INVOCATION

 

IN THE NAME OF GOD; THE MERCIFUL, THE COMPASSIONATE. PRAY, O GOD, FOR OUR LORD MUHAMMAD AND HIS FAMILY AND THE MEN AROUND HIM.

 

THE SERVANT of God who needs the mercy of God who is so rich in His kindness, 'Abd-ar-Rahman b. Muhammad b. Khaldun al-Hadrami-God give him success!-says:1 Praised be God! He is powerful and mighty. In His hand, He holds royal authority and kingship.2 His are the most beautiful names and attributes. His knowledge is such that nothing, be it revealed in secret whispering or (even) left unsaid, remains strange to Him. His power is such that nothing in heaven and upon earth is too much for Him or escapes Him.

He created us from the earth as living, breathing creatures. He made us to settle3 on it as races and nations. From it, He provided sustenance and provisions for us.

The wombs of our mothers and houses are our abode. Sustenance and food keep us alive. Time wears us out. Our lives' final terms, the dates of which have been fixed for us in the book (of destiny), claim us. But He lasts and persists. He is the Living One who does not die.

Prayer and blessings upon our Lord and Master, Muhammad, the Arab4 prophet, whom Torah and Gospel have mentioned and described;5 him for whose birth the world that is was (already) in labor before Sundays were following upon Saturdays in regular sequence and before Saturn and Behemoth had become separated;6 him to whose truthfulness pigeon and spider bore witness.7

(Prayer and blessings) also upon his family and the men around him who by being his companions8 and followers gained wide influence and fame and who by supporting him found unity while their enemies were weakened through dispersion. Pray, O God, for him and them, for as long as Islam shall continue to enjoy its lucky fortune and the frayed rope of unbelief shall remain cut! Give manifold blessings (to him and them)!