earth stand by His command: then when He calls you, by a single call, from the earth, behold, you [straightway] come forth.

To Him belongs every being that is in the heavens and on earth: all are devoutly obedient to Him.

It is He Who begins [the process of] creation; then repeats it; and for Him it is most easy. To Him belongs the loftiest similitude [we can think of] in the heavens and the earth; for He is Exalted in Might, Full of Wisdom.


O God, grant blessings and peace and benedictions to him and to his Family and Companions to the number of the breaths of the people of Paradise; and resurrect us and resurrect him and his friends and Companions to bliss, and our parents and brothers and sisters under his banner, and grant us his intercession, and enter us into Paradise with his Family and Companions, through Your mercy, O Most Merciful of the Merciful. Amen. Amen.

O our Sustainer! Do not take us to task if we forget or unwittingly do wrong.

O our Sustainer! Let not our hearts swerve from the truth after You have guided us; and bestow upon us the gift of Your mercy; indeed, You are the Giver of Gifts.

O my Sustainer! Open up my heart * And make my task easy for me * And loosen the knot from my tongue * That they might fully understand my speech.

O our Sustainer! Accept this from us, indeed You are All-Seeing, All-Knowing. And forgive us, indeed You are the Accepter of Repentance, the Compassionate.

All glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.


supplication

Supplications and Prayers

O God! O Unique One! O Single One! O Eternally Besought One! O You other than Whom there is no god, You are One, You have no partner! O You to Whom belongs the dominion and the praise! O You Who grants life and deals death! O You in Whose hand is all good! O You Who is powerful over all things! O You with Whom all things have their end! Through the truth of the mysteries of these phrases, appoint the propagator of this treatise and his friends and companions to bliss among the perfected affirmers of Divine Unity and the strictly veracious scholars and the believers conscious of God. Amen. O God! Through the truth of the mystery of Your Oneness make the disseminator of this book disseminate the mysteries of the profession of Your Unity and make his heart a place of manifestation for the lights of faith and his tongue speak of the truths of the Holy Book. Amen. Amen. Amen.


Resurrection after death is a reality; Paradise is a reality; Hell-fire is a reality; eternal happiness is a reality; God is Compassionate, Wise, and Loving; and Mercy, Wisdom, and Love encompass all things and all their attributes.

And they shall say: “Praise be to God, Who has guided us to this [felicity]; never could we have found guidance, had it not been for the guidance of God; indeed, it was the truth that the prophets of our Sustainer brought to us!”

Glory be to He Who has made the garden of the earth: the exhibition of His art, the gathering of His creatures, the place of manifestation of His power, the means of His wisdom, the garden of His mercy, the tillage of His Paradise, the place of passage of creatures, the place through which beings flow, the measure of artifacts; adorned by animals, embroidered with birds, made fruitful by trees, made to blossom with flowers; miracles of His knowledge, wonders of His art, gifts of His munificence, proofs of His favor, evidences of His Unity, subtleties of His wisdom, witnesses to His mercy; the smiling of the blossoms with the adornment of fruits, the singing of the birds in the breezes of morning, the pattering of the rain on the cheeks of the flowers; the adornment of the flowers, the embellishment of the fruits in these gardens; all mothers, human and animal, are tender towards their small young, making known a Loving One, making loved a Merciful One, the compassion of a Kind One, the tenderness of One sympathetic to man and jinn, and to spirits, animals, angels, and jinn.


O God! Grant blessings to the one who said: “The believer is to the believer like a well-founded building, with one part strengthening the other,” and to his Family and Companions, and grant them peace.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise!

And they shall say: “Praise be to God, Who has guided us to this [felicity]; never could we have found guidance, had it not been for the guidance of God; indeed it was the truth that the Messengers of our Sustainer brought to us!”

O God, Who responded to Noah among his people, * And helped Abraham before his enemies, * And returned Joseph to Jacob, * And raised Job’s suffering from him, * And answered the prayer of Zachariah, * And responded to Jonah b. Matta; we implore You through the mystery of those who offered these answered prayers that You preserve me and those who disseminate these treatises and their companions from the evil of satans among jinn and men, and help us in the face of our enemies, and do not leave us to our own devices, and remove our anxieties and their anxieties, and heal the sicknesses of our hearts and of their hearts. Amen. Amen. Amen.


O God! Appoint us among the people of happiness, safety, the Holy Book, and belief. Amen. O God! Grant peace and blessings to our Master, and to his Family and Companions, to the number of all the letters of the Holy Book formed in all its words, represented with the permission of the Most Merciful One in the mirrors of the air waves on the recital of each of those words by all the Holy Book’s reciters from its first revelation to the end of time, and have mercy on us and on our parents, and have mercy on all believing men and women to the number of those words, through Your mercy, O Most Merciful of the Merciful. Amen. And All praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds.


O God! Grant blessings and peace to the one whom You sent as a teacher to Your servants to instruct them in knowledge of You and worship of You, and to make known the treasures of Your Names, and to translate the signs of the book of the universe and as a mirror to its worship of the beauty of Your dominicality, and to all his Family and Companions, and have mercy on us and on all believing men and women. Amen. Through Your Mercy, O Most Merciful of the Merciful!

O God, grant blessings and peace and benedictions to him and to his Family and Companions to the number of the breaths of the people of Paradise; and resurrect us and resurrect him and his friends and Companions to bliss, and our parents and brothers and sisters under his banner, and grant us his intercession, and enter us into Paradise with his Family and Companions, through Your mercy, O Most Merciful of the Merciful. Amen. Amen.


Glory be unto the One Who has placed His treasuries between the Kaf and the Nun.

So glory be unto Him in Whose hand is the dominion of all things, and to Him will you all be brought back.

Glory be unto You, we have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.

O our Sustainer! Do not take us to task if we forget or unwittingly do wrong! * O our Sustainer! Let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us, and grant us Mercy from Your presence, for You are the Granter of bounties without measure.

And grant blessings and peace to Your Most Noble Messenger, the manifester of Your Greatest Name, and to his Family, and Companions, and brothers, and followers. Amen. O Most Merciful of the Merciful!


A SUPPLICATION WHICH OCCURRED TO MY HEARTH IN PERSIAN

O my Sustainer! Heedlessly not trusting in You but in my own power and will, I cast an eye over ‘the six aspects’ searching for a cure for my ills. Alas, I could find no cure for them, and I understood it was being said to me: “Are your ills not sufficient as cure for you?”

In heedlessness I looked to past time on my right to find solace, but I saw that yesterday appeared to be my father’s grave and past time as the huge tomb of all my forbears. It filled me with horror rather than consolation.(*)

(*) Belief shows that horrific vast grave to be a familiar and enlightened meeting and a gathering of friends.

Then I looked to the future on the left, but again I could find no cure. For tomorrow appeared as my grave and the future as the vast tomb of my contemporaries and the forthcoming generations; it afforded not a feeling of familiarity, but one of fright.(*)

(*) Belief and the peace of belief shows that terrible huge grave to be a feast of the Most Merciful in delightful palaces of bliss.

Since no good appeared from the left either, I looked at the present day, and I saw that it resembled a bier; it was bearing my desperately struggling corpse.(*)

(*) Belief shows the bier to be a place of trade and a glittering guest-house.

Thus, I could find no cure from this aspect either, so I raised my head and looked at the top of the tree of my life. But I saw that its single fruit was my corpse; it was looking down on me from the tree-top.(*)

(*) Belief shows the tree’s fruit to be not the corpse, but the worn out home of my spirit, which will manifest eternal life and is destined for everlasting happiness, from which it has departed in order to travel among the stars.

Despairing of that aspect too, I lowered my head. I looked and saw that the dust of my bones underfoot had mixed with the dust of my first creation. It afforded no cure, but added further pain to my ills.(*)

(*) Belief shows the dust to be the door leading to mercy and a curtain before the halls of Paradise.

I turned away from that too and looked behind me, where I saw a transient world without foundation revolving and departing in the valleys of nothingness and the darkness of non-existence. It was no salve for my ills, it rather added the poison of horror and fright.(*)

(*) Belief shows the world revolving in darkness to consist of missives of the Eternally Besought One and pages of Divine inscriptions, which, having completed their duties and expressed their meanings, have left their results in existence in their place.

Since I could see no good in that either, I switched my gaze to before me. I saw that the door of the grave stood open at the end of my road. The highway leading to eternity beyond it, struck my gaze from afar.(*)

(*) Since belief shows the door of the grave to open onto the world of light and the road to lead to eternal happiness, it was both a salve for my ills, and a cure.

Thus, rather than receiving consolation and a feeling of familiarity, I felt only horror and fear at these six aspects. And apart from the faculty of will I had nothing in my hand with which to withstand them and act in the face of them.(*)

(*) Belief gives a document for relying on an infinite power in place of the power of choice, which is like the smallest indivisible particle; indeed, belief itself is a document.

But the human weapon called the faculty of will both lacks power and its range is short. And it is inaccurate. It cannot create, and apart from ‘acquiring,’ can do nothing.(*)

(*) Belief causes the faculty of will to be employed in God’s name, and makes it sufficient before everything it may face. Like when a soldier employs his insignificant strength on account of the state, he can perform deeds thousands of times greater than his own strength…

It can neither penetrate the past nor discern the future, and in regard to my hopes and fears concerning these, was of no benefit.(*)

(*) Belief takes its reins from the hand of the animal body and hands them over to the heart and the spirit, and may therefore penetrate the past and the future. For the sphere of life of the heart and spirit is broad.

The arena of the faculty of will is brief present time and the passing present instant.

Thus, despite all my needs and weakness, want and poverty, and my wretched state induced by the horrors and terrors arising from the six aspects, clearly written on the page of my being by the pen of power, and included in my nature, were desires stretching to eternity and hopes spreading through eternity.

Indeed, whatever there is in the world, there are samples of it in my being. I am connected to everything. It is for them that I am caused to work.

The sphere of need stretches as far as the eye can see.

In fact, wherever the imagination goes, the sphere of need extends that far. There is need there too. Whatever man lacks, he is in need of. That which he does not have, he needs. And what he lacks is endless.

But then the extent of his power extends only as far as his short arm reaches. That means my want and needs are as great as the world. Whereas my capital is as infinitesimal as an indivisible particle.

So, of what use is the faculty of will, worth two penies in relation to my needs which encompass the world and can only be obtained for millions of liras? They cannot be bought with it, and cannot be gained by it. In which case, one has to search for another solution.

The solution is this: to forego one’s own will and leave matters to the Divine will; to give up one’s own power and strength, and seeking refuge in the power and strength of Almighty God, to adhere to true reliance on Him.

“O my Sustainer! Since the way to be saved is this, I forego my own will in Your way, and I give up my egotism. Then Your grace may take me by the hand out of compassion for my impotence and weakness, and Your mercy may take pity on my need and indigence and be a support for me, and open its door for me.”

Yes, whoever finds the boundless sea of mercy, surely does not rely on his own mirage-like will and choice, which is like a mirage; he does not abandon mercy and have recourse to his will.

Alas! We have been deceived. We supposed the life of this world to be constant, and so have lost everything. Yes, this passing life is but a sleep; it passes like a dream. This frail life flies like the wind, and departs.

Arrogant man, who relies on himself and supposes he will live for ever, is doomed to die. He passes swiftly. The world, too, man’s house, tumbles into the darkness of non-existence. Hopes do not last, while pains endure in the spirit.

Since the reality is this, come, my wretched soul, which yearns for life, is enaenamored the world and afflicted with endless hopes and pains! Awake and come to your senses! As the fire-fly relies on its own minminusculeght and remains in the boundless darkness of the night, and since it does not rely on itself, the honey-bee finds the sun of daytime, and observes all its friends, the flowers, gilded with the sunlight; if you rely on yourself and your being and your ego, you will resemble the fire-fly. Whereas if you sacrifice your transient being in the way of the Creator Who gave it to you, you will find an unending light of existence. So sacrifice it! For your being is a trust given to you for safekeeping.

Moreover, it is His property, and it is He Who bestowed it. So do not scorn it, sacrifice it unhesitatingly. Sacrifice it so that it will be made permanent. For negation of a negation is an affirmation. That is, if non-being is not, there is being. If non-being is negated, existence comes into being.

The All-Generous Creator buys His own property from you, and gives you the high price of Paradise in return. Also, He looks after that property well for you, and increases its value. And He will return it to you in both enduring and perfect form. O my soul! Do not delay! Do this trade which is profitable in five respects, and be saved from five losses; make a five fold profit all at once!


O God! Make the Holy Book healing for us, the writer of this and his peers, from all ills, and a companion to us and to them in our lives and after our deaths, and in this world, and in the grave, and at the Last Judgement an intercessor, and on the Bridge a light, and from the Fire a screen and shield, and in Paradise a friend, and in all good deeds a guide and leader, through Your grace and munificence and beneficence and mercy, O Most Munificent of the Munificent and Most Merciful of the Merciful! Amen.

O God! Grant blessings and peace to the one to whom the All-Wise The Holy Book, the Distinguisher between Truth and Falsehood, was re-vealed, and to all his Family and Companions. Amen. Amen.


O God! Grant blessings to the one who demonstrated Your necessary existence and unity, and testified to Your glory and beauty and perfection; the verified and veracious witness, the verifying articulate proof; the lord of the prophets and messengers, the bearer of the mystery of their consensus, affirmation, and miracles; the leader of the saints and veracious ones, the holder of the mystery of their accord, verifications, and wonder-working; the one with evident miracles, clear marvels, and decisive evidences which corroborated and affirmed him; who displayed exalted purity in his self, elevated morals in his duty, and lofty qualities in his Shari‘a, perfect and free of all contradiction, to whom according to the consensus of the revealed and the Revealer and the one who revealed it to him, dominical revelation descended; the traveller through the Worlds of the Unseen and of the Inner Dimensions of Things; the observer of spirits, who conversed with the angels; the sample of the perfections of the universe, in regard to both individuals, and species, and realms of beings; the most luminous of the fruits of the tree of creation; the lamp of truth; the proof of reality; the embodiment of mercy; the exemplification of love; the discloser of the talisman of the universe; the herald of the sovereignty of dominicality; the sign that the elevatedness of his collective personality was before the eyes of the world’s Creator at the creation of the universe; the possessor of a Shari‘a that indicates through the breadth of its principles and strength that it is the order of the Orderer of the World, drawn up by the Creator of the Universe.

Yes, the One Who ordered the universe with this perfect and total order is He Who ordered this religion with its fine and beautiful order, our master, we are the community of the sons of Adam, our guide to belief, we are the community of believers, Muhammad son of Abdullah, Upon him be the most perfect blessings and most complete peace as long as the heavens and earth subsist, for he is the veracious and verified witness who summoned the leaders of witnesses and has instructed the branches of mankind throughout the centuries and all the regions of the world in elevated fashion with all his strength, with complete seriousness and utter steadfastness, and with the power of his certainty and perfect belief, testifying:

“I testify that there is no god but God, the One, He has no partner.”


A Powerful Prayer

Glory be to You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.

O our Sustainer! Do not call us to task if we forget or fall into error. * Our Sustainer! Lay not a burden on us like that which you laid on those before us; * Our Sustainer! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have the strength to bear. * Blot out our sins. And grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Protector; help us against those who stand against faith. * Our Sustainer! Let not our hearts deviate now after You have guided us, but grant us mercy from Your presence; for You are the Granter of bounties without measure. * Our Sustainer! You are He that will gather mankind together against a Day about which there is no doubt; for God never fails in His promise.

O God! Grant blessings and peace to the one whom You sent as a Mercy to all the worlds, and to all his Family and Companions. And have mercy of us and have mercy on his community, through Your mercy, O Most Merciful of the Merciful. Amen.

And the close of their prayer will be: Praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds!


Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.

O My Sustainer! Expand for me my breast * Make easy for me my affair * And loosen the knot on my tongue * That they may understand my words.

O God! Grant blessings to the subtle unitary Muhammadan essence, the Sun in the skies of mysteries and manifestation of lights, the centre of the orbit of glory and the pole of the sphere of beauty. O God! By his mystery in Your presence and by his journeying to You, succour my fear, and right my stumbling, and dispel my grief and my greed, and be mine, and take me from myself to Yourself, and bestow on me annihilation from myself, and do not make me captivated by my soul and veiled by my senses, and reveal to me all hidden secrets, O Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One! O Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One! O Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One! And grant mercy to me and to my companions and to the people of belief and the Qur’an. Amen. O Most Merciful of the Merciful and Most Generous of the Generous!

And the close of their prayer will be: All Praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds.


And say: “O my Sustainer! I seek refuge with you from the suggestions of the Evil Ones. * And I seek refuge with You lest they should come near me.”

O God! O Protector! O Preserver! O Best of Protectors! Preserve me and preserve my companions from the evil of the soul and of Satan, and from the evil of people of misguidance and of rebellion. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.


Glory be unto You, we have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.

O God! Grant blessings and peace to the one in whom were embodied the lights of Your love through the beauty of Your attributes; the comprehensive mirror to the manifestations of Your Most Beautiful Names; in whom was focussed the rays of Your love for the art which is in Your creatures; the most perfect and wonderful of Your artefacts, who was a sample of the perfections of Your art and an index of the beauties of Your inscriptions; and who reflected the subtleties of Your love and Your desire that Your art be appreciated; the most elevated herald of Your fine art, who proclaimed in resounding voice admiration for the beauty of Your inscriptions, the most wonderful praiser of the perfections of Your art; who reflected together in his being the varieties of Your love and Your appreciation for the good morals of your creatures and the subtleties of Your artefacts’ qualities, comprehending all fine conduct and good morality through Your favour and the subtleties of commendable attributes through Your grace; who was the most excellent criterion and measure of everything You mention in Your Criterion of Truth and Falsehood, the Qur’an, those whom You love from among the righteous, the patient, the believers, those who fear You, who turn to You, and who repent, and all the classes of those whom You infuse with life and honour through Your love in Your Criterion of Truth and Falsehood, until they become as the leader of those whom You love; the master of those beloved by You and chief of Your beloveds; and grant blessings and peace to all his Family and Companions and brothers. Amen. Through Your mercy, O Most Merciful of the Merciful!


O God! When a man knocks on the door of a grand palace and it is not opened to him, he knocks on it and calls out in the voice of someone who is familiar to the palace, so that it may be opened. Thus this wretched one knocks on the door of the Court of Your Mercy crying out in the voice of Your well-loved servant Uvays al-Qarani and with his supplication. Open that Court of Yours to me, as you opened it to him! I cry out as he did:

O God! You are our Sustainer, for we are mere slaves; we are powerless to sustain and raise ourselves. That is to say, the One Who sustains us is You! It is You Who is the Creator, for we are creatures, we are being made! It is You Who is the Provider, for we are in need of provision, we have no power! That is to say, the One One Who creates us and bestows on us our provisions is You! It is You Who is the Owner, because we are totally owned property; someone other than us has power of disposal over us. That is to say, it is You Who is our Owner! And You, You are Mighty! You possess grandeur and sublimity! As for us we look to our baseness and see that there are manifestations of a mightiness on us. That is to say, we are mirrors to Your mightiness! And it is You Who is the Possessor of Absolute Riches, because we are utterly wanting, and riches are bestowed on us that our indigent hands could not obtain. That is to say, it is You Who is rich, the One Who gives is You! And You, You are the Ever-Living, Ever-Enduring One, because we, we are dying, and in our dying and in our being resurrected we see the manifestation of a perpetual giver of life! And You, You are Ever-Enduring, because we see Your continuation and perpetualness in our demise and transience! And the One Who responds to us and answers us, the Granter of Gifts, is You. For all of us beings, we are ever crying out and requesting, entreating, imploring by tongue and by state. And our desires are brought about, our aims are achieved. In other words, the One Who answers us is You!…

So forgive me my sins and bear with me and heal my ills, O my God! O All-Sufficing One! O Sustainer! O Faithful One! O Most Compassionate One! O Healer! O Munificent One! O Forgiving One! Pardon all my sins, and grant me health from all sicknesses, and be pleased with me for all eternity! Through Your Mercy, O Most Merciful of the Merciful!

And the close of their prayer will be: All praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds!


The supplication of Prophet Jonah

But he cried through the depths of darkness, “There is no god but You; Glory be unto You! I was indeed among the wrongdoers!”
* When he called upon his Sustainer saying: “Verily harm has afflicted me, and You are the Most Merciful of the Merciful.”
* But if they turn away, say: “God suffices me, there is no god but He; in Him do I place my trust—He the Sustainer of the Throne [of Glory] Supreme!”
* For us God suffices, and He is the Best Disposer of Affairs.
* There is no strength and no power other than through God, the High, the Mighty.
* The Enduring One, You are the Enduring One! The Enduring One, You are the Enduring One!
* And to those who believe guidance and healing.


The supplication of Prophet Job

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

When he called upon his Sustainer saying:

“Verily harm has afflicted me, and You are the Most Merciful of the Merciful.”

The supplication of Job, the champion of patience, is both well-tested and effective. Drawing on the verse, we should say in our supplication,

O my Sustainer! Indeed harm has afflicted me, and You are the Most Merciful of the Merciful.

The gist of the well-known story of Job is as follows:

While afflicted with numerous wounds and sores for a long time, he recalled the great recompense to be had for his sickness, and endured it with utmost patience. But later, when the worms generated by his wounds penetrated to his heart and his tongue, the seat of the remembrance and knowledge of God, he feared that his duty of worship would suffer, and so he said in supplication not for the sake of his own comfort, but for the sake of his worship of God:

“O Lord! Harm has afflicted me; my remembrance of You with my tongue and my worship of You with my heart will suffer.” God Almighty then accepted this pure sincere, disinterested and devout supplication in the most miraculous fashion. He granted to Job perfect good health and made manifest in him all kinds of compassion.


O God, grant blessings on the one who gathered together in his person all fine moral qualities, and manifested the mystery of, “And you [stand] on an exalted standard of character,” and who said: “Whoever adheres to my Practices when my community is corrupted shall receive the reward of a hundred martyrs.”

And they shall say: “Praise be to God, Who has guided us to this [felicity]; never could we have found guidance, had it not been for the guidance of God; indeed it was the truth that the prophets of our Sustainer brought to us.”

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.

On going to bed:

O God! I have, in hope (of Your Mercy) and fear (of Your wrath), submitted myself to You, referred my affairs to You, and taken refuge in You. There is no refuge, nor source of safety from Your wrath, except You. I have believed in the Book You sent down, and the Prophet you raised.

To be saved from sins and ask for God’s forgiveness:

O God! Put between me and errors a distance as great as that which you put between east and west! O God! Clean me of my errors as a white garment is cleaned of dirt!

Prayers and supplications comprehensive in meaning:

God! I ask You for the whole of good, including what is at hand and what is deferred; what I already know and what I do not know. I take refuge in You from every evil, including what is at hand and what is deferred; what I already know and what I do not know.

God! There is nothing to hinder what You will grant, nor anything to grant what You hinder! No wealthy one can do us good, as wealth belongs to You.

God! I have not told everything, nor have I taken an oath, nor have I made a vow, nor have I done anything, which You did not previously will. Whatever You willed, it is, and whatever You did not will, it is not. There is no strength nor power save with You, and You are indeed All-Powerful over everything. O God! Whatever prayer I have said, let it be for whomever You have mercy for, and whatever curse I have called down, let it be for whomever You have called down curses upon. Surely You are my Guardian in this world and the Hereafter. Make me die among the righteous.

God! I ask You for content after misfortune, a peaceful life after death, the pleasure of observing Your Face, and a desire to meet You. I take refuge in You from wronging others and from being wronged, from showing animosity and being subject to animosity, and from erring or committing unforgivable sins.

…If You leave me to myself, then you have left me to weakness, neediness, sinfulness and erring. I do not depend but on Your Mercy, so forgive all of my sins, for none but You can forgive sins; accept my repentance, for You are the Oft-Relenting and the All-Compassionate.

God! You deserve most to be mentioned and none but You deserve to be worshipped. You are more helpful than anyone whose help may be sought, and more affectionate than every ruler, more generous than anyone who may be asked for something, and more generous than anyone else who gives. You are the Monarch, having no partners, and the Unique One having no like. Everything is perishable except You. You are never obeyed but by Your leave, and never disobeyed but within Your knowledge. When somebody obeys You, You reward him; but when someone disobeys You, You forgive him. You witness everything, nearer to it than any other witness; and protect everything, nearer to it than any other protector. You ordained the acts of men and determined their time of death. You know what is in every mind, and secrets are manifest to You. The lawful is what You have made lawful, and the forbidden is what You have forbidden. The religion is what You have laid down, and the commandment is what You have decreed. The creation is Your creation, and the servants are Your servants. You are God, the All-Clement, the All-Compassionate, I ask You, for the sake of the light of Your Face, by which the heavens and earth were illuminated, and for the sake of every right belonging to You, and for the sake of those who ask of You, to forgive me just in this morning and just in this evening, and to protect me, by Your Power, from Hellfire.

God! I seek refuge in You from any knowledge which gives no benefit, and from a heart that fears You not, and from a soul not satisfied, and from prayer that cannot be answered.

God! I ask You for steadfastness in my affairs; I ask you for resolution in guidance; I ask You for gratitude for Your bounties and acceptable service to You; I ask You for a truthful tongue and a sound heart; and I seek refuge in You from the evil of what You know, and I ask You for the good of what You know, and I ask for Your forgiveness for what You already know. Surely You are the Knower of the Unseen.

God! I ask You to enable me to do good and refrain from vices, and to love the poor, and to forgive me and have mercy on me, and, when You will people’s deviation and dissensions and disorder in public life, make me die before taking part in that disorder. I also ask You for Your love and the love of whom You love, and the love of the acts which will make me nearer to Your love.

God! I ask You for the good in the beginning and in the end, and in its most comprehensive form with its beginning and result, and its manifest and secret kinds, and for the highest rank in Paradise.

God! Help me remember You, thank You, and worship You most properly.

God! I ask You for guidance, fear of You, chastity and independence of others.

God! Bring all of our affairs to a good conclusion, and protect us from disgrace and ignominy in the world and from being tormented in the Hereafter!

God! We ask You for the whole of good for which Your Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, asked You, and we seek refuge in You from every evil from which Your Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, sought refuge in You.

Supplication done or returning from Ta’if

O God, unto You do I complain of my frailty, lack of resources and lack of significance before those people. O Most Merciful of the merciful, You are the Lord of the oppressed and You are my Lord. To whom do You abandon me? To that alien who looks askance and makes grimaces at me? Or to that enemy to whom You have given mastery over me? If, however, Your indignation is not against me, I have no worry. But Your grace is much greater for me to wish for. I seek refuge in the light of Your Countenance, which illumines all darkness and by which the affairs of this life and the Hereafter have been rightly ordered, lest Your wrath alight upon me, or Your indignation descend upon me. I expect Your forgiveness until You are pleased, and there is no other resource nor any power but in You.


O God! You are my Lord; I am a slave.
You are the Creator; I am the one created.
You are the Provider; I am the one provided.
You are the Owner; I am the one owned.
You are the Mighty and Glorious; I am the one abased and wretched.
Your are the Absolutely Rich One; I am the one absolutely poor.
You are the All-Living; I am the one dead,
You are the All-Permanent; I am the one mortal.
You are the All-Munificent; I am the one miserly.
You are the All-Benevolent; I am the one doing ill.
You are the All-Forgiving; I am the one sinful.
You are the Grand One; I am the one despicable.
You are the All-Strong; I am the one weak.
You are the Giver; I am the one begging.
You are the One Giving Security; I am the one in fear.
You are the All-Generous; I am the one in utmost need.
You are the One Answering pleas; I am the one pleading.
You are the All-Healing One; I am the one sick.
So forgive me my sins and spare me and heal my ills, O God! O All-Sufficing One! O Lord! O Faithful One! O Most Compassionate One! O Healer! O Munificent One! O Restorer to Health! Pardon all my sins, and restore me to health from all illnesses, and be pleased with me for all eternity! Through Your Mercy, O Most Merciful of the Merciful!


A beloved who disappears by declining or setting is not beautiful, for one that is doomed to decline cannot be truly beautiful. It is not-it should not be-loved in the heart for the heart is created for eternal love and is the mirror of the Eternally-Besought-of-All.

A desired one who is doomed to disappear below the horizon is not worthy of the heart’s attachment or the mind’s preoccupation. It cannot be the object of desires, and is not worthy of being regretted after. So why should the heart adore such a one and be attached to it?

I neither seek nor desire anything mortal. For I am myself mortal, and I do not desire one who is mortal. What have I do with any such?

A worshipped one buried in decay-I do not invoke such a one, nor seek refuge with it. For I am infinitely needy and impotent. One that is itself powerless can offer no cure for my endless pains, nor can it solve my infinitely deep wounds. How can one who cannot save himself from decay be an object of worship?

The mind that is obsessed with appearances wails despairingly on seeing the decay of the things it adores in this universe of upheavals, while the spirit, which seeks an eternal beloved, also wails, saying: ‘I love not the things that set.’

I do not want, I do not desire, separation, and I cannot endure it.

Meetings followed immediately by separation are not worth troubling about; they are not worthy of being longed for especially. For just as the disappearance of pleasures is pain, imagining it is pain also. The works of the lovers, that is, the works of poetry on metaphorical love-love for the opposite sex-are all lamentations caused by the pain arising from imagining this disappearance. If you were to condense the spirit of all the works of such poetry, from each would flow this lament.

It is because of the pain and tribulations coming from those meetings doomed to end and those painful metaphorical loves, that my heart cries out and, like Abraham, says: ‘I love not the things that set!’

If you desire permanence in this transient world, permanence is born out of transience. Annihilate yourself with regard to your evil-commanding soul, so that you may gain permanence.

Free yourself of bad morals, which are the basis of worldly adoration, and realize self-annihilation. Sacrifice the goods and property that are in your disposal in the way of the True Beloved. See the end of beings, which marks extinction. The way leading from this world to permanence passes through self-annihilation.

The human mind, which is absorbed in causality, laments despairingly in bewilderment over the upheavals caused by the decay of the world. The conscience, which desires true existence, like Abraham, wails, ‘I love not the things that set.’ It severs the connection with metaphorical beloveds and decaying beings, and is attached to the Truly Existent One, the Eternal Beloved.

O my mean soul! Know that the world and all beings are certainly mortal, but you may find a way leading to the Permanent Being in each mortal thing, and may discern two gleams, two mysteries, of the manifestations of the Undying Beloved’s Grace, on condition that you succeed in sacrificing your mortal being.

In each bounty the act of bestowing is discerned and the favor of the Most Merciful perceived. If you succeed in discerning the act of bestowing through the thing bestowed, you will find the Bestower. Also, each work of the Eternally-Besought-of-All points out the All-Majestic Maker’s Names like a missive. If you succeed in understanding the meaning through the inscription, you will find by means of the Names the One called by those Names. Since you can find out the kernel, the essence, of these transient things, obtain it. You can throw away without pity their meaningless shells, their outer coverings, into the flood of mortality.

Indeed, in the universe there is not a single thing which is not a word of embodied meaning and does not show many of the All-Majestic Maker’s Names. Since beings are words, words of Divine Power, understand their meanings and place them in your heart. Fearlessly cast the letters left without meaning into the wind of transience. After they are gone, do not concern and occupy yourself with them any more.

The worldly mind, which is preoccupied in appearances and whose capital consists of only the knowledge of the material world, cries out despairingly in bewilderment and frustration, as its chains of thought finally end in nothingness and non-existence. It seeks a true way leading to truth. Since the heart has withdrawn from those that set and are mortal, since the heart has abandoned the deceiving beloveds, and since the conscience has turned away from transitory beings, you too, my wretched soul, seek help in ‘I love not the things that set,’ and be saved.


By Bediuzzaman Said Nursi

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