Faraj[1] Supplication:
The seventh event includes Faraj Supplication: Sayyid Raḍī al-Dīn Ali ibn Ṭāwūs in his book Faraj al-Mahmūm and ‘Allāmah Majlisī in his book Biḥḥr al-Anwār have quoted from the book Dalā’il, by Shaikh Abi Ja’far Muḥammad ibn Jarīr Ṭabarī, that he has quoted Abu Ja’far Muḥammad ibn Hārūn ibn Mūsā al-Tal-al’Akbarī, and he has quoted Abu al-Haṣan Ibn Abi al-Baql Kātib, as saying:
I undertook a task on behalf of Abi Manṣūr ibn Abi Ṣāliḥān. Then, because something happened between us and him, I hid from him!
He looked for me, but I was hiding and was scared for a while. I decided to go for [pilgrimage of] Qurayshi tombs, especially the enlightening grave of Imam Kāẓim (pbuh), on Friday eve.
I arranged to stay there to pray and request [ my wishes from Allah] that night. It was rainy and windy, so I asked the custodian, Abi Ja’far, to close the doors of the illuminating chamber. Also i requested him to permit [the people to make] that blessed place busy, so that I could make private for praying and requesting, and stay safe from those whom I was afraid of visiting.
He did so and closed the doors. It was midnight and there was so much wind and rain that, people’s traffic to the shrine stopped. I stayed there, reading prayers and pray.
I was busy [with that praying], when I suddenly heard footsteps coming from [the shrine] of my Mawlā, His Majesty Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar (pbuh). Also, there was a man who was reading a written prayer, and in his prayer, he stated peace to be upon Âdam (pbuh) and Ulu l-‘Azm prophets2 (pbu th). Then [did the same to] Imāms (pbu th); one by one, until it was His Majesty Sāhib al- Zamān (mgehr)’s time, but he didn’t mention him!
I was shocked by that and thought, “Maybe he has forgotten [to mention] him, he does not know him, or he is following a special sect!” Anyway, when he finished his prayer, he performed two- Rakaʿah praying and then turned to the shrine of our Mawlā, Imām Abu Ja’far [3] (pbuh).
He read the same prayer and stated again sent “peace be…” in the same way. And again performed two- Rakaʿah praying. I was afraid of him, because I didn’t know him. I saw that he was a perfect young man, wearing a white dress, and wore a turban while allowing one of its ends to hang down over his front, and a [Arabian] cloak on his shoulders.
Then he stated, ‘O’ Abu’l-Hasan ibn Abī Al-Baqal! How much you know about the Al-Faraj supplication?’ I said, ‘O’ my Sayyid! What is that?’. He returned, ‘Perform two- Rakaʿah praying and then say:
يا مَنْ اَظْھَرَ الْجَمیلَ وَ سَتَرَ الْقَبیحَ يا مَنْ لَمْ يُؤ اخِذْ بِالْجَريرَةِ وَ لَمْ يُھْتِك السِّتْرَ ياعَظیمَ المَنَّ يا كَريمَ الصَّفْحَ
يا حَسَنَ التَّجاوَزَ يا واسِعَ الْمَغْفِرَةِ يا باسِطَ الْیَدَيْنِ بِالرَّحْمَةِ يا مُنْتَھى كُلِّ نَجْوى وَ يا غايَةَ (مُنْتَھى ) كُلّ
شَكْوى يا عَوْنَ كُلِّ مُسْتَعینٍ يامُبْتَدِئا بِالنِّعَمِ قَبْلَ اسْتِحْقا قِھا يا رَبّاهُ (عشرة مرات) يا غايَةَ رَغْبَتاهُ (عشرة مرات
اَسْئَلُكَ بِحَقِّ ھذِهِ الاَسْمآءِ وَ بِحَقِّ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِهِ الطّاھِرينَ عَلَیْھِمُ السَّلامُ اِلاّ ما كَشَفْتَ كَرْبى وَ نَفَّسْتَ ھَمّى و
فَرَّجْتَ غَمّى وَ اَصْلَحْتَ حالى
O You who reveal beauty and conceal ugly things!
O You who do not take a wrongdoer to task and do not tear the veil!
O You who are Great Forgiver! O You who have the great forbearance!
O You who have pardon abounding! O You who have opened Your hands for mercy!
O Hearer of all whisperings! O You to whom all complaints are made!
O Noble face! O Possessor of great favor! O You who give blessings to Your servants when they do not deserve it!
O our Master! O our Lord! O our Guardian! O the Goal of our desires!
I beseech You O God! not to make my being ugly with Fire…
There, you can please God whatever you want, and ask God to fulfill your wish. There, you ought to put the right side of your face on the ground, and repeat the following prayer in your prostration, for one hundred times:
يَامُحَمَّدُ يَاعَلِيُّ يَاعَلِيُّ يَامُحَمَّدُ
O Muḥammad! O ‘Ali! O ‘Ali! O Muḥammad!
كْفِيَانِيْ فَإِنَّكُمَا كَافِيَانِ وَ انْصُرَانِيْ فَإِنَّكُمَا نَاصِرَانِ
Suffice me both of you as both of you are sufficient. Help me—two of you—for you are my helpers.
Then, you ought to put the left side of your face on the ground, and repeat
ادركنی
“Rescue me!”
for one hundred times. Again you repeat it a lot and then say,
“اَلْغَوْثَ اَلْغَوْثَ اَلْغَوْثَ”
“Help! Help! Help!”
, till you feel like, you are short of breath! And you bring your head up. In fact, The Almighty God will fulfill your wish, due to his munificence.
Anyhow, when I started praying and reading prayers, he went out! After I ended the pray, I went to Abi Ja’far in order to, ask him about this man, “How could he enter?!” I saw the doors which were closed and locked as before, so I got shocked and I thought, “There may be a door here which I am not aware of!” Therefore, I headed to Abi Ja’far
to ask him about this man, how he entered. But I saw the doors are closed and locked as they were. It shocked me, I thought maybe there was another door, I was not aware of. Then I went to Abī Ja’far and he was coming towards me from the Zayt room (means the chamber that was the place of storing oil for the shrine’s lights).
I asked him about that man and the way he entered. Abī Ja’far replied, ‘The doors are locked and I did not open them’. Yet, I told him the story. He said, ‘He was our Mawlā Sahib al-Zaman (mgehr)! I have visited him several times in such nights, when the shrine is empty of people.’
I felt so sorry for what I lost, then I left the shrine about the dawn, went to Karkh, somewhere hidden. It was still before morning, that companions of Ibn Abi Ṣāliḥān were seeking to visit me and asking my friends about me. There was a safe-conduct from the vizier [Islamic minister] with them, as well as a perfect letter written by his own.
Therefore, I went before him with a trustworthy friend of mine. He stood up and tightly hugged me in a way, I did not expect. Then he asked, ‘What happened to you, that you complained against me before the Sāhib al-Zamān (mgehr)?!’
I told him that I’d had a request, and I asked it from his Majesty. He stated, ‘Woe to you! Last night I dreamt my Mawlā, Sāhib al- Zamān (mgehr). It was Thursday night. He ordered me to do good, but he was angry with me so much that I was scared!’
When I heard those words, I said,[ لا اِلهَ اِلا اللّهُ ]‘There is no God but Allah! I bear witness that they [Ahl al-Bayt (pbu th)] are true, and they are the utmost of truth. Last night, I met my Mawlā while I was awake! He stated to me such and such’. So, I explained what I had seen there, in the Holy Shrine.
He was surprised by this, and then he assigned me to almost good and great matters in this regard. Well, Thanks to my Mawlā (mgehr), I have reached a degree that I did not expect!
[Anyway,] The author says, ‘There are some supplications that are called Al-Faraj supplication:
The first is the supplication, mentioned in this story;
The second is a supplication narrated in the honorable book “Al-Ja’farīyat”, from Amir al-Mu’minin (pbuh). In the book, it reads:
[Once,] His Majesty came to the Messenger of God (pbuh&h), complaining about a matter. Then His Excellency stated, ‘Would you like that I teach you the words, which Gabriel gifted me? Those are the nineteen letters whose four, are written on Gabriel’s forehead.
and four others have been written around Kursi, three have been written around Arsh*.
Anyway, no forlorn, distressed, troubled, sad one, or the one who fears from a king or any evil, has ever read those words, except God will fulfill his wish. And the words are the following:
يا عِمادَ مَنْ لا عِمادَ لَهُ وَ يا سَنَدَ مَنْ لا سَنَد لَهُ وَ يا ذُخْرَ مَنْ لا ذُخْرَ لَهُ وَ يا حِرْزَ مَنْ لا حِرْزَ لَهُ وَ ياَ فَخْرَ
مَنْ لا فَخْرَ لَهُ وَ يا رُكْنَ مَنْ لا رُكْنَ لَهُ يا عَظِیمَ الرَّجاَّءِ يا عِزَّ الضُّعَفاَّءِ يامُنْقِذَ الغَرقى يا مُنْجِىَ الْھَلْكى
يا مُحْسِنُ يا مُنْعِمُ يا مُفْضِلُ اَسْئَلُ اللّهَ الَّذى لا اِله الاّ اَنْتَ الَّذى سَجَدَلَكَ سَوادُ اللَّیْلِ وَ ضَوْءُ النَّھارِ وَ
شُعاعُ الشَّمْسِ وَ نُورُ الْقَمَرِ وَ دِوِىُّ الْمآءِ وَ حَفیفُ الشَّجَرِ يا اَللّهُ يا رَحْمنُ يا ذَالْجَلالِ وَ الاِكْرامِ
O Supporter of the unsupported, O Helper of the helpless,
O Protector of the unprotected, O Shield for the defenseless,
O Hearer of the unheard appeal,
O Pride of those without pride,
O Honor of the honouress,
O helper of the one who has no helper,
O treasure of the one who has no treasure,
O honor of the one who has no honor,
O forgiveness O good forgiveness,
O supporter of the weak,
O wealth of the poor,
O great source of hope,
O savior of the drowned,
You are the one who can guard and save those who are to be destroyed.
I call You with every quality, with every name and attribute of Yours; You are the one everything prostrates to-from darkness to light, from sun to moon, water and trees everything prostrates to You; make me prostrate to You and be desperate to You only… O Most Merciful, O owner of majesty and honor.
Amīr al Mu’menin (pbuh) called the previous prayer, “The prayer which opens things up” ***
The third is: In the book “Jannat al-Wāqiyah”, Shaykh Ibrāhīm Kafʻamī narrated that:
*The Arsh and kursiyy are both ranks of dominion and command that belong to Allah; the difference between the two being that the Arsh is Allah’s dominion regarding this material and physical universe, while the other is His dominion regarding the world of angels and souls, which is the metaphysical world. The Arsh is a real thing that exists in this world, and isn’t a figure of speech, and the same goes for kursiyy, which encompasses all the heavens and earth. In some verses the Arsh is metaphorical, while in other verses, it isn’t and is referring to something real that exists.
***Translator: This is not the exact translation of The Imām (pbuh)’s words. But it is correct.
1 – Faraj refers to The Emergence and the supplication is to relieve of cruelty and oppression of The Last Era]
2. It refers to the five prophets who had their own shari’a, including Prophet Noah (pbuh), Prophet Ibrāhīm (pbuh), Prophet Mūsā (pbuh), Prophet Jesus (pbuh), and Prophet Muḥammad (pbuh&h).
3. One of titles of Imām al-Jawād (pbuh).