Supplications for the Month of Ramadhan

Du'aa Makarimul Akhlaq (The Honorable Morals)

This Du'a has been taught by our fourth Imam (a) and is a clear indication of the loftiness of moral virtues expected of a believer. Islam believes in the elevation of the human being, that a human is a great and dignified creation, far above the animal world. One of the signs of this dignity is the possession of noble and magnanimous qualities.

In order to achieve this behavioural excellence, man needs to overcome his base and selfish attributes, and cultivate noble qualities. In this Du”a the Imam specifies these qualities, and shows how we can try to inculcate them in ourselves. Taken as a lesson in Akhlaq, the Du'a is a wonderful program for those who wish to excel in good manners.

“The most complete in faith among the believers is he who has the best manners.” [Holy Prophet (s)]

“Habituate yourself to magnanimity, and choose for yourself the most excellent of all etiquettes, for virtuous behaviour is a habit. Avoid the most low of all etiquettes, and struggle with yourself to avoid it, for evil is stubborn.” [Imam ‘Ali (a)]

The following is Du`a #20 in Al­Saheefat Al­Sajjadiyyah.

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

O Allah,

bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad.

Raise my faith to reach the most perfect faith,

and make my conviction to be the most excellent of convictions.

Make my intentions to be the best of intentions,

and my actions to be the best of actions.

O Allah,

increase my (good) intentions, through Your Grace,

Improve my conviction, through what is with You,

and reform what is corrupt in me, through Your power.

O Allah,

bless Muhammad and his family.

Be sufficient for me in that which occupies me,

Employ me in those deeds about which

You will ask me tomorrow,

Let me pass my days in that (work) for which

You have created me.

Free me from need,

and increase Your sustenance for me

but try me not with discontent.

Let me be honored

but do not afflict me with arrogance.

Make me worship You

but do not let my worship be corrupted by conceit.

Let good flow out from my hands for people,

but do not let me erase it by making them feel obliged.

Grant me the highest moral traits,

but protect me from vanity.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family,

Raise me not a single degree with people

unless You have lowered me an equal amount,

whithin myself.

Let there not occur any outward honor for me,

unless there has occured an inner degradation

of an equal amount, whithin myself.

O Allah bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad.

Make me enjoy:

a righteous guidance which I do not seek to change.

a path of truth from which I do not deviate

a well­guided intention which I do not doubt.

Let me live so long as my life is spent in Your obedience,

But when my life becomes a breeding ground for Shaytan

then take me to You,

before Your wrath advances towards me

or Your anger becomes firm on me.

O Allah, do not leave in me:

a faulty characteristic, unless You have reformed it,

a blameworthy flaw, unless You have improved it,

nor a deficient noble quality

unless You have perfected it.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad.

Replace for me;

the enimity of the people of hatred with love,

the jealousy of the rebellious people with affection,

the suspicion of the virtuous people with confidence

the enmity of the close ones with friendship,

the disrespect of relatives to devotion,

the desertion of the close ones with help,

the attachment of flatterers with reformed regard,

the rejection of associates with good behaviour,

and the bitterness of the fear of oppressors

with the sweetness of security.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family,

Give me,

a hand (power) over one wrongs me,

a tongue over one who disputes with me,

and a victory over one who stubbornly resists me.

Grant me,

craftiness against one who deceives me,

power over one who oppresses me,

refutation of one who accuses me falsely,

and safety from one who threatens me.

Give me the success to,

obey one who directs me to what is proper

and follow one who guides me to what is right.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family,

Give me the grace that I can;

counter one who is dishonest to me with good advice,

reward one who forsakes me with goodness,

repay one who deprives me with free giving,

and recompense one who cuts me off with union,

oppose one who backbites about me

with a good mention( of him),

give thanks for good,

and overlook evil.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family,

adorn me with the adornment of the righteous,

and clothe me with the ornament of the pious, in;

spreading justice, restraining anger,

quenching the fire of hate, reuniting the separated,

correcting differences between men,

spreading good behaviour, covering faults,

mildness of temper,

lowering the wing (of humility), beauty of conduct,

calmness of disposition, pleasantness in relationships

advancing towards excellence,

preferring graciousness

avoiding condemnation,

being gracious to the undeserving ,

speaking the truth though difficult,

making little of the good in my words and deeds

though it be much,

and making much of the evil in my words and deeds

though it be little.

Perfect these for me through,

a continous obedience,

an attachment to the community,

and by rejecting the people of innovation

and those whose who act on their own opinions.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family,

Grant me,

the most increase in Your sustenance when I am old,

and Your strongest strength when I am exhausted.

Do not afflict me with,

laziness in Your worship,

blindness from Your path,

indulging in what is contrary to (winning) Your love,

joining one who has separated himself from You,

and separating from one who has joined himself to You.

O Allah make me,

run towards You in times of stress

and ask from You in times of need,

and plead to You in times of poverty.

Do not try me with,

seeking help from other than You when I am distressed

humbling myself in asking other than You

when I am in need

nor pleading with other than You when I am afraid.

Lest I should deserve

Your abandonment, Your denial ,

and Your turning away,

O most merciful.

O Allah, make what Shaytan throws into my heart,

of desires, suspicion, and envy, be ( a cause of)

remembrance of Your might

pondering over Your power,

and a planning against Your enemy.

Make what he (shaytan) makes me utter,

of indecent, and obscene words,

reviling a good reputation, false evidence

speaking ill of an absent believer,

or abusing one who is present,

and other similar things,

(let all this)be a speech in Your praise,

an absorption in glorifying You,

an excursion in magnifying You

a thanksgiving for Your favours

an acknowledgement of Your goodness

and an accounting of Your kindness.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family,

Let me not be oppressed

while You can repel it from me,

Let me not oppress (others)

while you have power to restrain me,

Let me not be misguided,

while You are able to guide me,

Let me not be poor

while with You is abundance (of provision)

and let me not be rebellious

while my existence is from You.

O Allah,

I come to (seek Your) Your forgiveness

I aim for Your pardon

I yearn for Your forbearance

and I have confidence in Your kindness.

(though) I have nothing with me to entitle me to Your forgiveness

nor is there anything in my actions

which would make me deserve Your pardon.

I have nothing, after I judge myself

except Your grace,

so bless Muhammad and his family,

and be gracious to me.

O Allah,

make me speak with guidance

inspire me with piety,

give me success for that which is most pure,

and employ me in what is most pleasing to You.

O Allah,

let me walk (on) the most exemplary path,

and let me live and die on Your creed.

O Allah bless Muhammad and his family.

make me enjoy moderation,

place me among ;

the people of right behaviour,

guides to right conduct,

and the righteous servants.

Provide me with victory at the return

and safety from the ?.

O Allah, take to Yourself, from my soul

what will purify it.

And leave for my soul that of my soul

which will set it right,

for surely, my soul will perish unless You protect it.

O Allah,

You are my shelter when I am sad,

You are my recourse, if I am deprived,

with You I seek help when I am troubled,

and with You is a substitute for what is gone by,

a correction for what has gone wrong,

and a change for what You disapprove.

So be kind to me by;

well­being before affliction

bounty before asking

and right conduct before misguidance.

Suffice me against the burden of shame to the servants

and grant me safety on the day of return,

and favour me with the best of guidance.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family,

ward away (evil) from me, by Your gentleness,

feed me through Your favour,

reform me through Your generosity,

heal me through Your goodness

shade me in Your shelter,

and wrap me in Your plasure.

and give me success to reach;

the most guided of affairs when affairs confuse me,

the purest of actions when the actions seem similar,

and the most pleasing of creeds when creeds conflict.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family.

crown me with sufficiency,

place me in an excellent guardianship,

grant me the true guidance,

do not try me with abundance (of wealth),

grant me excellent comfort,

do not make my life a continuous trouble

do not reject my prayer in repulsion,

for I do not make anyone Your rival,

nor do I call upon anyone asYour equal.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family,

prevent me from extravagance,

preserve my sustenance from waste,

increase my possessions through blessing them,

set me upon the path of guidance

through piety in what I spend.

O Allah bless Muhammad and his family,

spare me the burden of earning

and provide for me without measure,

so that the sekking (of sustenance)

should not distract me from Your worship,

nor (would I have to) bear the load of ill­results of earning.

O Allah, grant me what I seek, through Your power,

and protect me from what I fear, through Your might.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family,

guard my face (honour) through prosperity,

do not disgrace my dignity through neediness,

lest I seek providence from those whom You have provided,

and ask for bestowal from the worst of Your creatures.

Then I would be tempted tp praise he who gave me,

and afflicted with blaming he who denies me,

while You, not they, are the Master of giving and denying.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family,

provide me with

soundness in worship

and detachment in renunciation

knowledge in practise

and piety , on the whole.

O Allah, seal my term with Your pardon

verify my hope in expecting Your mercy,

ease my path to reach Your pleasure,

and make my actions good in all circumstances.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family,

alert me to Your remembrance in times of negligence,

employ me in Your obedience in the days of respite,

clarify for me an easy path to Your love

and complete for me, through this

the good of the world and the hereafter.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his family,

the best of what You have blessed anyone

from Your creatures before him,

and (the best) of what You will bless anyone after him.

And give us good in the world

and good in the Hereafter

and save me, by Your mercy, from the fire.