The Word in the Morning and Evening

“About the words of Allah, the Most Blessed, the Most High, ‘All in the heavens and the earth prostrate themselves before Allah, either of their own free will or by force, just as do their shadows in the mornings and evenings,’ (13:15) the Imam said, ‘This is prayer before sunrise and before sunset and it is the hour in which prayers are heard.’”

“Satan, may Allah’s condemnations be upon him, spreads the armies of the night at sunset and at sunrise. You must speak of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, very often in these two hours and seek protection from Allah against the evils of Satan and his army, protect your little ones in those two hours; they are the hours of negligence.”

“Whoever says, ‘O Lord, I ask You to be my witness, I ask Your favorite angels to be my witness and the chosen carriers of Your ’Throne to be my witness to my testimony: You are Allah, no one deserves to be worshipped except You, the Beneficent, the Merciful, and that Muhammad is Your servant and Your Messenger that so and so, son of so and so, (the Imam and his father should be mentioned) is my Imam and my guardian that he is a child of the Messenger of Allah, that Ali, al-Hassan and al-Husayn and so and so, recipients of divine supreme covenant, up to him (the twelfth Imam) are my Imam and guardians. With this I live. On this I will die and will be raised (resurrected). I disavow so and so and so.’ If he may die that night, he will enter paradise.’”

“In the morning say, ‘This morning I believe in Allah in the religion of Muhammad and his tradition, Sunnah , the religion of Ali and his tradition, the religion of the successors (of the Holy Prophet from his family) and their tradition. I believe in their secrets and that which is public of them, those present of them as well as those absent. I seek refuge before Allah from everything against which the Messenger of Allah, Ali and the successors (of the Holy Prophet from his family) sought refuge. I am interested in everything that was of interest to them. There are no means and no power without the help of Allah.’”

"Ali ibn al-Husayn (as) used to say when he woke up in the morning, 'I begin this day of mine, amidst my forgetfulness and haste, with the name of Allah and by His will.' So when a servant does this, Allah gives him rewards for what he forgets during his day."

“Whoever says in the evening, ‘I leave myself and all that is important to me, in trust of Allah, the Most High, the Most Glorious, the Most Great, from Whose greatness all things fear, worry and waver,’ three times, he will be wrapped up in a wing of the wings of Jibril, the Archangel, for protection until morning.’”

“In the evening say, ‘O Lord, I ask You in the approaching of Your night and retreating of Your day, in the presence of Your blessings, among the voices of prayer to You to grant al-Salat (favors) upon Muhammad and Ale (family of) Muhammad,’ then pray for whatever you wish.’”

“Each coming day says to the sons of Adam, ‘O son of Adam, I am a new day and a witness over you. Say good in me and do good deeds; I will testify for or against you on the Day of Judgment. You will never see me thereafter.’ The Imam said that Ali (a.s.) in the evening would say, ‘Welcome to the new night, and witnessing ascribe. Both of you write down in the name of Allah.’ Then he would speak of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy.’”

“I heard Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) saying, ‘When the sun changes, speak of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, and if there are people keeping you occupied, stand up and pray.’”

“There are three things that the prophets inherited from Adam until they reached the Messenger of Allah. In the morning he would say, ‘O Lord, I request You to grant me a belief that accompany with my heart, a certainty in the fact that nothing can affect me except what You have written, make me happy with the share that You have assigned for me.’” Certain individuals of our people have narrated the above Hadith with this addition: “So I will not love hastening of what You have delayed, and the delay of what You have hastened, O Living, O Guardian, I plead for help through Your mercy, correct all of my affairs and do not leave me to my own soul not even for a blinking of an eye and grant al-Salat (favors) upon Muhammad and his family.”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) would say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah Who has given us this morning and the kingdom belongs to Him. You have brought to this morning Your servant son of Your servant and son of Your female servant under Your control. O Lord, grant me sustenance through Your generosity, a sustenance from the source that I expect or did not expect, protect me against things I protect myself or cannot protect. O Lord, grant me sustenance through Your generosity and do not make me needy before any of Your creatures. O Lord, dress me up in good health and grant me the realization to thank You for it, the One, the only, O Self- sufficient O Allah Who is not born from anyone and has not given birth to anyone and no one is His partner or one of His kind. O Allah, O Beneficent, O Merciful, O the Owner of the kingdom, the Cherisher of the cherishers, the Master of the masters, O Allah, no one deserves to be worshipped except You, grant me good health through Your cure from all illnesses, and pains; I am one of Your servants and the son of Your servant and I move back and forth in Your control.’”

“O Lord, I and this day are two creatures of Your creatures. O Lord, do not make me suffer from it and do not make it suffer from me. O Lord, do not allow it see me bold in disobeying You or committing unlawful things. O Lord, remove from me constraint and poverty, affliction and evil determination, and expression of joy from the enemy for bad things in me, and from being placed on an evil position, my property or myself. “The Imam has said, ‘Any servant (of Allah) who says in the morning or evening three times, “I accept that Allah is my Lord, Islam is my religion, Muhammad (a.s.) is the Prophet, the Holy Quran is the text of Divine message and Ali (a.s.) is my Imam,” three times, it will be a right upon Allah, the Majestic, the Compeller to make him happy on the Day of Judgment. ’ “The Imam has said that he (Ali (a.s.)) would say in the evening, ‘We live in the morning thankful to Allah and we live in the evening praising Allah. All praise belongs to You as we live in the evening submitted to Y our will and in peace. ‘‘The Imam said, ‘He (Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.)) in the morning would say, “We live in the evening thankful to Allah and we live in the morning praising Allah, all praise belongs to Allah. We live in the morning submitted to Your will and in peace.’”

“My father (a.s.) in the morning would say, ‘(I begin) in the name of Allah, with Allah, and to Allah, for the cause of Allah and on the religion of the Messenger of Allah, O Lord, to You I have submitted my soul, to You I have left my affairs, before You I have placed my trust, O Lord of the worlds. O Lord, protect me by the protection of belief, that I need against things with me, behind me, on my right, on my left from above me, from my underneath and in front of me. No one deserves to be worshipped except You. There are no means and no power without the help of Allah. We ask You to forgive us, grant us good health (and protection) against all evil, and misfortune in this world and in the hereafter. O Lord, I seek refuge with You against torment in the grave, against the pressure of the grave, and from the congestion of the grave. I seek refuge with You against the domination of the night and day. O Lord, the Cherisher of Mash ’ar al-Haram (a place in Makkah), the Cherisher of the sacred town, the Lord of sacred and none sacred land; convey my greeting of peace to Muhammad and his family. O Lord, I seek refuge in Your strong coat of arms and Your community, from dying due to drowning. burning, choking, retaliation for a crime, killed with hands tied, being poisoned, being thrown in a well, being feed to beasts, by heart attack and sudden death or any form of bad death. However, cause me to die in my bed in obedience to You and Y our messenger on the right path and free from being misled or in the rank that You have described in Your book: “Allah loves those who fight for His cause in battlefield formations firm as an unbreakable (metallic or) concrete wall.” (61:4) “I seek protection for myself, my children and for whatever my Lord has granted me, through: ‘(I begin) in the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful (Muhammad), say, “I seek protection from the Lord of the Dawn (113:1) against the evil of whatever He has created (113:2). I seek His protection against the evil of the invading darkness, (113:3) from the evil of those who practice witchcraft (113:4) and from the evil of the envious ones.”’ (113:5) “I seek protection for myself, my children and for whatever my Lord has granted me, through, ‘(I begin) in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful (Muhammad), say, “I seek protection from the Cherisher of mankind, (114:1) the King of mankind, (2) the Lord of mankind (3) against the evil of the temptations of the Devils, (4) of jinn and human beings (5) who induce temptation into the hearts of mankind.’” (1 14:6) “He then would say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, equal to the number of what Allah has created, all praise belongs to Allah equal to what He has created. All praise belongs to Allah to the fill of what He has created. All praise belongs to Allah equal to the length of His words, all praise belongs to Allah equal to the weight of His Throne, all praise belongs to Allah as much as it can make Him happy. No one deserves to be worshipped except Allah, the Forbearing, the Honorable, and no one deserves to be worshipped except Allah, the Most High, the Most Great. Glory belongs to Allah, the Cherisher of the heavens and earths and all that is between them and He is the Lord of the great Throne. O Lord, I seek protection with You against misfortunes, and against the insults of the enemies. I seek protection with You agaisnt poverty and deafness. I seek protection with You against bad appearance in the family, belongings and children. ’ Then he would say, ‘Al-Salat: O Lord, grant (favors) upon Muhammad and his family,’ ten times.’”

“Whoever says in the morning before sunrise, ‘Allah is greater than can be described, Allah is greater than can be described, the Most Great. I glorify Allah in the morning and in the evening, all praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds, a great deal of praise. He has no partners. O Lord, grant al-Salat (favors) upon Muhammad and his family,’ an angle will rush to take it (prayer) in his wing and ascend to heavens above this world and the angels will ask, “What is with you?” He will say, ‘With me there are the words that a believing servant (of Allah) has said and they are such and such.’ The angels will say, “May Allah grant favors upon the one who has said these words and forgive him.” The Imam said, ‘Through every heaven that he will pass he will say the same thing that he had said to those in the first heaven and they will say, “May Allah grant favors upon the one who has said these words and forgive him,” until he arrives near the carriers of the Throne and he will say to them, ‘With me there are the words that a believing servant (of Allah) has said and they are such and such,’ and they will say, “May Allah grant favors to this servant and forgive him, move on to the keepers of the treasures of the sayings of the believing people. These are the words of the treasure so they will write them down in record of the treasures.’”

“In the morning say, ‘O Lord, I seek protection from the evil of what You have created, spread and released in Your land and in Your servants. O Lord, I plead before You through Your glory, beauty, forbearance and honor for such and such favors . . . and mention your wishes.’”

“Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.) would say in the morning, ‘Glory belongs to Allah, the King, the Most Holy [three times]. O Lord, I seek protection against my loss of Your bounties, change in good health that You have given. Your sudden displeasure, approaching of misfortune, and the evil of what came to pass at night. O Lord, I plead before You through the majesty of Your kingdom, the intensity of Your power, the greatness of Your domain and Your power over Your creatures’ . . . and mention your wishes.”

“I heard Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) saying in the evening, ‘Remember (speak of) your Lord deep within yourselves, humbly and privately, instead of shouting out loud, (in prayer) in the mornings and evenings and do not be of the heedless ones,’ (7:205) and ‘No one deserves to be worshipped except Allah alone. Who has no partner. To Him belongs the kingdom and all praise. He gives life, causes death, causes death and gives life and He has power over all things.’ I (the narrator) said, ‘In His hand is all good.’ The Imam said, ‘All good is in His hand, however, say as 1 say to you ten times and say, ‘I seek protection with Allah, all Hearing and Omniscient,’ at sunrise and at sunset, ten times.”

“One in the morning should say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the morning, all praise belongs to Allah, who opens the morning, [ three times]. O Lord, open for me the door of the matter in which there is felicitation and good health, O Lord, prepare its way for me and show me the way out of it. O Lord, if You have decided that any of Your creatures should over power me in an evil way, seize him from all directions, front, back, right, left, above and below and suffice me by whatever means You like, whenever and however You want.’”

“Anyone who says in the morning, ‘O Lord, this morning I am under Your protection and bailsmanship, O Lord, I leave my religion, myself, my world, my hereafter, my family, and my belongings in Your trust and I seek protection with You, O Great, against the evil of all of Your creatures. I seek protection with You against the evil of the confusion of Satan and his army,’ nothing will harm him that day. If in the evening he says this nothing can harm him that night by the will of Allah, the Most Blessed, the Most High.”’

“When you perform the Maghrib (prayer at sunset) and morning prayers say, ‘(I begin) in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful, there are no means and no power without the help of Allah, the Most High, the Most Great,’ seven times. Whoever says this will not suffer from leprosy, insanity as well as seventy other kinds of misfortunes. The Imam said, ‘If you say in the morning and in the evening, “All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the morning and all praise belongs to Allah, Who opens up the morning’, [two times]. ‘All praise belongs to Allah, who removes the night by His power and brings the morning through His favor and we enjoy good health,’ then recite verses 255 of Chapter Two of the Holy Quran, the last verse of Chapter 59 and ten verses of Chapter 37: ‘Your Lord, the Lord of Honor, is by far more exalted and above being considered as they describe Him. (37:180) Peace be with the Messengers (of Allah) (37:181). It is only Allah, the Lord of the worlds, Who deserves all praise.’ (37:182) and, ‘Glory belongs to Allah, when they (creatures) are in the morning and in the evening, (30:17) all praise belongs to Allah, in the heavens and on earth, at later evening and at noon time, (30:18) He brings out the living from the dead and the dead from the living, gives life to earth after it dies away and in a similar way you will come to life again.’ (30:19) and, ‘He is Glorious and Most Holy, Lord of the angels and the Spirit. (O Lord,) Your mercy comes before Your anger, no one deserves to be worshipped except You, glory belongs to You. I have committed evil deeds and wronged myself grant me forgiveness, grant me mercy and accept my repentance; You grant acceptance to repentance; You are most Merciful.’”

“O Lord, all praise belongs to You. I praise You, beg assistance from You. You are my Lord, and I am Your servant. This morning I am with Your covenant and promise. I believe in Your promise and I am truthful to Your covenant as much as I can. There are no means and no power without the help of Allah, alone. Who has no partner. I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. This morning I follow the original religion of submission (Islam), and the word of sincerity, the tradition of Ibrahim and the religion of Muhammad. With this I live and will die, if Allah so wills. O Lord, grant me life, as long as You want, on this (belief) and cause me to die when You will cause me to die with this (belief), and raise me when you will with this (belief). Through this I seek Your happiness, and follow Your way. From You I beg support and to You I leave my affairs. Ale (family of) Muhammad, are my ‘A’immah (plural of Imam) and no one else is my Imam. I follow them, it is they whom I love and their footsteps I follow. O Lord, allow them to be my guardians in this world and in the hereafter and make me love their friends and be the enemy of their enemies in this world and in the next life. Join me with the virtuous people and my anscestors with them.’”

“Once I asked Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) to instruct me with something that I should say in the morning and in the evening. The Imam said say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, who does as He wills, and does not do what anyone else wants. All praise belongs to Allah, as Allah loves to be praised. All praise belongs to Allah, as He deserves. O Lord, keep me in every good in which You have kept Muhammad and his family and keep me out of every evil from which You have kept out Muhammad and his family. O Lord, grant al-Salat (favors) upon Muhammad and his family.’”

“You may give up whatever you give up but do not give up to say every morning and in the evening the following: “O Lord, this morning I seek forgiveness from You on this day for the people of kindness and disavow the people subject to Your condemnation. “O Lord, this morning and on this day I disavow the pagans around us, and what they worship. They were an evil people. “O Lord, this morning and on this day make everything that You will send from the sky to earth a blessing for Your friends and a punishment for Your enemies. “O Lord, love those who love You and be the enemy of Your enemies. “O Lord, finish for me every sunset and sunrise with peace and belief. “O Lord, forgive my parents and me and be kind to them just as they were kind to me for bringing me up as a small person. “O Lord, forgive the believing male and female, Muslim male and female, their living and their dead. O Lord, You know their activities and their dwellings. “O Lord, protect the Imam of the Muslims with the protection of belief, grant him a powerful victory, easy conquest and assign for him and for us, from before You, a supportive authority. “O Lord, condemn so and so and the groups who deferred against Your Messenger, people possessing Authority from You after Your Messenger, the A’immah after him and their Shi’a (followers). I plead before You for more of Your generosity, to affirm whatever he (Your Messenger) has brought from You, submission to Your command, and to be protective of what You have commanded to follow. I do not want thereby any payment or to sell it for a little price. “O Lord, guide me along with those whom You have granted guidance, spare me from the evil of whatever You have decided; You decide and no one can judge against You and no one who loves You is humiliated. You are blessed and high, glory belongs to You, Lord of the House, accept my prayer. And the means through which I sought nearness to You, increase them for me several times and much more. Grant us, from before You, favors and great rewards. Lord, how good is the test that You placed me in, whatever great favors You have granted me and the long time that I enjoyed good health! How much is the cover with which You have covered up my faults! All praise belongs to You, O Lord, a great deal, fine and blessed to the fill of the heavens and earth, to the fill of what my Lord wills as He loves and consents, as it should be worthwhile of my Lord, the Possessor of glory and honor.’”

“I heard Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) saying, ‘Whoever says, “As Allah wills it happens. There are no means and no power without the help of Allah, the Most High, the Most Great,’” one hundred times after the morning prayer, he will not suffer any hardships that day.”

“Whoever says after the Morningprayer and Maghrib (sunset) seven times, ‘(I begin) in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. There are no means and no power without the help of Allah, the Most High, the Most Great,’ Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, will repel seventy kinds of misfortunes of which the least is foul smells, leprosy and insanity, and if he is listed as an unfortunate one, his name will be deleted from such list to be written down with fortunate ones.’”

“. . . the least of which is leprosy and insanity and if he is listed among the unfortunate ones I can hope that Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, will change him to fortunate ones.”

Imam said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) has said, ‘One should say them (expressions in Hadith 25) three times in the morning and three times in the evening and should not then fear any Satan, ruler, leprosy,’ he did not say seven times. Abu al-Hassan (a.s.) has said, ‘I, however, say them one hundred times.’”

“After performing the morning and Maghrib prayers say, ‘(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,’ seven times, you will not suffer insanity, leprosy and seventy other kinds of misfortune.’”

“Abu al-Hassan (a.s.) has said, ‘When you performed your Maghrib prayer before stretching your leg or speaking to anyone say one hundred times, “(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,” and one hundred times in the morning, Allah will repel one hundred kinds of misfortune, the least of which is leprosy, Satan and rulers (unjust ones).”’

“I heard abu al-Hassan (a.s.) saying, ‘In the evening when you see the sun is disappearing say, ‘(I begin) in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. All praise belongs to Allah, Who has no children, never had a partner in the kingdom, all praise belongs to Allah Who describes things and Himself is beyond description, knows and is not known. He knows the secret glance of eyes and what hearts hide. I seek protection with Allah’s honorable face, with Allah’s great name against the evil of what He has spread and settled, the evil under the ground, the evil of what is manifest or hidden, the evil of things in the night and during the day, the evil of abu Murrah (Satan) and what he has given birth to, the evil of false emotional attraction, the evil of what I mentioned and what I have not mentioned. All praise belongs to Allah, Cherisher of the worlds.’ The Imam said, ‘It is protection against beasts, Satan condemned to be stoned and his offspring.’ Amir al- Mu’minin, Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.) would say in the morning, ‘Glory belongs to Allah, the King, the Most Holy, three times, O Lord, I seek protection against my loss of Your bounties, change in good health that You have given. Your sudden displeasure, the approaching of misfortune, and the evil of what came to pass in the book. O Lord, I plead before You through the majesty of Your kingdom, the intensity of Your power, the greatness of Your domain and Your power over Your creatures.’”

“Prayer before sunrise and sunset is an established Sunnah (tradition). At sunrise and sunset say, ‘No one deserves to be worshipped except Allah, alone, Who has no partner. To Him belongs the Kingdom and all praise. He gives life, causes death, causes death and gives life and He does not die. In His hand is all good, He has power over all things,’ ten times and then say, ‘I seek protection with Allah, the Hearing, the Omniscient, against the whispers of Satan. I seek protection with You, my Lord against their approaching me. Allah is All-Hearing and Omniscient,’ ten times before sunrise and sunset. If you forget, make it up as you make up the formal prayer when you forget.’”

“Say, ‘I seek protection with Allah against Satan, the condemned to be stoned. I seek protection with Allah against the approach of Satan. Allah is Hearing and Omniscient.’ Say, ‘No one deserves to be worshipped except Allah alone. Who has no partner. He gives life and causes death. He has power over all things.’ The narrator has said that a man than asked, ‘Is it obligatory?’ The Imam said, ‘Yes, it is obligatory and limited that you say before sunrise and sunset, ten times and if you miss it then make it up during the day or night. ’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) has said, ‘Of the prayers are such that if one forgets one should make up for it. One should say after the morning prayer, “No one deserves to be worshipped except Allah, alone Who has no partner, to Him belongs the Kingdom and all praise, He gives life, causes death, causes death, gives life, He is living and does not die, in His hand is all good and He has power over all things,” ten times. One should then say, ‘I seek protection with Allah, the Hearing, the Omniscient,’ ten times and if one forgets any of this, he owes to make it up for them.’”

“Once I asked abu Ja’far (a.s.) about Tasbih (words to glorify Allah). The Imam said, ‘I do not know of anything other than Tasbih of Fatimah (a.s.) and ten times after the morning prayer, ‘No one deserves to be worshipped except Allah, alone Who has no partner, to Him belongs all praise, He gives life, causes death. He has power over all things,’ and then say Tasbih voluntarily as much as you wish.’” (! Tasbih of Fatimah (a.s.) consists of saying, ‘Allah is greater than can be described,’ thirty-four times ‘all praise belongs to Allah,’ thirty-three times and ‘Allah is free of defects,’ thirty-three times.)

“Abu Ja’far (a.s.) has said, ‘Whoever says before dawn, “No one deserves to be worshipped except Allah alone, Who has no partner, to Him belongs the kingdom and all praise, He gives life, causes death, causes death and gives life. He is living and does not die, in His hand is all good and He has power over all things,” ten times and says, ‘O Lord, grant al-Salat (favors) upon Muhammad and his family,’ ten times, and says, ‘Allah is free of all defects,’ thirty-five times, ‘No one deserves to be worshipped except Allah,’ thirty- five times, ‘All praise belongs to Allah,’ thirty-five times, he will not be written that morning among the careless ones and if he says this in the evening, he will not be written of the careless ones in that night.’”

"I wrote to Abu Ja'far al-Thani (al-Jawad) (as) asking him to teach me a supplication. He wrote back to me saying, 'When you wake up in the morning and when you enter the evening, say: 'Allah, Allah, Allah, my Lord, the Merciful, the Compassionate. I do not associate anything with Him.' And if you add to that, it is better. Then supplicate for what you desire, and it will be for you, with the permission of Allah, the Exalted. Allah does whatever He wills.'"

“Do not miss saying in the morning and in the evening three times this, ‘O Lord, place me in Your strong coat of arms in which You place whomever You will’; my father would say that this is of the prayer that is treasured.’”

Eloquent words that he would say often." I asked, "What were they?". He said, "Whenever he would wake up in the morning, he would say three times: 'I have awakened, and by my Lord, all praise is due to Him, I do not associate anything with Allah, nor do I call upon any god besides Him, nor do I take anyone other than Him as a protector.' And when evening came, he would say it three times as well.' So Allah, the Almighty, revealed in His book this verse." I then asked, "Then what about His words regarding Nuh (as): 'Indeed, he was a grateful servant.' (17:3) He said, "Eloquent words that he would say often." I asked, "What are they?". He said, "Whenever he would wake up in the morning, he would say three times: 'I testify that there is no blessing or well-being that I wake up to, in religion or in the world, except from You alone, there is no partner for You, so to You is all praise for that and abundant thanks.' He used to say it three times in the morning and three times in the evening." I then asked, "What about His words regarding Yahya (as): '[We gave him] affection from us and purity, and he was God-fearing.'" (19:13) He said, "Allah showed compassion." I asked, "How much of Allah's compassion did he receive?". He said, "Whenever he called out 'Ya Rabb', Allah (swt) would respond with, 'Labayka Ya Yahya'.