And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

1. My Allah, I am poor in my richness, so why should I not be poor in my poverty?

2. My Allah, I am ignorant in my knowledge, so why should I not be most ignorant in my ignorance?

3. My Allah, the diversity of Your planning (tadbeer) and the speed of Your predestined decrees prevent Your servants, the gnostics, from relying on gifts or despairing of you during trials.

4. My Allah, from me, comes what is in keeping with my miserliness, and from You comes what is in keeping with Your generosity.

5. My Allah, You have attributed to Yourself gentleness and kindness towards me before the existence of my weakness; so, would You then hold them back from me after the existence of my weakness?

6. My Allah, if the virtues (al-mahaasin) arise from me, that is because of Your grace: it is Your right to bless me. And if vices (al-masaawee) arise from me, that is because of Your justice: it is Your right to have proof against me.

7. My Allah, how can You leave me to Myself, for You are responsible for me? And how could I be harmed while You are my Ally? Or how could I be disappointed in You, my Welcomer? Here am I seeking to gain access to You by means of my need of You. How could I seek to gain access to You by means of what cannot possibly reach you? Or how can I complain to You of my state for it is not hidden from You? Or how can I express myself to You in my speech, since it comes from You and goes forth to you? Or how can my hopes be dashed, for they have already reached You? Or how can my states not be good, for they are based on You and go to You?

8. My Allah, how gentle You are with me in spite of my great ignorance, and how merciful You are with me in spite of my ugly deeds!

9. My Allah, how near You are to me, and how far I am to You!

10. My Allah, how kind You are to me! So what is it that veils me from You?

11. My Allah, from the diversity of created things and the changes of states, I know that it is Your desire to make Yourself known to me in everything so that I will not ignore You in anything.

12. My Allah, whenever my miserliness makes me dumb, Your generosity makes me articulate, and whenever my attributes make me despair, You grace gives me hope.

13. My Allah, if someone’s virtues are vices, then why cannot his vices be vices? And if someone’s inner realities are pretensions, then why cannot his pretensions be pretensions?

14. My Allah, Your penetrating decision and Your conquering will have left no speech to the articulate nor any state to him who has a state.

15. My Allah, how often has Your justice destroyed the dependence I build upon obedience or the state I erected! Yet, it was Your grace that freed me of them.

16. My Allah, You know that, even though obedience has not remained a resolute action on my part, it has remained a love and firm aspiration.

17. My Allah, how can I resolve while You are the Omnipotent (al-Qaahir), or how can I not resolve while You are the Commander (al-Aamir)?

18. My Allah, my wavering amongst created things inevitably makes the Sanctuary distant, so unite me to You by means of a service that leads me to You.

19. My Allah, how can one argue inferentially of You by that which depends on You for its existence? Does anything other than You manifest what You do not have so that it becomes the more manifest (al-muzhir) for You? When did You become so absent that You are in need of a proof giving evidence of You? And when did You become so distant that it is created things themselves that leads us to You?

20. My Allah, blind is the eye that does not see You watching (raqeeb) over it, and vain is the handclasp of a servant who has not been given a share of Your love.

21. My Allah, You have commanded me to return to created things, so return me to them with the raiment of lights and the guidance of inner vision (al-istibsaar), so that I may return from them to You just as I entered You from them, with my innermost being (as-sirr) protected from looking at them and my fervor (al-himma) raised above dependence on them. For, truly, You have power over everything.

And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

22. My Allah, here is my lowliness manifest before You, and here is my state unhidden from You. From You, I seek union with You. I proceed from You in my argumentation about You. So guide me to You with Your light and set me up before You through sincerity of servanthood.

23. My Allah, make me known by means of Your treasured-up knowledge and protect me by means of the mysteries of Your well-guarded Name.

24. My Allah, make me realize the inner realities of those drawn nights and make me voyage in the path of those possessed by attraction (ahlal jadhb).

25. May Allah, through You direction (tadbeer) make me dispense with self-direction, and through Your choosing (ikhtiyaar) for me make me dispense with my choosing; and make me stand in the very center of my extreme need (idtiraar)

26. My Allah, pull me out of my self-abasement and purify me of doubting (shakk) and associationism (shirk) before I descend into my grave. I seek Your help, so help me; in You I trust, so entrust me to no one else; You do I ask, so do not disappoint me; Your kindness do I desire, do not refuse me; it is to You that I belong, so do not banish me, and it is at Your door that I stand, so do not cast me away.

27. My Allah, Your contentment is too holy for there to be a cause for it in You, so how can there be a cause for it in me? Through Your Essence (dhaat), you are independent of any benefit coming to you, so why should You not be independent of me?

28. My Allah, destiny, and the decree of fate have overcome me, and desire with its passional attachments has taken me, prisoner. Be my Ally so that You may help me and others through me. Enrich me with Your kindness, so that, content with You, I can do without asking. You are the one who makes the lights shine in the hearts of Your saints so that they know You and affirm Your Oneness. You are the one who makes alterities (al-aghyaar) disappear from the hearts of Your lovers so that they love none but You and take refuge in none but You. You are the one who befriends them when the world makes them forlorn. You are the one who guides them till the landmarks become clear for them He who has lost You – what has he found? He who has found You – what has he lost? Whoever takes someone other than You as a substitute is disappointed, and whoever wants to stray away from You is lost.

29. My Allah, how could hope be put in what is other than You, for You have not cut off Your benevolence? And how could someone other than You be asked, for You have not changed the norms for conferring blessings? O He who makes His beloved friends taste the sweetness of intimacy with Himself so that they stand before Him with praise, and O He who clothes His saints with the vestments of reverential fear towards Himself so that they stand glorifying His glory – You are the Invoker (adh-dhaakir) prior to invokers, You are the Origin (al-Baadi) of benevolence prior to servants turning to You, You are Munificent ( al-Jawwaad) in giving prior to the asking of seekers, and You are the Giver (al-Wahhaab) who, in respect to what You have given us, asks us for loans!

30. My Allah, seek me with Your grace so that I may reach You, and attract me with Your blessings so that I may draw near to You.

31. My Allah, my hope is not cut off from you even though I disobey You, just as my fear does not leave me even though I obey you.

32. My Allah, the world has pushed me towards You, and my knowledge of Your generosity has made me stand before You.

33. My Allah, how could I be disappointed while You are my hope, or how could I be betrayed while my trust is in You.

34. My Allah, how can I deem myself exalted while You have planted me in lowliness, or why should I not deem myself exalted, for You have related me to Yourself? Why should I not be in need of You, for You have set me up in poverty, or why should I be needy, for You have enriched me with Your goodness? Apart from You, there is none worthy of worship. You have made Yourself known to everything, so nothing is ignorant of You. And it is You who have made Yourself known to me in everything; thus, I have seen You manifest in everything, and You are the manifest to everything. O He who betakes Himself to His throne (‘arsh) with His clemency (rahmaaniyya), so that the throne is hidden in His clemency, just as the Universe (al-‘awaalim) is hidden in His throne – You have annihilated created things (bil aathaar), and obliterated alterities (al-aghyaar) with the englobing spheres of light (bi-muheetaat aflaak al-anwaar)! O He who, in His pavilions of glory, is veiled for the reach of sight, O He who illumines with the perfection of His beauty (bahaa’) and whose Infinity (‘azama) is realized by gnostics’ innermost being (al-asraar)-how can You be hidden, for You are the Exterior (adh-dhaahhir)? Or how can You be absent, for You are the Ever-Present Watcher (ar-Raqeeb al-Haadir)?

Allah is the Granter of success (al-Muwaffiq), and in Him I take refuge!