Du'a Kumayl
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The (, ) is a supplication () attributed to
Ali ibn Abi Talib Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until Assassination of Ali, his assassination in 661, as well as the first imamate in Shia doctrine, Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muha ...
(), the first
Shia Imam In Shia Islam, the Imamah () is a doctrine which asserts that certain individuals from the lineage of the Islamic prophet Muhammad are to be accepted as leaders and guides of the ummah after the death of Muhammad. Imamah further says that Imam ...
, the fourth
Rashidun caliph The Rashidun Caliphate () is a title given for the reigns of first caliphs (lit. "successors") — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali collectively — believed to represent the perfect Islam and governance who led the Muslim community and po ...
(), and the cousin and son-in-law of the
Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit divine revelation, mos ...
Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
. It has been transmitted on the authority of Kumayl ibn Ziyad (), a close associate of Ali. This contains esoteric teachings about divine mercy and repentance, and remains popular especially among
Shia Muslims Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...
.


About

Kumayl ibn Ziyad was a prominent nobleman in
Kufa Kufa ( ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates, Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Along with Samarra, Karbala, Kadhimiya ...
,
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
. He was outspoken against the
Rashidun caliph The Rashidun Caliphate () is a title given for the reigns of first caliphs (lit. "successors") — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali collectively — believed to represent the perfect Islam and governance who led the Muslim community and po ...
Uthman Uthman ibn Affan (17 June 656) was the third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruling from 644 until his assassination in 656. Uthman, a second cousin, son-in-law, and notable companion of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, played a major role ...
() and was consequently exiled to
Hims Hims could refer to: * Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Locate ...
in
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
. Soon after the
assassination of Uthman Uthman ibn Affan, the third Rashidun caliph, who ruled from 644 to 656, was assassinated at the end of a siege upon his house in 656. This was initially a protest but escalated into a siege following the death of a protester. The protesters-turne ...
in 656 CE, he joined the new caliph
Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...
in
Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...
as one of his close associates. Later he was appointed by Ali as the governor of Hit, north of Kufa, where he prevented an early incursion by
Mu'awiya Mu'awiya I (–April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the four Rashid ...
, the rebellious governor of Syria. Kumayl also fought alongside Ali in the
Battle of Siffin The Battle of Siffin () was fought in 657 CE (37 Islamic calendar, AH) between the fourth Rashidun caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib and the rebellious governor of Syria (region), Syria Muawiyah I, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan. The battle is named after its ...
in 657 against Mu'awiya. Some years after the
assassination of Ali Ali, Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Rashidun Caliphate, Rashidun caliph () and the first Imamate in Shia doctrine, Shia Imam, was assassinated during the Fajr prayer, morning prayer on 28 January 661 common era, CE, equivalent to 19 Ramadan 40 ...
in 661, Kumayl participated in the abortive revolt of
Ibn al-Ash'ath Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath (; died 704), commonly known as Ibn al-Ash'ath after his grandfather, was a prominent Arab nobleman and military commander during the Umayyad Caliphate, most notable for leading a failed rebellion aga ...
in 700 against the
Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...
viceroy
al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf Abu Muhammad al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi Aqil al-Thaqafi (; ), known simply as al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (), was the most notable governor who served the Umayyad Caliphate. He began his service under Caliph Abd al-Malik (), who successiv ...
and was executed by him circa 708 for his role in the rebellion and for his continued devotion to Ali. The is quoted on the authority of Kumayl, who is said to have learned this from Ali. In turn, Ali may have attributed the to al-Khidr, a figure, likely a prophet, who is described but not named in the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
. Indeed, Ali often referred to al-Khidr as 'his brother', claiming that al-Khidr appeared to him assuming the form of different people. Among
Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...
scholars, the is quoted by al-Tusi () in his , by Ibn Tawus () in his , and by
Sharif al-Murtada Sharīf or Sherif (, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, from the famil ...
(). The is also featured in , a widely circulated collection of s compiled by the Shia scholar
Abbas Qomi Abbas Qomi () also known as ''Mohaddith Qomi'' () was a Shia scholar, historian, and hadith narrator. He wrote books, including Mafatih al-Janan. Biography Abbas Qomi was born in 1877 (1294 AH) in Qom, Iran.Qomi, Al-Fawaed al-Razawiah, P. 22 ...
(). There are several commentaries concerning this , some of which are listed by the Shia jurist
Agha Bozorg Tehrani Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammed Mohsen Manzavi Tehrani, popularly known as Agha Bozorg Tehrani () (7 April 1876 – 20 February 1970), was a Shia scholar born and based in Tehran. He was a Shia scholar from Hawza Elmiye Najaf Najaf is the capital city ...
() in his . The was translated to English by the philosopher and academic
William Chittick William Clark Chittick (born June 29, 1943) is an American philosopher, writer, translator, and interpreter of classical Islamic philosophical and mystical texts. He is best known for his work on Rumi and Ibn 'Arabi, and has written extensively ...
. Especially among Shia Muslims, the remains popular, recited every Thursday night, and on mid-
Shaban Shaʽban ( ') is the eighth month of the Islamic calendar. It is called the month of 'separation', as the word means 'to disperse' or 'to separate' because the pagan Arabs used to disperse in search of water. The fifteenth night of this month ...
. The invocation of this is said to be "useful for protecting against the evil of enemies, for opening the gates of one's daily bread and for the forgiveness of sins."


Content


Divine mercy

Perpetual and constant remembrance of God is highlighted in this , a passage of which reads, " God!Make all my time, in the night and the day, inhabited by Your remembrance." The benefits of this remembrance are explained in another passage of the , "O He whose name is a remedy and whose invocation () is the cure." The is also rich with esoteric teachings, chief among them the concept of , which might be translated from
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
as 'loving mercy and compassion'. The begins, "O God! I ask You by your mercy () 'which embraces all things'," which alludes to verse 7:156 of the Quran, or verses 6:12 and 6:54 of the Quran, according to which, God has 'inscribed' on His self the principle of mercy. A few verses later, the continues, "by Your names, which have filled the foundations of all things." Together, these two verses of the supplication imply that the defining quality of all divine names is mercy, suggests the Islamic author
Reza Shah-Kazemi Reza Shah-Kazemi (born 1 June 1960) is an author who specializes in comparative mysticism, Islamic Studies, Sufism and Shi'ism. He is the founding editor of the ''Islamic World Report'' and currently a research associate at the Institute of Isma ...
. As this mercy fills the foundations of all things, he continues, anything that lacks mercy is only temporary and transient. For Shah-Kazemi then, a central message of the is that there is hidden mercy even in the outwardly most absurd happenings, a mercy which would be revealed to most people only when the "veil" is lifted at death. Another verse of the supplication reads, "My far-fetched hopes have held me back from my true gain," echoing other statements attributed to Ali, including, "Most shattered minds have been felled by lightning bolts of covetous desires."


Repentance

Having invoked the mercy of God, the then appeals to this mercy, "O God! I find no forgiver of my sins, no concealer of my ugly acts, no transformer () of my ugly acts into beautiful ones, but You." The last part is an allusion to verse 25:70 of the Quran, "God will transform their ugly acts into beautiful ones," a divine promise to those who repent and act virtuously afterward. The continues, This refusal to despair from the mercy of God is also evident in another saying attributed to Ali, "The one who truly understands () among all those who understand is the one who never makes people despair of the mercy of God." A few other passages from the follow below after minor edits.


See also


Footnotes


References

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External links

{{Authority control Shia prayers