﷽
الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله
وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين
اللهم اجعلنا منهم
We begin by mentioning the Name of The One True God, Allāh, The Infinitely Caring, Eternally Compassionate. We sincerely praise and thank God to the highest extent, and ask Him to bless, protect, honor, and compliment our Prophet and Messenger Muḥammad, his family, his companions, and those that diligently follow them until the end of times. Dear God, please include us from amongst them.
This is one duʿāʾ (prayer and supplication) I have been very into this Ramaḍān.[1] May Allāh ﷻ respond to all our prayers, āmīn![2]
يَا حَيُّ يَا قَيُّومُ بِرَحْمَتِكَ نَسْتَغِيثُ أصْلِحْ لَنَا شَأْنَنَا كُلَّهُ وَلاَ تَكِلْنَا إلَى أَنْفُسِنَا طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ
O Ever Living! O Maintainer! We desperately beg for Your Help through Your Compassion: Please fix every aspect of our lives and make all of it good. Please do not leave us alone to our own selves for even the blink of an eye!
The beautiful name of Allāh, “الْحَيّ - The Ever Living,” can mean:[3]
The beautiful name of Allāh, “الْقَيُّوم - The Maintainer,” can mean, “The One Who is in charge and responsible (qāʾim) for the provision, protection, and well-being of everything.”[6],[7]
The term istighāthah (اسْتِغَاثَة) refers to desperately begging and pleading. It comes from the word gayth (غَيْث) which means rain. Within the Qurʾānic recitation of (at least) Ḥafṣ ʿan ʿĀṣim[8], there is a connotation of “good, helpful, beneficial rain” via gayth as opposed “rainstorms and punishment” via maṭar (مَطَر), which also literally means rain.
The connection between rain and desperate help is not hard to miss. Rain and water are critical resources for human survival. When humans face droughts, their crops and animals begin to die, which means they (the humans) start to die. The most desperate call for help is from one hoping to not die. When a human begs for rain, they are essentially begging for life. Thus we see the emphasis in saying “We desperately beg for Your Help” as opposed to just “We ask for Your Help” which could have been simply referred to with istiʿānah (اسْتِعَانَة) - asking for help (ʿawn - عَوْن) - or even just duʿāʾ (دُعَاء), supplication.
However, the whole point of this phrasing is that this is an entirely next level of duʿāʾ. The connection between istighāthah to Allāh ﷻ who is Al-Ḥayy and Al-Qayyūm are also not hard to miss. He is the Ever Living, and we are pleading for life. He is the Mainter, and we are pleading to Him to continue to take care of us.
It is also prefixed with “bi-raḥmatik - via Your Gentleness”. What can be said about Allāh ﷻ’s Raḥmah? That can be its own book. In short, it is His infinite and eternal kindness, gentleness, compassion, and softness - all in a way that is befitting of His Perfection, Grandeur, and Majesty. So we beg Him ﷻ, that, out of Your Raḥmah, please help us and save us. The fact that it comes first — meaning, “بِرَحْمَتِكَ - via Your Gentleness” comes before “نَسْتَغِيثُ - We desperately beg for Your Help” — indicates a level of emphasis (tawkīd) and importance (ihtimām). Meaning, we specifically beg You, O Allāh, and hope that You respond, out of your Raḥmah, because You are Al-Raḥmān (Infinitely Caring) and Al-Raḥīm (Eternally Kind).
Allāh ﷻ knows best, but it might be possible to piece this part into the duʿāʾ in one of two ways:
The verb aṣlaḥa (أَصْلَح) means to fix, repair, mend, reform, and rebuild (among other meanings).[9] It comes from ṣalāḥ (صَلَاح)[10] which means something is good, healthy, righteous, proper, and thriving.[11] The opposite of which is fasād, which is ruin, corruption, depraved, and immoral.[12] Allāh ﷻ forbids us twice in The Qurʾān, “وَلا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الأرْضِ بَعْدَ إِصْلاحِهَا - Do not ruin the earth/do not be evil on earth/do not spread immorality on earth after the fact that it has already been healthy, thriving, and pious.”[13]
When we ask for iṣlāḥ (improvement, mending, and rectification), we are asking for Allāh ﷻ to keep us good and healthy in all ways (spiritually, physically, emotionally, etc). Allāh ﷻ also tells us that a consequence of taqwā (keeping our duties towards Allāh and safeguarding ourselves from punishment) and properly speaking the truth (qawl sadīd), is that He ﷻ will “يُصْلِحْ لَكُمْ أَعْمَالَكُمْ - mend and improve your actions for you”[14] Meaning He ﷻ will: (a) make your action correct, (b) remove any hint of bad from your deed, (c) allow you to continue doing more good, and (d) accept it from you.[15] Here, however, we are particularly asking that our affairs - all aspects of our lives - be good, wholesome, and pious for us. Be it worship, family, work, relaxation, anything. Lastly, the “كُلَّهُ - kulllah” meaning “all of it”, refers to every part and aspect of our lives. For example:
This part is something else. Of course, Allāh ﷻ never fully “leaves someone alone” since He is always watching and fully aware, and He decreed everything, so everything is already going according to His divine plan. But this is better understood as, “do not entrust us to our own selves”, “do not make us wakīls (in charge) of our own selves”, “do not leave us to our own selves”, “do not abandon us”, “do not forget us”, “do not stop helping us, protecting us, blessings up, taking care of us”. If Allāh ﷻ actually “ignored” us for even the blink of an eye (which does not apply to Him, He ﷻ is beyond perfection for such an idea to even be theorized about Him), we would not just die, we would just cease to exist. Every subatomic particle that makes up every fiber of our being would stop existing. We exist only through His Will, Choice, and Power. Subḥan-Allāh - How beyond perfect is Allāh! That also falls under Him being Al-Ḥayy and Al-Qayyūm.
We highlight, “إلَى أَنْفُسِنَا - to our own selves” to highlight we are powerless, ignorant, and arrogant. We may think we know what is best, but we do not. Even if we knew what is best in theory, we simply are not capable of doing it unless Allāh ﷻ helps us. We are not worthy wukalāʾ - people to be entrusted with. We can do that in a worldly sense because someone needs to take on physical and material responsibility. But we are definitely deficient. And why would I choose to be under my own care and guardianship when I can be under Allāh ﷻ’s care and guardianship?
Lastly, we specify, “طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ - for even the blink of an eye.” Even for a second. What can change in such a short time? A throne (ʿarsh) can be transported from Yemen to Juerlsuem.[18] The entire world can be destroyed in the time it takes for us to close our eyelids and reopen them. We could be dead. Everyone around us could be gone. We are so weak, reliant, and dependent on Allāh ﷻ that we cannot exist without Him for even the shortest span of time. Even an infant, no, even a literal fetus could last for at least a few moments without their mother, and a moment cannot exist without Allāh ﷻ. Just the mere thought of “us”, “we”, or “I” cannot even be imagined without Allāh.
This duʿāʾ has only been narrated in the singular form. I made it plural at the start of the article. Here is the singular wording found in books of aḥādīth: “يَا حَيُّ يَا قَيُّومُ بِرَحْمَتِكَ أَسْتَغِيثُ أَصْلِحْ لِي شَأْنِي كُلَّهُ وَلَا تَكِلْنِي إِلَى نَفْسِي طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ.”[19] The full narration is as follows. Anas ibn Mālik (raḍiya Allāh ʿanh[20]) said that The Prophet ﷺ[21] told his daughter Fāṭimah (raḍiya Allāh ʿanhā), “مَا يَمْنَعُكِ أَنْ تَسْمَعِي مَا أُوصِيكِ بِهِ أَنْ تَقُولِي إِذَا أَصْبَحْتِ وَإِذَا أَمْسَيْتِ - What is stopping you from listening to what I’m advising you to do? You should say the following when you wake up every morning and when you go to sleep every night.” After which he ﷺ said (the quoted duʿāʾ), “يَا حَيُّ يَا قَيُّومُ بِرَحْمَتِكَ أَسْتَغِيثُ أَصْلِحْ لِي شَأْنِي كُلَّهُ وَلَا تَكِلْنِي إِلَى نَفْسِي طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ.”[22]
There is another version with a slightly different beginning. Anas ibn Mālik (raḍiya Allāh ʿanh) said: We were in the Masjid with The Prophet ﷺ until sunrise. Then the Prophet ﷺ left the Masjid and I followed him. He ﷺ said, “Let’s go visit Fāṭimah bint Muḥammad.” We went to her house, and saw that she was sleeping laying down on her side (نَائِمَةٌ مُضْطَجِعَةٌ). The Prophet ﷺ asked her, “يَا فَاطِمَةُ مَا يُنِيمُكِ هَذِهِ السَّاعَةِ - What’s wrong? Why are you sleeping right now? She (raḍiya Allāh ʿanhā) replied, “مَا زِلْتُ الْبَارِحَةَ مَحْمُومَةً - I have been sick the entire night.” So he ﷺ said, “فَأَيْنَ الدُّعَاءُ الَّذِي عَلَّمْتُكِ - Where is the duʿāʾ I taught you?” She (raḍiya Allāh ʿanhā) replied, “نَسِيتُهُ - I forgot it.” So he ﷺ said, “قُولِي - Say: [the same duʿāʾ quoted above].”[23]
There is yet another version of this duʿāʾ that only has the first part, “يَا حَيُّ يَا قَيُّومُ بِرَحْمَتِكَ أَسْتَغِيثُ .” Anas ibn Mālik (raḍiya Allāhʿanh) said: If the Prophet ﷺ was in a difficult situation, he would say: [duʿāʾ].[24] Also, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd (raḍiya Allāhʿanh) said: If the Prophet ﷺ was experiencing some sadness or worry, he would say: [duʿāʾ].[25]
There is one last version worth mentioning, “اللَّهُمَّ رَحْمَتَكَ أَرْجُو وَلَا تَكِلْنِي إِلَى نَفْسِي طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ وَأَصْلِحْ لِي شَأْنِي كُلَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ أَلَا أَنْتَ.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “The duʿāʾ a distressed person (makrūb) should make is: O Allāh, I really hope for and desire Your Compassion (Raḥmah). Do not leave me alone to my own self for even the blink of an eye. Please fix every aspect of my life and make all of it good. There is no god except You.”[26]
Other versions with slightly different wordings also exist.[27]
اللهم فهمنا
ربنا زدنا علما
اللهم فقهنا في الدين وعلمنا التأويل
اللهم معلم آدم وإبراهيم ومحمد علمنا مما علمتهم
اللهم ارزقنا علما نافعا وحكمة بالغة
اللهم افتح علينا فتوح العارفين
يا فتاح يا عليم
اللهم صل وسلم على رسولك المصطفى الكريم
وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين
اللهم اجعلنا منهم
Written primarily on the 23rd of Ramaḍān 1445 AH.
May Allāh ﷻ reward those who helped write and edit this, including, but not limited to, Shaykhah Ayesha Syed Hussain.
