Question

Can you provide the Arabic text of this du’a, the reference and the full text of the du’a?

“O Allah, by Your knowledge of the unseen and Your power over creation, keep me alive so long as You know that living is good for me and cause me to die if You know that death is better for me. O Allah, I ask you to be able to fear You in secret and in public. I ask You to make me speak the truth in times of happiness and anger…”

 

Answer

This du’a, with this wording is recorded in Sunan Nasai. Sayyiduna ‘Ammar ibn Yasir (radiyallahu ‘anhuma) supplicated using these words in Salah and said that Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) also did so.

(Sunan Nasa’i; Al Mujtaba, Hadith: 1305)

 

The du’a also appears in many other Hadith collections with variations in the wording.

(Musnad Ahmad, vol. 4 pg. 264, Hadith: 18325, Sahih Ibn Hibban; Al Ihsan, Hadith: 1971, Mustadrak Hakim, vol. 1 pg. 524-525, Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah, Hadith: 29958)

 

The Arabic text of the du’a is as follows:

اللَّهُمَّ بِعِلْمِكَ الْغَيْبَ، وَقُدْرَتِكَ عَلَى الْخَلْقِ، أَحْيِنِي مَا عَلِمْتَ الْحَيَاةَ خَيْرًا لِي، وَتَوَفَّنِي إِذَا عَلِمْتَ الْوَفَاةَ خَيْرًا لِي، اللَّهُمَّ وَأَسْأَلُكَ خَشْيَتَكَ فِي الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ، وَأَسْأَلُكَ كَلِمَةَ الْحَقِّ فِي الرِّضَا وَالْغَضَبِ، وَأَسْأَلُكَ الْقَصْدَ فِي الْفَقْرِ وَالْغِنَى، وَأَسْأَلُكَ نَعِيمًا لَا يَنْفَدُ، وَأَسْأَلُكَ قُرَّةَ عَيْنٍ لَا تَنْقَطِعُ، وَأَسْأَلُكَ الرِّضَاءَ بَعْدَ الْقَضَاءِ، وَأَسْأَلُكَ بَرْدَ الْعَيْشِ بَعْدَ الْمَوْتِ، وَأَسْأَلُكَ لَذَّةَ النَّظَرِ إِلَى وَجْهِكَ، وَالشَّوْقَ إِلَى لِقَائِكَ فِي غَيْرِ ضَرَّاءَ مُضِرَّةٍ، وَلَا فِتْنَةٍ مُضِلَّةٍ، اللَّهُمَّ زَيِّنَّا بِزِينَةِ الْإِيمَانِ، وَاجْعَلْنَا هُدَاةً مُهْتَدِينَ

Allahumma bi ‘ilmikal ghaybi wa qudratika ‘alal khalqi ahyini ma ‘alimtal hayata khayral li wa tawaffani idha ‘alimtal wafata khayral li. Allahumma wa as aluka khashyataka fil ghaybi wash shahadati wa asaluka kalimatal haqqi fir rida wal ghadabi, wa asalukal qasda fil faqri wal ghina, wa as aluka na’iman la yanfadu, wa as aluka qurrata ‘aynin la tanqati’u, wa as alukar rida ba’dal qada, wa as aluka bardal ‘ayshi ba’dal mawti, wa as aluka laddhatan nazari ila wajhika, wash shawqa ila liqa ika fi ghayri darra-a mudirrah wa la fitnatin mudillah. Allahumma zayyinna bi zinatil Iman waj ‘alna hudatam muhtadin

Translation

“O Allah, by Your knowledge of the unseen and Your power over creation, keep me alive so long as You know that living is good for me and cause me to die if You know that death is better for me. O Allah, I ask you to be able to fear You in secret and in public. I ask You to make me speak the truth in times of happiness and anger. I ask You to make me moderate in expenditure, in times of wealth and poverty. And I ask You for everlasting delight and joy that will never cease, I ask You for my eyes to be continuously cool [through my progeny increasing or through Salah], I ask You to make me pleased with that which You have decreed and for a comfortable life after death. I ask You for the sweetness of looking upon Your face [in the Hereafter] and a longing to meet You in a manner that does not entail a calamity that will bring about harm or a trial that will cause deviation. O Allah, adorn us with the beauty of Iman, make us rightly guided and make us guide others.”

(Refer: Faydul Qadir, Hadith: 1537)

 

And Allah Ta’ala Knows best.

 

Answered by: Moulana Suhail Motala

 

Approved by: Moulana Muhammad Abasoomar