MIFTAH AL-WIRD*
The Key to the Source
(The Wird of Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib)
[Note. The comments in red on the wird were done by Dr. Yasin Dutton]
[*The word wird comes from a root meaning "to go down to the watering-place, to drink.]
This is our noble Wird for whoever wishes it and seeks it. Its recital guarantees every good and repels every evil.
If the slave perseveres in it with idhn* of the Shaykh, or from a muqaddam who has idhn of the Shaykh, Allah will unite the Shari'a and Haqiqa for him.
[*Idhn means "permission", usually in the special sense of "permission of the shaykh".The Shari'a or "road" is the outward, path, i.e. the outward legal requirements of the deen.
The Haqiqa is the "reality", or inward truth of things.]
MIFTAH AL-WIRD
O Allah bless our master Muhammad, Your slave and Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and Companions and grant them peace, as great as the number of Your creations and Your pleasure and the weight of Your Throne and the ink of Your words.
[The prayer on the Prophet is commanded by Surat al-Ahzab (33:56) "Inna llaha wa mala'ikatahu yusalluna 'ala'n-nabi. Ya ayyuha lladhina amanu sallu 'alayhi wa sallimu taslima." "Allah and His angels call down blessings on the Prophet. O you who believe! Call down blessings on him and ask for complete peace and safety for him."]
I take refuge with Allah, the Hearer, the Wise, from the accursed shaytan. In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Most Merciful. There is no power and no strength but through Allah, the High, the Great.
[Allah says, "Fa idha qara'ta'l-qur'ana fasta'idh billahi minash-shaytani'r-rajim." "Whenever you recite the Qur'an, seek refuge with Allah from the cursed Shaytan." (16:98) and also, "wa imma yanzaghannaka minash-shaytani nazghun fa'sta'idh billah, innahu sami'un 'alim." "If an evil impulse from Shaytan provokes you, seek refuge in Allah. He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing." (7:200)
I ask forgiveness of Allah. (3)
[Allah says: "was-taghfiru'llah, inna llaha ghafirun rahim." "And seek forgiveness from Allah. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (73:20)]
O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, Your slave and Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and Companions and grant them peace. (3)
There is no god except Allah alone, without association. The kingdom and the praise belong to Him, and He has power over all things. (3)
[The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The best hing that I and the Prophets before me have said is 'La ilaha illa'llahu wahdahu la sharika lah.'" (Muwatta.)The last part of this dhikr, 'lahu'l-mulku wa lahu'l-hamd wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadir" occurs in Surat at-Taghabun (64:1)]
Glory be to Allah and praise belongs to Allah. There is no god except Allah. Allah is greater. There is no power and no strength but through Allah, the High, the Great. (3)
Glory be to Allah, by His praise, Glory be to Allah, the Great. (3)
[The last hadith in Imam al-Bukhari's collection is the following: "There are two phrases which are loved by the Rahman, light on the tongue and heavy in the balance: 'Subhanallahi wa bi-hamdihi' and 'Subhanallahi'l-'azim'.]
Praise is due to Allah and thanks be to Allah. (3)
A Messenger has come to you from among yourselves. Your suffering is distressing to him; he is deeply concerned for you; he is gentle and merciful to the muminun. (1)
[Surat at-Tawba (9:128)]
But if they turn away, say, 'Allah is enough for me. There is no god but Him. I have put my trust in Him. He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne.' (3)
[Surat at-Tawba (9:129)]
In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Most Merciful. Say: 'He is Allah, Absolute Oneness, Allah, the Everlasting Sustainer of all. He has not given birth and was not born. And no one is comparable to Him.' (3)
[Surat al-Ikhlas (112) It is stated in the hadith that this sura is worth a third of the Qur'an (see Muwatta')]
Blessed is Allah. (3)
[Cf. Surat al-A'raf (7:54): "tabaraka'llahu rabbu'l-'alamin." Also Surat al-Mu'minin (23:14) and Surat Ghafir (40:64)]
In the name of Allah, All-Merciful, Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, the All-Merciful, the Most Merciful, the King of the Day of Judgment. You alone we worship. You alone we ask for help. Guide us on the Straight Path, the Path of those whom You have blessed, not of those with anger on them, nor of the misguided. Amin. (3)
[Cf. Surat al-Fatiha (1)]
Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, above all that they describe, and peace be upon the Messengers, and praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. (1)
[This common ending for du'a's is in fact the last three ayats of Surat as-Saffat (37:180-182).]
O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, Your slave, Prophet and Messenger, the unlettered Prophet and his family and Companions and grant them peace by the measure of the sublimity of Your Essence at every time and in every age. Amin. Amin. Amin. (3)
Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, above all that they describe, and peace be upon the Messengers, and praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. (1)
O Allah! We ask You for sound Islam accompanied by submission to Your orders and prohibitions and for pure Iman, firmly established, enduring, protected from all the ambiguities and dangers, and for Ihsan that will drive us into the presence of the Unseen. May we be purified by it from every kind of negligence and defect. We ask for the certainty which will reveal to us the presences of the Names and Attributes by which we will be carried into the witnessing of the lights of the tajalliyati adh-dhat, and for useful knowledge through which we may understand how to conduct ourselves in Your presence and how to confide in You in prayer. Fill our hearts with the lights of Your maírifa so that we may witness Your All-Sustaining Gatheredness flowing in all created things. Let us be among the circle of Your bounty, beloved in Your presence and among the firmly grounded and enduring in tawakkul and sidq of dependence on You. Realise our hope with the answer to all that we ask, O Generous, O Giving! O Master do not let us rely on any other than You in stillness or in action. You have accustomed us to Your Ihsan before we even asked for it while we were in our mothers' wombs. You have raised us with the Latif of Your lordship over existence in a manner far beyond the perception of illuminated intellects.
We ask You, O Allah, by Your Prophet, whom You have preferred above all other Prophets and Messengers, and by Your Messenger whose message You made universal and a mercy to all creation, to bless him and his family and grant them a peace by which we may attain his love and follow him in words, deeds, in muraqaba, mushahada, adab, akhlaq and ahwal.
We ask You, O Master, by his rank, to grant us that useful knowledge through which every listener may profit and every heart may be made humble, and at which the skin may thrill and the tears flow. You are the All-Powerful, the Transformer, the Knowing, the Living, the Vast.
Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, above all that they describe, and peace be upon the Messengers, and praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
Then you pray the prayer called the Treasury of Truths in the prayer on the most noble of creatures from whom I received it, the Chosen One, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
O Allah, bless and grant peace to our lord and master Muhammad, the first of the lights emanating from the oceans of the sublimity of the Essence, with every one of Your perfections in all Your self-manifestations. In the two worlds - the hidden and the seen - he realised the meanings of the Names and Attributes. He is the first to give praise and worship with every kind of adoration and good action. He is the helper of all created beings in the world of forms and the world of spirits. And blessings be upon his family and Companions with a blessing that will lift the veil from his noble face for us in visions and in the waking state and will acquaint us with You and with him in all ranks and presences.
Be gracious to us, O Mawlana, by his rank, in movement and in stillness, in looks and in thoughts. (3)
Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, above all that they describe, and peace be upon the Messengers, and praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytan: Those to whom people said, 'The people have gathered against you, so fear them. But that merely increased their Iman and they said:
Allah is enough for us and the Best of Guardians. (10)
So they returned with blessings and bounty from Allah, and no evil touched them. (3)
They pursued the pleasure of Allah. Allah's favour is indeed immense. (3)
[Surat Ali 'Imran (3:173-174) These ayats came down about the second expedition to Badr, in the year 4 AH, when the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in accordance with the promise he had given Abu Sufyan after the Battle of Uhud, set out to meet him and the Makkans (the second 'people' in the ayat). Abu Sufyan, however, tried to weaken the resolve of the Muslims by sending some of the tribe of 'Abd Qays (or, according to other reports, a man called Nu'aym ibn Mas'ud al-Ashja'i) (the first 'people' in the ayat) to cast fear into the hearts of the Muslims by telling them of the great numbers of Makkans ranged against them. In fact, it was the Makkans who were afraid and failed to present themselves at Badr, while the Muslims, putting their trust in Allah, went out and returned without suffering either harm or loss, and with the added gain that theymade considerable profit from trading at the market of Badr.]
And if they intend to deceive you, Allah is enough for you. It is He Who supported you with His help, and with the muminun, and unified their hearts. Even if you had spent everything on the earth, you could not have unified their hearts. But Allah has unified them. He is the Almighty, All-Wise. O Prophet! Allah is enough for you, and for the muminun who follow you. (3)
[Surat al-Anfal (8:62-64) The last phrase is normally taken to mean "Allah and those believers who follow you are enough for you" (Ibn Juzayy, Jalalayn), but according to some it means "Allah is enough for you and for those believers who follow you" (e.g. az-Zamakhshari in Ibn Juzayy)
Ya Latifu, ya Latifu, the lutf is Yours!
You are the Latif, and from You the lutf engulfs us.
Ya Latifu, ya Latifu, I beg You by Your lutf - be the lutf to me -
and the lutf has descended!
Ya Latifu, we have hidden in Your lutf -
we have gone into the centre of lutf - and the lutf has descended.
We have been freed by the lutf of Allah, the Possessor of lutf,
Latifu, Latifu, His lutf is always that.
Ya Hafidhu, ya Hafidhu, the hifdh is Yours!
You are the Hafidh, and from You the hifdh engulfs us.
Ya Hafidhu, ya Hafidhu, I beg you by Your hifdh -
be the hifdh to me - and the hifdh has descended.
Ya Hafidhu, we have hidden in Your hifdh - we have gone
into the centre of hifdh - and the hifdh has descended.
We have been freed by the hifdh of Allah, the Possessor of hifdh.
Hafidhu, Hafidhu, His hifdh is always that.
By the rank of the Imam of the Messengers, Muhammad,
were he not the source of the hifdh, then it would not have descended.
Blessings be upon him as long as there is one who chants:
'Ya Hafidhu, ya Hafidhu, the hifdh is Yours!'
LA ILAHA ILA'LLAH (10)
No god - except Allah; our Master Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace. O Lord, make us firm by its recital, O Mawlana, give us results from its invocation. Let us enter into the fortress of its protection - let us be among its people - and let us say it and know it at the time of death. Gather us into the company of our lord and master Muhammad, may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace, and his Companions and all the believing slaves of Allah. Amin. Amin. Amin.
[There is a hadith qudsi to the effect that "La ilaha illa'llah' is My fortress, and whoever enters My fortress will be safe from My torment." (Ibn an-Najjar from Anas In Jam'al-Jawami' (I, 599]
And peace be upon the Prophets and the Messengers, (3)
- And on all the Saliheen.
The last of our prayer is: Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. There is no power and no strength but through Allah, the Mighty, the Great.
[Cf Surat Yunus (10:10): "wa'akhiru da'wahuma ani'l-hamdu lillahi rabbi'l-'alamin" "The end of their call is: 'Praise be to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds!'"]
My help is only with Allah. In Him I have put my trust – and to Him I turn in renewal. Praise belongs to Allah for the blessing of Islam, and it is blessing enough.
[These words form part of Shu'ayb's words his people (the people of Madyan) in Surat Hud (11:88)]
O First! O Last! O Manifest! O Hidden!
Hear my cry as you heard the cry of Your slave, our master Zakariah, peace be upon him. Give me victory through You - for You.
Support me through You - for You. Join me to You - separate me from other-than-You.
[Cf. Surat al-Hadid (57:3): "Huwa'l-Awwalu wa'l-Akhiru wa'z-Zahiru wa'l-Batin"
For the story of Zakariyya who, despite his old age, asked for a child and was granted the Prophet Yahya as a son, see Surat Ali 'Imran (3:38-41)]
ALLAH (10)
Here ends the Greater Wird.
THE LESSER WIRD
In the name of Allah, All-Merciful, Most Merciful
O Allah, we ask You by the secret of the Essence and by the Essence of the secret. He is You and You are He. I have veiled myself with the light of Allah and the light of the Throne of Allah and all the Names of Allah from my enemies and the enemies of Allah. With one thousand 'no power, no strength but through Allah'. I have set a seal upon my self and my Deen and upon everything given to me by Allah with the seal of Allah with which He has sealed the Heavens and the earth. Allah is enough for us** and He is the best guardian, the best protector, the best helper.*** The blessings of Allah be upon our lord and master Muhammad, and upon all his family and Companions and great peace. Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.***
[*Surat Ali 'Imran (3:173)**Surat a;-Afal (8:40) and Surat al-Hajj (22:78).
***Surat as-Saffar (37:182).]
O Lover! (3)
O Possessor of the glorious Throne! (3)
O You who Originate, O You who bring back to life. (3)
O He Who does whatever He wills! (3)
[This and the preceding three du'a's reflect Surat al-Buruj (85:13:16): "Innahu huwa yubdi'u wa yu'id, wa huwa'-ghafuru'l-wadudu dhu'l-'arsh, al-majidu fa''allul li-ma yurid."]
I ask You by the light of Your face that fills every corner of Your Throne - (3)
And I ask You by the power You exercise over Your creation (3)
And by Your mercy that encompasses all things - (3)
[Cf. Surat al-A'raf (7:156): "wa rahmati wasi'at kulla shay'".]
No god but You - O Rescuer - rescue us. (3)
Allah is Latif with His slaves. He gives wealth to whom He chooses, and He is the Strong, the Inestimably Precious. (10)
[Cf. Surat ash-Shura (42:19)]
Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, above all that they describe, and peace be upon the Messengers and praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. (1)
[Cf. Surat al-Hadid (57:3)]
THE WIRD OF FAJR
There is no divinity except Allah and Allah is greater. Glory be to Allah and by His praise: and I seek forgiveness from Allah: and there is no strength nor power except by Allah. He is the First and the Last and the Outwardly Manifest and the Inwardly Hidden. Good is in His hand, He makes to live and makes to die, and He has power over everything. (10)
[Cf. Sura Ali 'Imran (3:26): "bi-yadika'l-khayr, Innaka 'ala kulli shay'in qadir" and in Surat al-Hadid (57:2): "lahu mulku's-samawati wa'l-ardi yuhyi wa yamit, wa huwa 'ala kulli shay'in qadir."]
And blessings of Allah upon our lord and master, Muhammad, and upon his family and Companions, let there be perfect peace, as great as the number of Your creations and Your pleasure and the weight of Your Throne and the ink of Your words. (1)
Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, above what they describe, and peace be upon the Messengers and praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
Glory be to Allah and praise be to Allah and there is no divinity except Allah and Allah is greater. There is no strength nor power except by Allah, the High, the Great, in quantity as great as what He knows and the weight of what He knows and the quantity of what He knows. (3)
Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, above what they describe, and peace be upon the Messengers and praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
THE SEAL OF THE WIRD
O Allah, open our inner eyes to Your watching and contemplation through Your generosity and overflowing, and illuminate our secrets to the tajalliyat of Your Names and Attributes through Your gentleness and nobility, and annihilate us to our metaphorical existence in Your real existence through Your forbearance and favour. And make us have baqa' by You, not by us, preserving Your Shari'a and the Sunna of Your Prophet. You have power over everything and answering becomes You.
By a secret and a blessing -
In the name of Allah, All-Merciful, Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, the All-Merciful, the Most Merciful, the King of the Day of Judgment. You alone we worship. You alone we ask for help. Guide us on the Straight Path, the Path of those whom You have blessed, not of those with anger on them, nor of the misguided.
Then pray for yourselves and your parents and all the Muslims and for the Shaykh of your age in particular. Then say:
O Allah, bless our master Muhammad and the family of Muhammad with a blessing by which You will save us from every fear and harm. Supply us with all our needs by it, and purify us from all evils by it, and raise us to the highest degrees by it. Through it let us attain the furthest goal of the good in life and after death. O Allah, in this hour send down some of Your good and Your baraka on us as You sent it down on Your perfect ones - send us what is kept for Your lovers. Let us taste the coolness of Your pardon and the sweetness of Your forgiveness. Spread over us Your compassion which encompasses all things. Sustain us with Your love, Your acceptance, our renewal in You, Your counsel, Your response to our asking, forgiveness, and well-being, taking in the present and the absent, the living and the dead in Your mercy.
O Most Merciful of the merciful, Lord of the worlds. (3)
O Allah, do not disappoint us in what we ask of You, nor deny us what we hope for from You. Protect us. Protect us. Protect us - in life and in death. You are the Answerer of prayers.
Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, above what they describe, and peace be upon the Messengers and praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
O Allah, I ask You for the blessing of knowing You, and I ask for strength through Your power. I ask You for some of Your great and sublime fullness. You have power and I do not. You know and I do not. You are the Knower of the Unseen.
O Allah, if You know that my situation – my movement and stillness, apparent and hidden, in speech, deeds, character and state, in spiritual work and daily life, as regards myself and others, in this day or night and those after it, and all the rest of my life – is good for me in my Deen, and my worldly existence, in this life and my next life, and my final end, be it sooner or later, then decree it for me and make it easy for me and bless me in it.
But if You know that my situation - all my movement and stillness, apparent and hidden, in speech, deeds, character and state, in spiritual work and daily life, as regards myself and others in this day or night and those after it, and all the rest of my life - is evil for me in my Deen, and my worldly existence, in this life and my next life, and my final end, be it sooner or later, then divert it from me and divert me from it, and destine the good for me wherever it may be and accept it from me. You have power over all things.
O Allah, provision us with fear of You that may come between us and acts of disobedience against You, and grant us obedience to You that will bring us to Your Garden and grant us certainty that will make the misfortunes of this world easy for us.
O Allah, let us enjoy our hearing and vision and strength for as long as You grant us life and make it our legacy. Avenge us on those who have wronged us and give us victory over those who have attacked us, and do not give us misfortune in our Deen. Do not let this world be the greatest of our cares, nor the scope of our knowledge, nor the object of our desire, and do not let our homecoming be the Fire. Do not place over us because of our wrong actions those who have no fear of You and will not show mercy to us.
O Most Merciful of the merciful. (3)
O Allah! O Lord, by the rank of Your chosen Prophet and approved Messenger, purify our hearts of every attribute that might separate us from Your contemplation and love. Let us die in the Sunna and the community and in yearning for Your encounter.
O Lord of majesty and generosity.
So glory be to Allah both in your evening hour and in your morning hour. Praise belongs to Him in the heavens and the earth, alike at the setting of the sun and in your noontide hour. He brings forth the living from the dead, even so you shall be brought forth.
O Allah, we ask You for Your pleasure and the Garden and what brings one near to them from speech and action: and we take refuge with You from Your wrath and the Fire and what brings one near to them from speech and action.
O Allah, O Abundant in blessing, O Repeller of adversities, O One Who frees us from troubles and Who lifts up the darkness, and O Most Just of those who judge, O Reckoner of those who are unjust, and O Protector of those who are wronged!
On You Who have a name without a kunya, free us and all the muslims from the state they are in -
By the secret of Your Name - the Guarded, the Hidden, the Blessed, the Pure, the Purified, the Wholly Pure. You are Powerful over all things and fitted to answer our prayers.
Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, above what they describe, and peace be upon the Messengers and praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.