Josef and Zulaykh¡
Some scholars have quoted that as Zulaykh¡[1] misused her power and accused Josef to adultery, in order to acquit herself, Josef was imprisoned. But out of her intense affection toward Josef, Zulaykh¡ wished to hear his voice and weeping. So she ordered one of her servants to wipe Josef. Seeing Josef’s divine and enlightened face, the servant could not obey the order. He thus put a thick piece of cloth on Josef and then wiped him. Zulaykh¡ did not hear Josef’s cry after a while, so she ordered the servant to wipe him even harder. The servant told Josef: “I think she may take me into trouble for disobeying her, so forgive me for wiping your naked body.” Josef generously accepted, and after being wiped, he cried loudly and painfully and it was enjoyed by Zulaykh¡.
Prophet Jonah’s People
When the people of prophet Jonah (a.s) were informed that he has left them alone and saw the signs of imminent punishment, they got convinced of the incoming chastisement. A kind scholar told them that the only way to their salvation is apologizing, beseeching, repenting, and confessing to the sins before the Almighty. With such state, all of them, men and women, the old and the young wore old clothes and went toward the desert on bare feet.
Men on one side and women from the other side were repenting and weeping and even the animals were accompanying them. They were all confessing to Allah’s unity, beseeched to Him, showed regret, repented from their disbelief, and some of them said: “O Lord! Jonah had told us to free the slaves so that we will be rewarded. He had told us to help any poor we saw; now we are Your poor slaves who have no one except You, so help us!”
Because their prayer was accepted by Allah they were forgiven and saved from the punishment cloud and storm. They were all placed under the clouds of Allah’s mercy and their repentance was accepted. So they joyfully returned to their city and resumed their ordinary work and life.
Anyway, turning to Allah, apologizing, regret, asking for forgiveness and confessing to sins are all real elements of attracting Allah’s forgiveness and mercy.
اللّهُمَّ فَاقْبَلْ عُذْري وَارْحَمْ شِدَّةَ ضُرّي وَفُكَّني مِنْ شَدِّ وَثاقي، يا رَبِّ ارْحَمْ ضَعْفَ بَدَني وَرِقَّةَ جِلْدي وَدِقَّةَ عَظْمي، يا مَنْ بَدَأَ خَلْقي وَذِكْري وَتَرْبِيَتي وَبِرّى وَتَغْذِيَتي هَبْني لإِبتِداءِ كَرَمِكَ وَسالِفِ بِرِّكَ بي
O Allah, so accept my excuse, have Mercy upon the severity of my affliction and release me from tightness of my fetters. My Lord, have mercy upon the weakness of my body, the thinness of my skin and the frailty of my bones. O You who gave rise into my creation, to the remembrance of me, to the nurture of me, to the goodness toward me and to nourishment of me, bestow upon me for the sake of Your having given rise to me with generosity and Your previous goodness to me!
The Presence of the Beloved
In this part of the supplication, the lover, pious, truthful and deserving servant feels that the doors of Allah’s Mercy have become open to him and He is ready to hear His servant’s prayer, so the servant states: accept my excuse that was due to my ignorance, transgression, and weakness against my soul. Now that by Your Mercy, my youth transgression has terminated, I have acquired knowledge, have become released of my whims and strong against wrongdoing I leave committing sins, escape from Satan, turn to Your presence, and try to compensate for my sinful past.
O Lord! My bad state is due to pride, greed, jealousy, stinginess, hypocrisy, and other vices. If this bad state remains in my soul, it would turn into a sinister disease, with no cure. So have mercy on my bad state, so that my bad state would turn to the best state of possessing all the virtues. By Your Mercy, pride is replaced by humility, greed by contentment, jealousy by emulation, stinginess by generosity, and hypocrisy by sincerity.
O Lord! Satanic chains are put into my mind, heart, soul, and organs, preventing me from worshipping, obedience, and doing positive deeds and seeking Your path. Now that by Your own Mercy, I am weeping and beseeching to You, stretch out the hand of Your Power, release me from all these chains of satanic desires, and bring me to the great world of freedom.
If You have no Mercy on me in this world, not releasing me from the fetters of carnal soul and moral vices, I will be in fetters of punishment in the Hereafter; the fetters imprisoning and taking into Hell the disbelievers, and wrongdoers, as You have mentioned in Holy Qur’¡n.
إِنَّا أَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَافِرِينَ سَلاسِلا وَأَغْلالاً وَسَعِيرًا.
We have prepared for the unbelievers chains and shackles and a burning fire. (76:4)
خُذُوهُ فَغُلُّوهُ. ثُمَّ الْجَحِيمَ صَلُّوهُ. ثُمَّ فِي سِلْسِلَةٍ ذَرْعُهَا سَبْعُونَ ذِرَاعًا فَاسْلُكُوهُ. إِنَّهُ كَانَ لا يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ الْعَظِيمِ.
Lay hold on him, then put a chain on him, then cast him into the burning fire, then thrust him into a chain the length of which is seventy cubits. Surely he did not believe in Allah, the Great. (69:30-33)
If I am not released from my soul fetters, there comes a day when there would be no release for me. Those who are free of satanic fetters are free to do any goodness eagerly and easily. And at their departure from this world, by hearing the divine call of:
ارْجِعِي إِلَى رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَرْضِيَّةً.
Return to your Lord, well-pleased with Him, well-pleasing Him. (89:28)
The soul would fly toward their Lord, remaining under His Mercy forever. But the prisoners of the devil fetters cannot obey Allah or do good. They are imprisoned by Satan in this world and would leave the world with much sorrow and regret. In this state, they feel they have lost everything and are in mere poverty. Their wealth, positions, and children are of no use to them and they are drawn toward the Hell by the satanic fetters!
The Wonderful Tale of H¡r£n’s Death
When H¡r£n, the `Abb¡sid ruler, got seriously ill in Khurasan, he had a doctor come from Tous. Then he ordered to give him his urine sample along with those of some other patients and healthy people. The doctor examined the samples one by one until it came to H¡r£n’s. So he said: “Tell the owner of this sample to prepare his will, because his strength has weakened drastically.” Hearing this, H¡r£n got disappointed of his life and recited an Arabic poem meaning: “The doctor has no treatment and defense against a coming death, otherwise he would not die of the disease he has cured before?!”
Then he was informed that the rumor of his death is spreading among people. Therefore he wanted to get on a horse and come among the people, but the animal’s knees got weak suddenly. So H¡r£n said: “get me off the animal because the rumors are apparently true.” Then he ordered to bring him some shrouds and he chose one of them. Afterward he said: “Prepare a grave for me beside my bed.” Then he looked at the grave and recited these Qur’¡nic verses:
مَا أَغْنَى عَنِّي مَالِيه. هَلَكَ عَنِّي سُلْطَانِيه.
“My wealth has availed me nothing, my authority is gone away from me. (96:28-29)”
I am a sinner whose wealth does not save him from Allah’s chastisement. Not only my wealth did not rescue me, but also I lost my power and kingdom.[2]
My Allah! Have Mercy upon the weakness of my body, the thinness of my skin, and frailty of my bones. If the fetters of this world remain on me, they would turn into fiery fetters in the Hereafter. Then I should bear them on all my organs despite my weak body, thin skin, and frail bones. In such state, there would be no death for me and I should remain deep in Hell and burn!
The Exact Estimation
We should be like the man named Towba, who, as Shaykh Bah¡’¢ has narrated, always was estimating his own deeds. When he was sixty, he counted all days of his life, which was 21500 days. So he said: “Woe on me! If I have not done but one sin every day, I have done at least 21500 sins until now. Am I to visit my Lord in such a sinful state?” So he cried loudly and fell down to the ground and died![3]
My Lord! Everything I am, I am Your creature, under Your dominance, Your Will, and Your Intention; I have no escape. O Lord Who have created me from the soil. You had regard for me while I was nothing worthy of note. Then You trained me and had Mercy and Blessings on me. Now I have come to Your presence weeping, broken, humble, to ask You to forgive me because of Your previous goodness and generosity toward me!
source : Allamah Husayn Ansariyan
