As-Sahifa Al-Kamilah Al-Sajjadiyya

Preface: Concerning the Chain of Authorities of the Sahifa

1. حَدَّثَنَا السَّيِّدُ الْأَجَلُّ ، نَجْمُ الدِّينِ ، بَهَاءُ

2. قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا الشَّيْخُ السَّعِيدُ ، أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ

3. قَالَ سَمِعْتُهَا عَنِ الشَّيْخِ الصَّدُوقِ ، أَبِي مَنْصُورٍ

4. قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا الشَّرِيفُ ، أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ جَعْفَرُ بْنُ

5. قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عُمَرَ بْنِ خَطَّابٍ

6. قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي خَالِي عَلِيُّ بْنُ النُّعْمَانِ الْأَعْلَمُ

7.قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي عُمَيْرُ بْنُ مُتَوَكِّلٍ الثَّقَفِيُّ الْبَلْخِيُّ

8. قَالَ لَقِيتُ يَحْيَى بْنَ زَيْدِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ

9. فَقَالَ لِي مِنْ أَيْنَ أَقْبَلْتَ قُلْتُ مِنَ الْحَجِّ

10. فَسَأَلَنِي عَنْ أَهْلِهِ وَ بَنِي عَمِّهِ بِالْمَدِينَةِ وَ

11. فَقَالَ لِي قَدْ كَانَ عَمِّي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ عَلَيْهِ

12. قَالَ فَهَلْ سَمِعْتَهُ يَذْكُرُ شَيْئاً مِنْ أَمْرِي قُلْتُ

13. قَالَ بِمَ ذَكَرَنِي خَبِّرْنِي ، قُلْتُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ مَا

14. فَقَالَ أَ بِالْمَوْتِ تُخَوِّفُنِي هَاتِ مَا سَمِعْتَهُ ،

15. فَتَغَيَّرَ وَجْهُهُ وَ قَالَ يَمْحُوا اللَّهُ ما يَشاءُ وَ

16. فَقُلْتُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاءَكَ إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ النَّاسَ إِلَى ابْنِ

17. فَقَالَ إِنَّ عَمِّي مُحَمَّدَ بْنَ عَلِيٍّ وَ ابْنَهُ جَعْفَراً

18. فَقُلْتُ يَا ابْنَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أَ هُمْ أَعْلَمُ أَمْ أَنْتُمْ

19. ثُمَّ قَالَ لِي أَ كَتَبْتَ مِنِ ابْنِ عَمِّي شَيْئاً قُلْتُ

20. قَالَ أَرِنِيهِ فَأَخْرَجْتُ إِلَيْهِ وُجُوهاً مِنَ الْعِلْمِ وَ

21. فَنَظَرَ فِيهِ يَحْيَى حَتَّى أَتَى عَلَى آخِرِهِ ، وَ قَالَ لِي

22. فَقَالَ أَمَا لَأُخْرِجَنَّ إِلَيْكَ صَحِيفَةً مِنَ الدُّعَاءِ

23. قَالَ عُمَيْرٌ قَالَ أَبِي فَقُمْتُ إِلَيْهِ فَقَبَّلْتُ رَأْسَهُ

24. فَرَمَى صَحِيفَتِيَ الَّتِي دَفَعْتُهَا إِلَيْهِ إِلَى غُلَامٍ

25. قَالَ مُتَوَكِّلٌ فَنَدِمْتُ عَلَى مَا فَعَلْتُ وَ لَمْ أَدْرِ مَا

26. ثُمَّ دَعَا بِعَيْبَةٍ فَاسْتَخْرَجَ مِنْهَا صَحِيفَةً مُقْفَلَةً

27. وَ قَالَ وَ اللَّهِ يَا مُتَوَكِّلُ لَوْ لَا مَا ذَكَرْتَ مِنْ

28. وَ لَكِنِّي أَعْلَمُ أَنَّ قَوْلَهُ حَقٌّ أَخَذَهُ عَنْ آبَائِهِ

29. فَاقْبِضْهَا وَ اكْفِنِيهَا وَ تَرَبَّصْ بِهَا فَإِذَا قَضَى

30. قَالَ الْمُتَوَكِّلُ فَقَبَضْتُ الصَّحِيفَةَ فَلَمَّا قُتِلَ

31. . وَ قَالَ رَحِمَ اللَّهُ ابْنَ عَمِّي وَ أَلْحَقَهُ بِآبَائِهِ وَ

32. وَ اللَّهِ يَا مُتَوَكِّلُ مَا مَنَعَنِي مِنْ دَفْعِ الدُّعَاءِ

33. ثُمَّ قَالَ لِابْنِهِ قُمْ يَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ فَأْتِنِي بِالدُّعَاءِ

34. فَقَبَّلَهَا أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ وَ وَضَعَهَا عَلَى عَيْنِهِ وَ

35. فَقُلْتُ يَا ابْنَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ إِنْ رَأَيْتَ أَنْ أَعْرِضَهَا

36. فَنَظَرْتُ وَ إِذَا هُمَا أَمْرٌ وَاحِدٌ وَ لَمْ أَجِدْ حَرْفاً

37. ثُمَّ اسْتَأْذَنْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ فِي

38. فَلَمَّا نَهَضْتُ لِلِقَائِهِمَا قَالَ لِي مَكَانَكَ .

39. ثُمَّ وَجَّهَ إِلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ فَجَاءَا فَقَالَ

40. فَقَالَا رَحِمَكَ اللَّهُ قُلْ فَقَوْلُكَ الْمَقْبُولُ

41. فَقَالَ لا تَخْرُجَا بِهَذِهِ الصَّحِيفَةِ مِنَ الْمَدِينَةِ

42. قَالَا وَ لِمَ ذَاكَ

43. قَالَ إِنَّ ابْنَ عَمِّكُمَا خَافَ عَلَيْهَا أَمْراً أَخَافُهُ

44. قَالَا إِنَّمَا خَافَ عَلَيْهَا حِينَ عَلِمَ أَنَّهُ يُقْتَلُ .

45. فَقَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ وَ أَنْتُمَا

46. فَقَامَا وَ هُمَا يَقُولَانِ لَا حَوْلَ وَ لَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا

47. فَلَمَّا خَرَجَا قَالَ لِي أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ

48. قُلْتُ نَعَمْ أَصْلَحَكَ اللَّهُ قَدْ قَالَ لِيَ ابْنُ عَمِّكَ يَحْيَى ذَلِكَ 49. فَقَالَ يَرْحَمُ اللَّهُ يَحْيَى ، إِنَّ أَبِي

50. فَرَأَى فِي مَنَامِهِ رِجَالًا يَنْزُونَ عَلَى مِنْبَرِهِ نَزْوَ

51. فَاسْتَوَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ آلِهِ

52. فَأَتَاهُ جِبْرِيلُ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ بِهَذِهِ الْآيَةِ : { وَ

53. قَالَ يَا جِبْرِيلُ أَ عَلَى عَهْدِي يَكُونُونَ وَ فِي زَمَنِي

54. قَالَ لَا ، وَ لَكِنْ تَدُورُ رَحَى الْإِسْلَامِ مِنْ مُهَاجَرِكَ

55. قَالَ وَ أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فِي ذَلِكَ : { إِنَّا

56. قَالَ فَأَطْلَعَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ نَبِيَّهُ عَلَيْهِ

57. فَلَوْ طَاوَلَتْهُمُ الْجِبَالُ لَطَالُوا عَلَيْهَا حَتَّى يَأْذَنَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى بِزَوَالِ مُلْكِهِمْ ، وَ هُمْ فِي ذَلِكَ يَسْتَشْعِرُونَ عَدَاوَتَنَا أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ وَ بُغْضَنَا . 58.

59. قَالَ وَ أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فِيهِمْ : { أَ لَمْ تَرَ إِلَى

60. وَ نِعْمَةُ اللَّهِ مُحَمَّدٌ وَ أَهْلُ بَيْتِهِ ، حُبُّهُمْ

61. فَأَسَرَّ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ آلِهِ ذَلِكَ

62. قَالَ ثُمَّ قَالَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ مَا

63. قَالَ الْمُتَوَكِّلُ بْنُ هَارُونَ ثُمَّ أَمْلَى عَلَيَّ أَبُو

64. وَ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْمُفَضَّلِ قَالَ وَ حَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدُ

65. قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُسْلِمٍ

66. قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي أَبِي عَنْ عُمَيْرِ بْنِ مُتَوَكِّلٍ الْبَلْخِيِّ

67. قَالَ لَقِيتُ يَحْيَى بْنَ زَيْدِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ عَلَيْهِمَا

68. وَ فِي رِوَايَةِ الْمُطَهَّرِيِّ ذِكْرُ الْأَبْوَابِ وَ هِيَ :

69. وَ بَاقِي الْأَبْوَابِ بِلَفْظِ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْحَسَنِيِّ

70. حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَبْدِ اللَّهِ جَعْفَرُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ

71. قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عُمَرَ بْنِ خَطَّابٍ

72. قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي خَالِي عَلِيُّ بْنُ النُّعْمَانِ الْأَعْلَمُ

73. قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي عُمَيْرُ بْنُ مُتَوَكِّلٍ الثَّقَفِيُّ

1-The greatest sayyid, Najm al-Din Baha' al-Sharaf Abu l-Hasan Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn 'Umar ibn Yahya al-'Alawi al-Hasani[^1] (God have mercy upon him) related to us:[^2]
2-He said: The felicitous shaykh, Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Shahriyar[^3], the treasurer of the treasure-house of our master, the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (upon him be peace) told us in the month of Rabi' I in the year 516 [May-June 1122 CE] while [the Sahifa] was being read before him and I was listening.
3-He said: I heard it [being read] before the truthful shaykh Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz al-'Ukbari the Just[^4] (God have mercy upon him) by Abu l-Mufaddal Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn al-Muttalib al-Shaybani.[^5]
4-He said: Al-Sharif Abu 'Abd Allah Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Ja'far ibn al-Hasan ibn Ja'far ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn Amir al-Mu'minin 'Ali ibn Abi Talib[^6] (upon them be peace) related to us.
5-He said: 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar ibn Khattab al-Zayyat[^7] related to us in the year 265 [878-9].
6-He said: My maternal uncle 'Ali ibn al-Nu'man al-A'lam[^8] related to me.
7-He said: 'Umayr ibn Mutawakkil al-Thaqafi al-Balkhi related to us from his father Mutawakkil ibn Harun.[^9]
8-He said: I met Yahya ibn Zayd ibn 'Ali (upon him be peace) when he was going to Khurasan after his father was slain and I greeted him.[^10]
9-He said to me: From whence are you coming? I said: From the hajj.
10-He asked me about his household and the sons of his paternal uncle in Medina and he pressed me urgently about [Imam] Ja'far ibn Muhammad (upon him be peace), so I gave him news of him and of them and of their sorrow over his father Zayd ibn 'Ali (upon him be peace).
11-He said to me: My paternal uncle [Imam] Muhammad [al-Baqir] ibn 'Ali (upon him be peace) advised my father not to revolt and he let him know what would be the outcome of his affair if he revolted and left Medina. Have you met the son of my paternal uncle, Ja'far ibn Muhammad (upon him be peace)?
I said: Yes.
12-He said: Did you hear him mention anything about my affair?
I said: Yes.
13-He said: What did he say about me? Tell me!
I said: May I be made your sacrifice! I do not want to confront you with what I heard from him.
14-So he said: Will you frighten me with death? Tell me what you heard!
I said: I heard him saying that you would be slain and crucified as your father was slain and crucified.
15-His face changed colour and he said: God erases whatsoever He will, and He establishes, and with Him is the Mother of the Book![^11] O Mutawakkil! God has supported this affair through us and appointed for us knowledge and the sword. These two are combined in us, while the sons of our paternal uncle have been singled out only for knowledge.
16-I said: May I be made your sacrifice! Surely I see people inclining more to the son of your paternal uncle, Ja'far (upon him be peace) than to you and your father.
17-He said: Surely my paternal uncle Muhammad ibn 'Ali and his son Ja'far (upon them both be peace) summon people to life, but we summon them to death.
18-I said: O son of the Messenger of God! Have they more knowledge, or have you?
19-He looked toward the ground for a time. Then he lifted his head and said: All of us have knowledge, but they know everything we know, and we do not know everything they know. Then he said to me: Have you written anything from the son of my paternal uncle?
I said: Yes.
20-He said: Show it to me. So I brought out various kinds of knowledge, and I brought out for him a supplication which had been dictated to me by Abu 'Abd Allah (upon him be peace). He had related to me that his father, Muhammad ibn 'All (upon them both be peace) had dictated it to him and had told him that it was one of the supplications of his father, 'Ali ibn al-Husayn (upon them both be peace), from Al-Sahifat al-Kamila.[^12]
21-Yahya looked at it until he came to its end. He said to me: Will you permit me to copy it?
I said: O son of the Messenger of God! Do you ask permission for that which belongs to all of you?
22-He said: Truly I will bring out for you a sahifa with the Perfect Supplications, which my father had in safekeeping from his father. My father counselled me to safeguard it and to withhold it from those unworthy of it.
23-'Umayr said: My father [Mutawakkil] said: So I stood up before him, kissed him on the head, and said to him: By God, O son of the Messenger of God! I profess the religion of God through love for you and obedience toward you! I hope that He will favour me in my life and my death with your friendship.
24-So he tossed the page of mine which I had given to him to a servant who was with him and said: Write this supplication with a beautiful, clear script, and give it to me. Perhaps I will memorize it, for I had been seeking it from Ja'far (God safeguard him) and he withheld it from me.
25-Mutawakkil said: So I regretted what I had done and did not know what I should do. Abu 'Abd Allah had not ordered me not to hand it over to anyone.
26-Then he called for a box and brought out from it a sahifa locked and sealed.[^13] He looked at the seal, kissed it, and wept. Then he broke it and undid the lock. He opened the sahifa, placed it upon his eyes, and passed it across his face.
27-He said: By God, O Mutawakkil, were it not for the words you mentioned from the son of my paternal uncle - that I will be slain and crucified - I would not hand this over to you and would be niggardly with it.
28-But I know that his word is the truth which he has taken from his fathers and that it will be verified. So I fear lest knowledge like this fall to the Umayyads and they hide it and store it in their treasuries for themselves.
29-So take it, guard it for me, and wait with it. Then, when God has accomplished in my affair and the affair of those people what He will accomplish, it will be a trust from me with you to be taken to the sons of my paternal uncle, Muhammad and Ibrahim,[^14] the two sons of 'Abd Allah ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali (upon the [last] two of them be peace). They will undertake this affair after me.
30-Mutawakkil said: So I took the Sahifa. when Yahya ibn Zayd was slain, I went to Medina and met [Imam] Abu 'Abd Allah [Ja'far al-Sadiq] (upon him be peace). I related to him the news of Yahya. He wept and his feeling for him was intense.
31-He said: God have mercy on the son of my paternal uncle and join him to his fathers and grandfathers!
32-By God, O Mutawakkil, the only thing that prevented me from handing the supplication over to him was what he feared for the Sahifa of his father. Where is the Sahifa? I said: Here it is. He opened it and said:
This, by God, is the handwriting of my paternal uncle Zayd and the supplications of my grandfather 'Ali ibn al-Husayn (upon both of them be peace).
33-Then he said to his son: Stand up, O Isma'il,[^15] and bring out the supplications which I commanded you to memorize and safeguard!
34-So Isma'il stood up, and he brought out a Sahifa just like the Sahifa which Yahya ibn Zayd had handed over to me. Abu 'Abd Allah kissed it and placed it upon his eyes. He said: This is the handwriting of my father and the dictation of my grandfather (upon both of them be peace), while I was a witness.
35-I said: O son of the Messenger of God! Would it be proper for me to compare it to the Sahifa of Zayd and Yahya?
He gave me permission to do that and said: I consider you worthy of that.
36-I looked, and I found the two to be a single thing. I did not find a single letter to differ from what was in the other Sahifa.
37-Then I asked permission from Abu 'Abd Allah to hand over the Sahifa to the two sons of 'Abd Allah ibn al-Hasan.
He said: God commands you to deliver trusts back to their owners.^16 Yes, hand it over to them.
38-When I rose to go and meet them, he said to me: Stay in your place.
39-Then he sent for Muhammad and Ibrahim, and they came. He said: This is the inheritance of the son of your paternal uncle, Yahya, from his father. He has singled you out for it instead of his own brothers. But we place upon you a condition concerning it.
40-They said: God have mercy upon you! Tell us, for your word is accepted.
41-He said: Leave not Medina with this Sahifa!
42-They said: And why is that?
43-He said: The son of your paternal uncle feared for it what I fear for you.
44-They said: He only feared for it when he came to know he would be slain.
45-Abu 'Abd Allah (upon him be peace) said: As for you - feel not secure! By God, I know that you will revolt as he revolted, and you will be slain as he was slain!
46-They arose, while they were saying: 'There is no force and no strength save in God, the All-high, the All-mighty!'[^17]
47-When they revolted Abu 'Abd Allah (upon him be peace) said to me: O Mutawakkil! What did Yahya say to you? 'Surely my paternal uncle Muhammad ibn 'Ali and his son Ja'far summon the people to life, but we summon them to death.'
48-I said: Yes, God set you right! The son of your paternal uncle Yahya said that to me.
49-He said: God have mercy upon Yahya! My father related from his father from his grandfather from 'Ali (upon him be peace) that the Messenger of God (God bless him and his Household) was seized from his senses for an instant while he was on the pulpit.
50-He saw in a vision some men leaping upon his pulpit like monkeys and making the people retrace their steps.
51-So the Messenger of God sat down (God bless him and his Household), and sorrow was apparent on his face.
52-Then Gabriel (upon him be peace) came to him with this verse: And We made the vision that We showed thee and the tree cursed in the Qur'an, that is, the Umayyads, to be only a trial for men; and We frighten them, but it only increases them in great insolence.[^18]
53-He said: O Gabriel! Will they be in my period and my time?
54-He said: No, but the mill of Islam will turn from your migration, and it will come to a halt ten [years] after that. Then it will begin turning exactly thirty-five years after your migration, and come to a halt five [years] after that. Then there is no avoiding a mill at whose axis stands error. Then there will be the kingdom of the pharoahs.
55-He said: God sent down concerning that: Surely We sent it down on the Night of Decree. And what will teach thee what is the Night of Decree? The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months[^19] in which the Umayyads rule, during which time there will be no Night of Decree.
56-He said: So God gave news to His Prophet (upon him be peace) that the Umayyads would own sovereignty over this community and that their kingdom would last this period of time.
57-Were the mountains to vie with them, they would tower over the mountains until God (exalted is He) gave permission for the disappearance of their kingdom; and during this time they have made their banner enmity and hatred for us, the Folk of the House.
58-God gave news to His Prophet concerning what the Folk of the House of Muhammad, the people of love for them, and their partisans would meet from the Umayyads during their days and their kingdom.
59-He said: God sent down concerning them: Hast thou not seen those who exchanged the favour of God for unbelief, and caused the people to dwell in the abode of ruin? Gehenna, wherein they are roasted; an evil resting place!^20
60-The 'favour of God' is Muhammad and the People of his House. Love for them is a faith that takes into the Garden, and hate for them is an unbelief and a hypocrisy that takes into the Fire.
61-So the Messenger of God (God bless him and his Household) confided that to 'Ali and the Folk of his House.
62-He said: Then Abu 'Abd Allah said (upon him be peace): Before the rise of our Qa'im[^21] not one of us Folk of the House has revolted or will revolt to repel an injustice or to raise up a right, without affliction uprooting him and without his uprising increasing the adversity of us and our partisans.
63-Al-Mutawakkil ibn Harun said: Then Abu 'Abd Allah dictated to me the supplications, which are seventy-five chapters. Of them eleven chapters have escaped me, while I have safeguarded sixty-some.
64-Abu l-Mufaddal related to us.[^22] He said: Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Ruzbih Abu Bakr al-Mada'ini[^23] the scribe, who lived in Rahba, related to us in his house.
65-He said: Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muslim al-Mutahhari[^24] related to me.
66-He said: My father related to me from 'Umayr ibn Mutawakkil al-Balkhi from his father al-Mutawakkil ibn Harun.
67-He said: I met Yahya ibn Zayd ibn 'Ali (upon them both be peace). Then he mentioned the whole hadith including the vision of the Prophet (God bless him and his Household) which was mentioned by Ja'far ibn Muhammad from his fathers (God's blessings be upon them).
68-In al-Mutahhari's version, the chapter headings are mentioned. They are:

1. Praise of God

2. Blessing upon Muhammad and his Household

3. Blessing upon the Bearers of the Throne

4. Blessing upon the Attesters to the Messengers

5. 5.His Supplication for himself and the People under his Guardianship

6. His Supplication in the Morning and Evening

7. His Supplication in Worrisome Tasks

8. His Supplication in Seeking Refuge

9. His Supplication in Yearning

10. His Supplication in Seeking Asylum with God

11. His Supplication for Good Outcomes

12. His Supplication in Confession

13. His Supplication in Seeking Needs

14. His Supplication in Acts of Wrongdoing

15. His Supplication When Sick

16. His Supplication in Asking for Release from Sins

17. His Supplication Against Satan

18. His Supplication in Perils

19. His Supplication in Asking for Rain during a Drought

20. His Supplication on Noble Moral Traits

21. His Supplication when Something made him Sorrowful

22. His Supplication in Hardship

23. His Supplication for Well-Being

24. His Supplication for his Parents

25. His Supplication for his Children

26. His Supplication for his Neighbours and Friends

27. His Supplication for the People of the Frontiers

28. His Supplication in Fleeing

29. His Supplication when his Provision was Stinted

30. His Supplication for Help in Repaying Debt

31. His Supplication in Repentance

32. His Supplication in the Night Prayer

33. His Supplication in Asking for the Best

34. His Supplication when Afflicted

35. His Supplication in Satisfaction with the Decree of God

36. His Supplication upon Hearing Thunder

37. His Supplication in Giving Thanks

38. His Supplication in Asking for Pardon

39. His Supplication in Seeking Pardon

40. His Supplication when Death was Mentioned

41. His Supplication in Asking for Covering and Protection

42. His Supplication upon completing a Reading of the Qur'an

43. His Supplication when he looked at the New Crescent Moon

44. His Supplication for the Coming of the Month of Ramadan

45. His Supplication in Bidding Farewell to the Month of Ramadan

46. His Supplication for the Day of Fast-Breaking and Friday

47. His Supplication on Day of 'Arafa

48. His Supplication on the Day of Sacrifice and Friday

49. His Supplication in Repelling the Trickery of Enemies

50. His Supplication in Fear

51. His Supplication in Pleading and Abasement

52. His Supplication in Imploring

53. His Supplication in Abasing himself

54. His Supplication for the Removal of Worries

69-The remaining chapter headings are in the words of Abu 'Abd Allah al-Hasani (God have mercy upon him).[^25]
70-Abu 'Abd Allah Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Hasani related to us.[^26]
71-He said: 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar ibn Khattab al-Zayyat related to us.
72-He said: Khali ibn al-Nu'man al-A'lam related to us.
73-He said: 'Umayr ibn Mutawakkil al-Thaqafi al-Balkhi related to us from his father Mutawakkil ibn Harun.
74-He said: My truthful master, Abu 'Abd Allah Ja'far ibn Muhammad dictated to me.
75-He said: My grandfather 'Ali ibn al-Husayn dictated to my father Muhammad ibn 'Ali (upon them all be peace) while I was witness:

[^1]: Sayyid Najm al-Din is not known other than in this text, but the commentators point out that this has no negative effect on the chain since the text is mutawatir and of unquestioned authority. This is a chain of permission and not of transmission; in other words, the text itself has reached us by many different routes, but permission to teach the present text in this exact form was handed down by the figures being mentioned. The reason this particular chain is mentioned was suggested in the introduction. I would add that it is inconceivable that this chain is a deliberate forgery, since no forger can have been so incompetent. Of the twelve figures mentioned (at the beginning and in the second chain toward the end of the preface), five are unknown, four cannot be identified with certainty, and one is known to have been unreliable.

[^2]: There is some confusion as to the identity of the 'us' at the beginning of this chain, because it might be either of two scholars who figure in the various chains of transmission of the Sahifa. Shaykh-i Baha'i, one of the many authors of commentaries on the Sahifa, maintains that 'us' refers to 'Ali ibn al-Sukun (i.e., Abu l-Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sukun al-Hilli, (d. c. 606/1209). In his glossary on the Sahifa, Mir Damad writes that it is 'Amid al-Ru'asa' Hibat Allah ibn Hamid ibn Ahmad ibn Ayyub al-Hilli (d. 610/1213-14). To prove his point he quotes from the manuscript of al-Shahid al-Awwal, who had collated his copy with that of Ibn al-Sukun, on which 'Amid al-Ru'asa' had made certain annotations in the year 603/1206. Cf. Aqa Buzurg, al-Dhari'a, s.v. Al-Sahifat al-Sajjadiyya.

[^3]: He was the son-in-law of Shaykh al-Ta'ifa Abu Ja'far al-Tusi (d. 460/1067-8) and an official at the shrine of 'Ali in Najaf.

[^4]: Sayyid ''Alikhan writes that al-'Ukbari does not seem to be mentioned in the books of Shi'ite biographies, but al-Sam'ani mentions him in al-Ansab (adding ibn al-Husayn to his name after ibn Ahmad) and gives his date of death as 472/1079-80.

[^5]: Sayyid '''Alikhan quotes four sources on Abu l-Mufaddal as a muhaddith, all of which question his reliability: Najashi, Shaykh al-Ta'ifa al-Tusi, Ibn al-Ghada'iri, and Ibn Dawud.

[^6]: Najashi praises his reliability and mentions a number of works by him. He died in 308/921 at the age of more than ninety (Sayyid '''Alikhan).

[^7]: According to Sayyid '''Alikhan, nothing is known about him. In his notes on his Persian translation, Sha'rani suggests that here some of the authorities originally mentioned in the text may have been dropped, since only three figures are mentioned over a period of 251 years.

[^8]: Najashi mentions an Ali ibn al-Nu'man al-A'lam al-Nakhai who was a companion of the eighth Imam, Ridha (d. 203/818).

[^9]: Neither 'Umayr ibn Mutawakkil nor his father Mutawakkil ibn Harun are known. However both Najashi and Shaykh al-Tusi speak of al-Mutawakkil ibn 'Umayr ibn al-Mutawakkil as the transmitter of the Sahifa from Yahya ibn Zayd, and they provide a chain of authority leading from him to themselves different from that in the present text. As Sha'rani points out (Sahifa, p. 5), given their early dates and their agreement, the name they provide is to be preferred over the Present text.

[^10]: This would have been in the year 122/740. As explained in the introduction, after the death of Zayn al-Abidin's son and successor, Muhammad al-Baqir, his son Zayd revolted against the Umayyad authorities and was killed. According to the account being related here, Mutawakkil ibn Harun (or more properly, Mutawakkil ibn 'Umayr) met Zayd's son Yahya shortly before he was killed while continuing his father's revolt.

[^11]: 13:39. According to Sayyid ''Alikhan, by quoting this verse, Yahya is suggesting that even if this is the divine command known to al-Sadiq, God may change it. This is the Shi'ite doctrine of bad'a, according to which God may appear to change His decree for His creatures. Imam Ja'far himself quotes this verse to prove the possibility of bad'a.

[^12]: As noted in the introduction, the use here of the expression Al-Sahifat al-kamila suggests that the Sahifa was called by this term from earliest times. In explaining the expression, Sayyid '''Alikhan quotes a passage employing it from Ma'alim al-ulama of Ibn Shahrashub (d. 588/1192).

[^13]: In notes to his Persian translation, Sha'rani tells us that the term meant a scroll wound around an iron rod, on the ends of which were placed iron locks, often sealed with wax.

[^14]: Muhammad is better known as al-Nafs al-Zakiyya. He was designated as the Mahdi by his father and many swore allegiance to him, including al-Mansur, who later became the first Abbasid caliph. Muhammad and Ibrahim revolted with a good deal of popular support when the Abbasids tried to make them accept their authority. Muhammad, who was supported by the people of Medina, was killed in a fierce battle in 145/762, and Ibrahim, who was supported by the Zaydite and Mu'tazilite circles of Kufa and Basra, was killed a few months later. Cf. Ja'fari, The Origins and Early Development, pp. 269-71, 275-6.

[^15]: Isma'il was the eldest son of Imam Ja'far and his designated successor. However, he died before his father, who then appointed his second son Musa as the Imam after himself. The Isma'ilis follow Isma'il as Imam rather than Musa maintaining that the former's appointment was valid and that the imamate remained in his family.

[^17]: An oft-repeated formula found in many hadith.

[^18]: 17:60. The Qur'an commentators offer at least three possible interpretations for this vision. Concerning the third, Baydawi writes 'It is also said that the Prophet saw a group of the Umayyads climbing his pulpit and jumping upon it like monkeys. So he said "This is their share of this world; they will be given it for accepting Islam". According to this interpretation, what is meant by a trial for men is what happened during their time' (Anwar al-tanzil, commentary on 17:60). The Shi'ite commentator Tabarsi also offers this as a third possibility, providing two hadith to support it (Majma' al-bayan). Sayyid '''Alikhan quotes from Baydawi and others to support this interpretation, while offering Ibn 'Abbas among others as authority for the statement that the 'accursed tree' refers to the Umayyads.

[^19]: 97:1-3. Tirmidhi offers a hadith going back to al-Hasan ibn 'Ali that supports this interpretation of one thousand months as referring to the Umayyads (Tafsir sura 97, 1).

[^21]: i.e., the Twelfth Imam, he who will 'stand up' (Qa'im) in the Truth for the Truth and defeat the enemies of the Truth.

[^22]: The speaker here is al-'Ukbari (above, verse 3), who is now relating another chain through which he received the Sahifa from Abu l-Mufaddal (verse 3).

[^23]: He is unknown in the books of biography.

[^24]: He is also unknown.

[^25]: In other words, the chapter headings as mentioned in the text, which are often slightly different from the chapter headings mentioned above, are in al-Hasani's words (that is, al-Sharif Aba 'Abd Allah, mentioned in verse 4).

[^26]: Here again by 'us' is meant al-'Ukbari.