(Supplication for) Fortification and Protection

“Once I mentioned fear before Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) and he said, ‘I should tell you something that after saying it you will not be frightened during the day or night, say, “In the name of Allah, with (the help of) Allah, I place my trust before Allah; whoever places his trust before Allah, He is suffices him and Allah completes his affairs. Allah has assigned a measure for everything. O Lord, place me under Your protection, in Your neighborhood, include me in Your amnesty and under Your protection.’ I (the narrator) heard the case of a man who had practiced this for thirty years. He did not say it one night and a scorpion bit him.’”

“For protection say, ‘I seek protection with the majesty of Allah, I seek protection with the power of Allah, I seek protection with glory of Allah, I seek protection with the greatness of Allah, I seek protection with the pardoning of Allah, I seek protection with the forgiveness of Allah, I seek protection with the mercy of Allah, I seek protection with the authority of Allah, Who has power over all things, I seek protection with the generosity of Allah, I seek protection with the community of Allah against the evil of all tyrants and hatemongers and all the condemned devils, all near and far, weak and strong, all poisonous beasts, fear, plague, the evil of all small and large animals, during the night or day, the evil of sinful Arabs and non-Arabs and the evil of the sinful Jinn and man.’”

“Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.) has said, ‘The Holy Prophet read the following for the protection of al-Hassan and al-Husayn, recipients of divine supreme covenant, ‘I seek protection for both of you with the perfect words of Allah, with all of His beautiful, universal names against the evil of the poisonous ones, that which causes worry, all the evil eyes, and the envious ones when they exercise their envy. ’ The Holy Prophet then turned to us saying, ‘This is how Ibrahim sought protection for Isma’il and Ishaq.’”

“I heard abu al-Hassan saying, ‘In the evening when you see the sun about to go down and disappear then say, “In the name of Allah, with (the help of) Allah, all praise belongs to Allah, Who has not taken any companion, or children. Who has no partner in His kingdom or a supporter against weakness, and He is greater than can be described, all praise belongs to Allah Who describes (things) and Himself cannot be described. Who knows all things but Himself cannot be known. He knows the stealth glance of the eyes and whatever the chests hide. I seek protection with His honorable face, and with His great names against the evil of whatever He has spread and has populated, the evil of the things beneath the earth, the evil of what is apparent and that which is hidden, the evil of what I mentioned or did not mention, all praise belongs to Allah Lord of the worlds.” “The Imam mentioned that this is protection against all the beasts, and all devils condemned to stoning and all the biting and stinging animals. One who reads this supplication should have no fear from thieves or the devils.’ “I (the narrator) then said to him, T hunt beasts and at night I sleep in ruined places and I feel afraid.’ He said on entering them say, ‘In the name of Allah, I enter and step your right foot first but when coming out step with your left foot first and mention the name of Allah you will not see any frightening thing.”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) instructed me with this supplication: ‘In the name of Allah, the glorious, I seek protection for so and so with (the help of) Allah, the Most Great, against all small living things (vermin, insect, germs, viruses and so forth), the venomous things, evil eyes, plague, the evil of Jinn and human beings of Arabs and non- Arabs, against their sorcery, transgression and against their spell, with reading verse 255 of Chapter 2 and in the second time reading the above supplication say, “In the name of Allah, I seek protection for so and so, with (the help of) Allah, the Glorious One ... to the end of the above supplication.’”

“Once I said to Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, I am afraid of scorpions. The Imam said, ‘Look at the little bear (Ursa Minor ) and of the three stars next to the middle one of them there is a small star. Arabs call it al-Suha’. We call it Aslama, look at it gazing every night and say, ‘O Lord of Aslama, confer al-Salat (favors) upon Muhammad and his family, hasten their happiness and grant us safety and protection.’ Ishaq has said that he did not miss it except once at which time a scorpion stung bit him.’”

“I heard the Imam (a.s.) saying, ‘Whoever says these words I guarantee that scorpions and small vermin will not harm him, ‘I seek protection through such words of Allah that no virtuous or wicked person is able to bypass, I seek protection thereby against the evil of whatever He has spread and settled (on earth), against the evil of all walking things on earth under His control. My Lord has the straight path.’”

“During certain expeditions people complained before the Messenger of Allah against fleas that irritated them. He (the Messenger of Allah) said, ‘When going into your bed say, “O black jumping thing that does not stop by the barrier or door I ask you by the original Book, do not irritate me and my companions until the night passes and morning comes with whatever it will bring along.’” The narrator has said, ‘As we know the last part of this Hadith has the following expression: ‘Until morning comes back when it is the time to come back.’”

“Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.) has said, ‘If you come face to face with a beast say, ‘I seek protection with the Lord of Daniel and the well against the evil of all powerful lions.” Note: Daniel was thrown in a well with wild beasts but they did not harm him.

Imam had sent them to Ibrahim: ‘Allah is greater than can be described, Allah is greater than can be described, Allah is greater than can be described. I testify that no one deserves to be worshipped except Allah. I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Allah is greater than can be described. Allah is greater than can be described. No one deserves to be worshipped except Allah. No one is my Lord, except Allah, to Him belongs the kingdom, all praise belongs to Him and He has no partner. Allah is free of all defects. As Allah willed it was, whatever He did not will did not come into being. O Lord, the Possessor of glory and magnanimity. Lord of Moses, Jesus and Ibrahim who fulfilled his duty, Lord of Ibrahim, Isma’il, Ishaq, Ya’qub and the tribes, no one deserves to be worshipped except You. I glorify You by means of Your signs that You have shown, by means of Your greatness, and by means of the facts with which the prophets pleaded before You for help that You are Lord of the people, that You were before everything and that You will be after everything, I plead before You through Your name with which You hold the skies from falling on earth except by Your permission, through Your perfect words with which You bring the dead to life, grant protection to Your servant so and so against the evil of whatever comes down from the sky and whatever goes up into the sky, whatever comes out of the earth and whatever enters into it, peace be with the messengers, all praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds.’ “He also wrote in his own handwriting, ‘In the name of Allah, with (the help of) Allah, to Allah, and as Allah wills, I seek protection (from Allah) for him with the majesty of Allah, with the might of Allah, with the power of Allah, with the possession of Allah, this writing is cure from Allah for so and so, son of male and female, two servants of Allah, O Allah, bestow al- Salat (favors) upon Muhammad and his family.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) has said, ‘Whenever you may come face to face with a wild beast, read verse 255 of Chapter 2 of the Holy Quran to its face and say, “I swear you by the oath of Allah, the oath of Muhammad (a.s.) the oath of Solomon son of David, the oath of Amir al-Mu’Mini, Ali ibn abu Talib and A ’immah, the clean ones (of all sins), after the Holy Prophet.” The beast will turn away from you by the will of Allah.’ I (the narrator) went out and a wild beast came face to face with me. I then swore it and said to it to turn and move out of the way without harming me. I looked at the beast, who had bent his head down, with the tail between the two legs and turned away.’”

“Whoever, after an obligatory prayer, says, ‘Under the trust of Allah, the Great, the Most Glorious, I place myself, family, children and all those whose affairs concern me, under the trust of Allah, whose Greatness is awesome, frightful and unapproachable, I place myself, family, children and all those whose affairs concern me,’ he will be guarded under the wing of Jibril (Gabriel), his person, family and belongings will be protected.’”

“If one sleeps alone in a house he should read verse 255 of Chapter 2 of the Holy Quran and say, ‘O Lord, calm down my anxiety, change my concern into peace and assist me in my loneliness.’”

“I heard Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.) saying, ‘The Messenger of Allah once said to me, “O Ali I should instruct you with the words that you should say in a troublesome condition or a misfortune: ‘(I begin) in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. There are no means and no power without Allah, the Most High, the Most Great,’ Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, will divert away from you through these words, many kinds of misfortune as He wills.’”