The other decent efforts for this night are that before its arrival, the prudent wayfarer should arrange for its preliminaries and necessities, e.g. for worshipping in this night a suitable place, dress, and perfume should be arranged in advance for engaging in private humming communications Allah (the Glorious, the Exalted), as well as for communications with his masters, i.e. sinless Imams [a] he should arrange suitable themes and contents; for paying alms during this night should allocate some money, even for the invitation of guests and for payment of alms, he should plan in advance to select the most suitable guests and the genuinely poor people who really deserve financial support.
Let us imagine that if an emperor dispatches a special courier before someone, with compassion and mercy invites him for a special feast, gives him glad-tidings that if he appears in the royal feast with decency and decorum, rewards and magnificent gifts would be bestowed upon him, and the more respectfully he would behave in the assembly, the emperor too would increase his rewards and gifts in proportion with his behaviour. Undoubtedly, after receiving such a message this person would become excited and pleased, and in order to prepare himself would not leave any stone unturned, and during this period would mobilize all his resources and efforts to procure whatever is required for being present in such an assembly, so that finally, when that moment arrives, being fully decorated in a respectable and decent manner, he could present himself over there.
The invitation of an emperor is responded in the above manner but how about the invitation of Allah (the Glorious, the Exalted), who is the King of all kings - the King of the Earth and the Heavens - has invited us for His feasts; in order to invite us has dispatched his favourite angels, pious prophets and sinless Imams as his couriers. He has assigned His angels to announce his invitation kindly and compassionately to us; has given us the glad-tidings of giving us permanent abode in Paradise in return for sincere worshipping during one single night (the Night of Power); has promised such bounties, which have not been seen by any eye, have not been heard by any ear, and have not been imagined through any human being's mind, as well as has given us the glad-tiding of illumination, ecstasy, majesty, splendour, nearness, union, and countenance, for whose least comprehension and understanding, faculties of reason and thoughts find themselves astonished and helpless.
Are we among those who have prepared for this night and invitation, the way we ought to be, and must be, in order to attain the eternal blessing and salvation? Or are we among those negligent and idle ones, who do not achieve anything except loss and eternal doom? We must better know that the one who acts naively and lazily, and does not strive to take advantage of the magnificent generosities of this night, when in the Hereafter, would see that those who were zealous, committed, and vigilant during these nights what have they achieved, and what magnificence, splendour and glory have been bestowed upon them. But they would gain nothing except regret - the regret so great and painful that the Hell's blazing fire and its torturous punishments would seem smaller as compared to their regret, and then together with the losers and eternally doomed ones, would cry loudly:
"Ah! Woe upon me! In that I neglected (my duty) towards Allah."
- Holy Qur'an (39:56)
But on that Day when the gates of repentance would have been closed, there would be nothing left for compensation of the damage, everyone would have seen the ultimate outcome of his deeds, and then feeling sorry and being regretful would not produce any gain. Therefore, we must take a look upon ourselves, and before falling into such regret and grief, must admonish ourselves for being so lazy, naive, and easy going. And before that we are called for accounting and are condemned into the state of wretchedness and destitution, for wasting our precious capital - the capital through which we could have accomplished most precious and greater gains we better put our self to scrutiny.
Not to be Negligent from Allah
During these nights, one must strive his best to keep thinking about Allah (the Glorious, the Exalted), all along the night, and should not forget Him during any part of the night even for the sake of recommended and justified deeds. Also while offering prayer and supplications he should not think about any other thing even though if they happen to be recommended things.
For example, during prayer (salat), one should not think about recommended deeds like building of mosque, cleaning of mosque, and paying alms etc., because all these are indications of negligence; even during a part of the prayer (salat), he should not think about the next portion of the prayer, e.g. in the state of standing, to think about the prostration is negligence. He must try to concentrate upon whatever act of the prayer he is performing and should not be negligent about whatever he is doing or reciting. In order to make this task easier, before performing different acts of prayer, e.g. recital or genuflexion (rukoo), first of all, he should think about them briefly and then should perform them. And in case while performing a certain act, negligence dominates over him, and if a verse or invocation is recited with negligence, he must repeat it again.
For example, when he wants to stand towards Mecca (Qiblah) for prayer (salat) first of all, he should think briefly about the wisdom of standing towards Mecca, and then should turn his face in that direction; and when he wants to stand for the prayer, first of all, he should think about the meanings of standing, i.e., his standing is for truth and his resting upon his two feet is the indication of his hope (raj'a) and fear (khouf) about the acceptance of his worship. When he wants to recite the phrase:
"In the name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful."
First of all, he should think about its meaning in brief, and then should recite it with his tongue, and similar is the case with other acts of the prayer.
Crying and Shedding Tears
For the prudent wayfarer who desires, that during these nights his fear, humility, tears, crying, anguish, and lamentation be increased as much as possible, one of the best method is that he should tie his hands around his neck; should pour dirt upon his head; should place his head against a wall; sometimes he should stand and sometimes he should cry; should imagine himself at the scene of Judgement Day; and the way sinners are rebuked with harshness, should rebuke himself accordingly; then he should look towards his right, imagining about the companions of the right hand (ashab al-yamin) and should think about their splendour, majesty, features, virtues, robes, and smells; then he should look towards the left, imagining about the companions of the left hand (ashab al-shumal) should regard himself among them, thinking about their torturous and painful condition with blackened faces, their swollen eyes, tied hands and feet, and burnt skins; the angels standing in readiness to execute Allah's command to throw him together with them inside Hell; then he should imagine and be scared lest Allah (the Glorious, the Exalted) orders:
"Seize ye him, bind ye him, burn ye him in the blazing fire, and make him march in a chain whereof the length is seventy cubits."
- Holy Qur'an (69:30-32)
Then he should cry:
"O' Thou are the most compassionate, and Thou Who are the shelter of unsheltered ones!"
And should cry:
"Where is Your vast blessing? Where is Your infinite forgiveness? Where are Your love and benevolence?"
Then he should cry, should remember His patience and kindness, should think about His infinite forgiveness and generosity, and if Satan wants to make him hopeless should tell him: 'you, with all these sinning and transgressions can't be hopeless about Allah's blessing and forgiveness, which belongs especially to righteous ones and you are not among them.' He shouldn't pay attention to his words, don't let his whispers effect his heart, turn his face from him, take refuge in Allah, (the Glorious, the Exalted), and should pay more attention to his prayer, hopes and needs, and in a hopeful manner should speak to Allah (the Glorious, the Exalted): it is far away from Your benevolence and magnanimity to turn Your face away from someone needy like me, and not to forgive a destitute and helpless one like me who has stretched his needy hands towards Your threshold, has resorted to Your most favourite ones, with tearful eyes, and heart and body trembling with fear.
Then becoming further hopeful, he should submit his wants before Him, and whatever spiritual exalted position and sublime ranks, like enlightenment, love, union, faith, and piety could enter in his mind, he must beg from Him. And should repeat the following text as much as possible:
"O'! Thou Who is capable of doing whatever he pleases, and except Thee there is none, who could do whatever he desires. O'! Thou are the One Whose great generosities and large bounties are not expansive at all. O'! Thou Whose donations do not decrease anything (from His treasures), and Whose not giving away does not increase anything."
Then he should insists more about the same meanings and plead by saying:
"O' my Lord! if I do not deserve to request whatever I have requested from You, but Your generosity and benevolence is such and deserve to bestow upon me the grant of my needs. O' my Lord! Your recognition, which You Yourself have taught me encourages me, that I should desire my great needs from You, because, whatever You bestow upon Your servants and provide for them is not because they are worthy of them, and if there is such worthiness, even that worthiness is bestowed upon them by You, therefore, benevolence and welfare could not belong to anyone except You, and if such is the case, O' Lord! That worthiness and decency, which You bestowed upon Your righteous servants, bestow upon me too, so that I could also achieve this worthiness, whereby my prayers could receive Your acceptance and my desires get fulfilled.
O' Allah (the Glorious, the Exalted)! You are the one that whatever You do, no one can question You, and there is no one who could dare to raise a finger of criticism. Or could challenge You in Your Power and Reign, You are such that neither Your generosity have any limit and boundary, nor Your blessing have any end, therefore, O' Lord bestow upon me worthiness in accordance of Your Power, and make me rich with Your generosity. O' Thou are the most generous one among the generous ones! O' Allah (the Glorious the Exalted)! If You want to punish me, instead, punish one of those who don't believe in Your divinity and keep enmity towards Your friends. Come on and punish him, but as far as I am concerned, can I find anyone else except You to pardon me? O' Lord! Would You deprive me from Your generosity ? Or there is no need for You to punish and take revenge but as far as I am concerned, I do need a lot of Your forgiveness and generosity.
O' my Lord! Your enemy as well as my enemy, Satan desires that I become deprived from Your supplication and prayer and, thus, become pessimistic and hopeless from Your blessing and generosities, but I, because of Your grace have turned off my face from him, and trampled over whatever he desired. Therefore, help and support me over him, because in spite of his whispering I didn't become hopeless and never turned off my face from You.
O' Lord! With my little comprehension about Your blessing and forgiveness as well as Your being needless and omnipotent, I don't believe that You will deprive from Your forgiveness and pardon, anyone of Your servants even the pagans except the enemies of your favourite ones who have oppressed your saints and tortured them but as regards to the punishment of others, if it was not the surrender and obedience to Your book and Your prophet's words, I wouldn't have believed; that regarding the punishment of unbelievers, you have stated in your book that they will be punished; from the point of view of my reason - the reason which you have bestowed upon me - in case you decided to punish them to fulfil Your warning against them, You are not helpless to do so.
But if You don't act in accordance with Your warning, by not punishing them, then even in that case, there would not be the least interference in Your Exalted essence and perfection. O' Lord! I presume so about the unbelievers, then how come shouldn't be hopeful about the believers who have taken refuge in Thee, have put their trust in Your generosity, and desire Your union, even though they might have sinned and acted disobediently?
O' my Lord! My Master! Sinning is from the servant and forgiveness is from the Master, especially, if the Master happens to be Exalted and beneficent like Thee. O' my Lord! This is what I presume about Your generosity and kindness towards Your servants, during other months, days, and nights, and therefore, I am hopeful. But during the Holy Month of Ramadhan on the Night of Power, which You have created for the sake Your special generosities and blessings; have bestowed a special favour upon Your servants; have given glad-tidings of Your forgiveness and mercy to the sinners; have opened the gates of Your benevolence and magnanimity towards all; have spread the tablecloth of your forgiveness and blessing for all; can I say except that - You will reward everyone with pardon, forgiveness, love and blessing; would grant their wants; would accept their prayers; would reward their evils with goods, and their sins with good deeds; and would let Your greatness and magnanimity to surpass their limits - what else can I presume?
This is my optimistic presumption towards You, and that is my favourable opinion about Your kindness and magnanimity; You Yourself are knowledgeable, that Your great Prophet has given what glad-tidings for those, who have favourable opinion about you."
Comments About the Prayer's Etiquette
Of course, it should not be forgotten that these supplications should be recited in the state of being completely awake, aware, conscious, and with a live heart; blessed is the one whose recital of this prayers with a live heart is influential upon his heart and soul; whatever is uttered by his tongue is also accepted by his heart and soul; that if for these supplications there do not exist any reward and blessing, except only this effect upon his heart and soul, even then it merits, and one should mobilize all his energy, strength, efforts, and all over crusade with heart and soul in order to accomplish this effect. But in addition to that for each word and phrase there are rewards, blessings, and illuminations - the rewards and blessings which no one has the capacity to measure.
Therefore, the one whose recital of these supplications do not produce any effect upon his heart and soul, at least should recite them consciously, should ponder about their meaning, must endeavour in order to comprehend as to what did he read, what did he say, and what did he want, lest he recite them with negligence with the tip of his tongue, like the magicians who utter nonsensical, meaningless words from the tip of their tongue, without knowing what is being uttered, what is said, and what is wanted by him.
And the one whose recital of these supplications neither influences his heart and soul, nor he hesitates in their recital; does not even care to understand their meanings, instead of reciting these supplications, should cry about his own worst condition and should shed tears upon this heavy tragedy - the tragedy of not receiving divine grace in supplications; his being unable to appreciate these supplications, and not being able to be influenced by them, should recite the following sentence several times:
"We are from Allah and towards him is our return. "
- Holy Qur'an (2:156)
which is recited at the time of occurrence of a tragedy. Further he should say:
"I seek refuge in Allah from this tragedy, which is horrible and would bring a severe punishment."
In a divine tradition, it has been mentioned about the characteristics of the people of the next world:
"Their prayers ascend upwards and reaches Allah, their words are accepted, and Allah loves to listen to their prayers the way a mother likes her own child."
Therefore, we should be careful and should ponder about this sentence:
"Their prayers ascend upwards."
Is not it shameful that the prayers which ascend upward should be recited from the tip of the tongue, while the heart and soul remain occupied in worldly affairs? Is not it disgusting that we seek Allah (the Glorious, the Exalted), from tongue and seek world by heart -the world which in traditions has been called Allah's enemy as well as the enemy of His friends? Is not it helplessness and disobedience that our tongue's tip remains busy in his remembrance while the heart takes off towards the world? Does there exist any greater tragedy than this one?
3. Open the Holy Qur'an, recite its special prayer, place it upon your head. and your intention in doing so, in addition to showing respect and regard to the Holy Qur'an, should be that through this means, reason and thoughts become strengthened and the illumination of reason becomes perfected with the illumination of the Holy Qur'an.
4. The salutations (ziyarat) of the Lord of the Martyrs, Imam al-Hussein [a] should be recited during this night, some other ziyarat which have been which have been narrated by the Sinless Imams should also be recited.
5. the recitals of surah al-Rum, al-Ankabut and al-Dukhan from the Holy Qur'an should not be forgotten on the night of 23rd Ramadhan.
6. The special supplications which have been narrated should be recited, especially, the supplications, which has been quoted in the book of Iqbal from some authentic books and begins as follows:
"O' Allah! If, about this night and the nights before, there is a doubt or reluctance in their being the Nights of Power, but regarding, Thee, Thou unity (towhid), and that because of Your Exaltedness and Magnanimity, You will purify your servant's deeds there is absolutely no doubt."
If, one could discover truly the meanings of the above content that Allah (the Glorious, the Exalted), and in His unity there is absolutely no doubt and contradiction - indeed he has received a good reward for his worship of this night. Also, one should not forget recital of a short prayer which has been mentioned in the book of Iqbal quoted from Imam al-Sajjad [a] and which starts with:
"O Intrinsic Fundamental (Secret) evident in His Expose intelligible expression (Manifest), and O Rational Exposition (Manifest) leading to His genuine quintessential (Secret)."[37]
Which, while being short is a very subtle Monotheistic prayer worth reciting.
[37] This prayer has also been mentioned in the book 'Mafatih al-Jinan' of Haj Sheikh Abbas al-Qummi in the deeds of the 23rd night of Ramadhan [Author].
source : http://www.al-islam.org
