Rain of Mercy
Imam Sadiq (a.s) has narrated from his father from his grandfather: People of K£fah came to Am¢r al-Mu’min¢n (a.s), complained about lack of rain and famine and asked him: “Call upon Allah to send us rain!” Am¢r al-Mu’min¢n (a.s) told Imam °usayn (a.s): “Ask Allah for rain!” Imam °usayn (a.s) praised Allah and His Messenger (s.a) and called upon Allah: “O the bestower of blessings and descender of rain! Send bountiful rain for us to save Your servants from inability and revitalize dead lands! Amen! O Lord of the worlds!”
When his prayer finished, suddenly it rained heavily. An Arab came from another region of K£fah and said: “I saw so much water in hills and valleys that it was as if the water waved!”[1]
O Allah! You Satisfied the thirst of people of K£fah with the prayer of Your sincere servant; Grant the rain of Your Mercy to clean the sins from our Letter of Deeds; save us from the chastisement of our sins; grow the plant of joyful worship in us; surely we have come to You with hope of Your Mercy, to apologize and to ask You, and we know that You would certainly forgive us.
Hope of Mercy
A young man was passing an alley when he saw a bird on a tree branch. He shot an arrow toward it but it hit the son of garden’s owner and killed him. Some innocent passers-by were arrested from around the garden. The shooter young man came to the garden and asked: “What’s the matter?” He was answered: “Someone has shot this boy with an arrow.” The young man said: “Bring me the arrow to tell you.” Then he said: “I threw this arrow for hunting but it hit this boy. I am the murderer.” The boy’s father said: “I know you did it accidentally, young man! But why did you confess to your fault?” The young man answered: “In hope of your mercy; so that you would forgive me because of my confession.” So the father forgave him[2].
O the most Generous of the generous! We now confess to all our sins so that You would forgive us by Your indefinite Mercy.
يا سَريعَ الرِّضا إِغْفِرْ لِمَنْ لا يَمْلِكُ إلاّ الدُّعاءَ فَإِنَّكَ فَعّالٌ لِما تَشاءُ، يا مَنِ اسْمُهُ دَواءٌ وَذِكْرُهُ شِفاءٌ وَطاعَتُهُ غِنىً، إِرْحَمْ مَنْ رَأْسُ مالِهِ الرَّجاءُ وَسِلاحُهُ الْبُكاءُ، يا سابِغَ النِّعَمِ، يا دافِعَ النِّقَمِ، يا نُورَ الْمُسْتَوْحِشينَ فِي الظُّلَمِ، يا عالِماً لا يُعَلَّمُ، صَلِّ عَلى مُحَمَّد وَآلِ مُحَمَّد وَافْعَلْ بي ما أَنْتَ أَهْلُهُ وَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلى رَسُولِهِ وَالاَْئِمَّةِ الْمَيامينَ مِنْ آلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْليماً كَثيراً
O He whose pleasure is quickly achieved! Forgive him who owns nothing but supplication, for You do what You will. O He whose Name is a remedy, whose remembrance is a Cure, and whose obedience is Wealth! Have mercy upon him whose capital is hope and whose weapon is tears! O Fountain of blessings! O Repeller of adversities! O Light of those who are lonely in darkness! O Knower who was never taught! Bless Mu¦ammad and his progeny and do with me what is worthy of You! And Allah bless His messenger and Holy Imams of his progeny and give them abundant peace!
Divine Truth and Minute Points
Allah’s pleasure is quickly achieved of a servant who is under His wrath, due to wrongdoing, and has resorted to beseeching and repentance, because Allah’s Mercy, Love, and Generosity is infinite. That’s why someone who has committed sins for years, not spending a single day or night without lapses, is forgiven by only a moment of repentance and regret and his few deeds are accepted and attended to!
Therefore, Am¢r al-Mu’min¢n (a.s), after the divine phrase, “O He whose pleasure is quickly achieved!” states: Forgive him, who owns nothing but supplication, because a real sincere supplication implies the supplicant’s poorness and meanness, and that he owns no means of worship, obedience, or good deeds for being forgiven; that he owns no benefit or loss; he cannot remove any evil or gain any good. The supplicant has not come to Allah’s Presence but with Your assistance and Mercy. If Your mercy had not attracted him, the supplicant could not utter the supplication phrases, and weep for some moments.
Such a servant is of course worthy of Your Mercy and Benevolence. He should call upon You: “The Generous does not ask a poor servant about what he has brought, rather He asks about what he wants. You have said that if the servant comes one step toward Me, I would come to him ten steps. My Lord! I am so much in need and disabled that cannot come toward You even as much as one step. You come to me one more step so that I would get free of satanic desires and carnal soul and get subject to Your Mercy.”
O the most Generous of the Generous! It’s been said that Am¢r al-Mu’min¢n (a.s) wrote on the burial shroud of Salm¡n: “I entered on the Generous One with no provisions and no healthy heart, because coming to the Generous One with provisions is the worst thing.”[3]
O Lord! I am a poor servant coming to You, not bringing anything worthy of Your Presence. Have Mercy upon me until all my sins are pardoned, my body is forbidden from the Fire, my way is opened to the Paradise, and I reach the peak of prosperity, that is Your pleasure.
O the Holy Being Who do what You will out of Your expediency, justice, mercy, and wisdom and no one can oppose it.
About the fact that Allah’s Name is a Remedy, the ascetic and righteous servants have mentioned some points. Some of them say that this Name means the same recorded names which have various benefits and impressions. One of their advantages is that when the supplicant calls his Lord with His especial Names, He would answer the supplicant.
وَلِلَّهِ الأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَى فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا.
And Allah's are the best names, therefore call on Him thereby. (7:180)
When the poor servant raises his hands to the Lord, hoping for His attention, and calls with painful heart and sincere tongue, among the people or in his own privacy: “O Allah!”, “O the Merciful!”, “O the Generous!”, “O Lord!”, and “O the most merciful of the merciful!”, it is way too far from a Generous Hearer not to respond him.
The traditions state that Allah’s Names are equal with an infallible Imam or a perfect human that is the manifestation of the meaning and concept of the Names. Anyone with a pain resorts to them and would be healed.
In fact by resorting to the perfect individuals one can get perfection and prosperity and be saved from disbelief, moral and practical vices.
A perfect human is, in reality, Allah’s Exalted Name that is the center of the world, just as it is stated about the twelfth Imam, al-°ujjah Ibn al-°asan (a.s):
وَهُوَ الَّذِي بِبَقَائِهِ بَقِيَتِ الدُّنْيَا، وَبِيُمْنِهِ رُزِقَ الوَرَى، وَبِوُجُودِهِ ثَبَتَتِ الأرْضُ وَالسَّمَاءُ.
The existence of the world is related to his existence, humans obtain their sustenance by his blessing, and the stability of the heavens and the earth is based on him.
Anyway, the lover is familiar with the beloved’s name and goes to His presence resorting to this Name. He cures his pains by His Mercy and nothing in the world is sweater than saying His Name and hearing it.
It has been narrated that Prophet Jesus (a.s) had many sheep. A group of angels thought that his love for the Almighty is related to his love for his wealth. So for making them aware of the truth, the Almighty sent Gabriel to go on top of a hill and call: “subb£¦un qudd£sun rabbu al-mal¡’ikati warr£¦i (Glorious and Holy is the Lord of the angels and the spirit!)” Hearing this, Jesus (a.s) got restless and ran to the hill top in search of the caller, but found no one. So he said: “O the nice caller! If you utter the name of my beloved once more, I will grant you half of my sheep!” Gabriel called Allah’s Name once again. Prophet Jesus was eagerly impatient and when he returned to his normal state, cried out: “Call Allah’s Name once more so that I would give you all my sheep!” Gabriel did so again. Then Jesus (a.s) cried and said: “I have nothing left to sacrifice for His Name, so come and take my life!”
O the beloved Lord! Have Mercy upon the one whose capital is hope and whose weapon is tears, so that he would be rescued by Your Mercy from any poorness, Your Name and remembrance be the cure for his pains, and Your worship and obedience make him rich.
O Allah! O Lord! O Generous! O Beloved! O the most Honorable of the honorable! O the most Merciful of the merciful! O Fountain of blessings! O Repeller of adversities! O Light of those who are lonely in the darkness! O Knower Who was never taught! Bless Mu¦ammad and his progeny!
source : `Allamah Husayn Ansariyan
