In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.
O Allah, send Your peace and blessings upon Muhammad,
the Prophet of Mercy,
the Light of Insight,
and upon his pure family,
the lamps in darkness,
and the keys of goodness.
O Allah, send blessings upon them
as long as there remains upon this earth a heart that longs for You,
as long as there remains in the night a servant weeping before You,
as long as there remains within the chest a pain that nothing can heal except nearness to You,
and as long as there remains in this world a lost soul that nothing can guide except Your light.
O Allah,
to You belongs all praise.
O You whose greatness no describer can fully describe,
and whose majesty no mind can ever encompass.
Your wonders never come to an end.
Your power cannot be counted or contained.
No tear is lost before You
when it falls in sincerity and shame.
O You who sees the tear of the frightened,
and hears the sigh of the weak,
and knows the breaking of the broken before they even speak.
You see the loneliness of the isolated
when the night closes tightly around them.
You know what the hearts hide,
what settles deep within the soul,
and what silently breaks in the darkness
without any human being ever seeing it.
O You who, when the world closes all its doors,
Your door never closes.
When people abandon a servant,
Your mercy never abandons them.
When the earth becomes tight around her,
Your remembrance becomes wider than the world itself.
When his chest tightens from his sins,
Your forgiveness is nearer than his fear.
And when she becomes a stranger even to herself,
Your nearness is more merciful than every companion.
O You whom no request overwhelms,
and no multitude of voices burdens.
You hear the prayers of all creation,
and no voice distracts You from another.
You know what lies within the heart
before the tongue even speaks.
You have no need for our explanations,
yet You love to see us return to You with humbled hearts.
You created us when we were nothing.
You remembered us before we ever raised our hands to You.
You concealed our sins while we were people of shortcomings.
You fed us while we disobeyed You.
You protected us while we lived in heedlessness of Your care.
You call us back to You
while we keep running toward this world.
You open the door of repentance for us
while we keep delaying our return.
You show us Your signs within ourselves
while we busy ourselves with what fades away.
How forbearing You are with us.
How merciful You are to us.
How generous You are when You conceal.
How gentle You are when You delay punishment.
How near You are when You call us.
How giving You are when You bless us.
O Allah,
this is the day of Ibrahim,
our father and Your prophet.
The day of the man who walked toward You alone
when his people abandoned him.
This is the day of the one who shattered the idols,
not merely with an axe,
but with a heart that refused to bow
to anything except You.
He looked at the stars
and saw that they disappeared.
He looked at the moon
and saw that it faded.
He looked at the sun
and saw that it set.
So his heart refused to cling
to anything that vanishes.
O Allah,
how many idols still stand quietly within our hearts:
desire, praise, fear of people,
and attachment to this world.
Break them within us, O Allah,
as Ibrahim shattered the idols of his people.
Make our hearts bow to none except You.
O Allah,
Ibrahim was thrown into the fire,
and he stood there alone.
No army beside him.
No land protecting him.
No human hand able to save him from the flames.
Yet it was enough for him that You were with him.
O You who made the fire cool and peaceful
upon Your beloved prophet,
make the fires of our fears coolness and peace upon our hearts.
Extinguish the fire of anxiety,
the fire of grief,
the fire of sins,
and the fires of trials
that have surrounded our hearts.
O Allah,
Ibrahim left our mother Hajar
in a valley with no crops,
no water,
no shelter,
and no companionship.
A desert of loneliness
beneath a silent sky.
His heart was breaking as he walked away from them.
And Hajar looked toward him with a trembling soul
while the desert stretched endlessly around her.
Though fear surrounded her from every direction,
certainty remained alive within her heart.
Because the one abandoned by creation
is never abandoned by Allah.
O Allah,
what certainty that was.
What trust that was.
A certainty walking through the desert
without dying from fear.
So grant us, O Almighty,
a certainty like theirs.
When the earth tightens around us,
let us say: Allah will never abandon us.
When our hearts grow exhausted,
let us say: Allah will never leave us.
And when all roads seem closed,
let us say: Allah will open them.
O Most Merciful,
Hajar ran between Safa and Marwa
with the heart of a mother
afraid for the life of her helpless child.
She ran beneath the burning sky,
searching, hoping, refusing to surrender,
terrified and desperate for her son Ismail.
She found no water.
No person came to help her.
Yet she did not despair.
Because mothers sacrifice.
Mothers keep giving.
They exhaust themselves out of love.
From Your mercy,
You provided for her and her child
and for their descendants after them
from where they could never imagine.
Not from the sky.
Not from a distant horizon.
But from beneath her child’s feet,
You caused Zamzam to burst forth.
O Allah,
how many Hajars exist in our time today.
Women running alone,
struggling and sacrificing for their children.
Women carrying entire homes on their backs
while nobody sees their exhaustion.
Women abandoned by absent fathers,
or imprisoned husbands,
or men consumed by desires,
or men who no longer care.
How many mothers suffer silently
while no one sees their pain.
So be their comfort, O Allah.
Be their strength, O Gentle One.
Be their companion when loneliness overwhelms them.
O Allah,
as Ismail grew older,
the greatest trial came.
Ibrahim saw in his dream
that he must sacrifice his son.
The son who came after longing,
after years of waiting,
after prayers and tears.
Yet Ibrahim did not refuse,
because nothing in his heart
was more beloved than You.
And when they both surrendered,
when the heart wept
and the soul submitted,
You ransomed Ismail with a mighty sacrifice.
You raised the mention of Ibrahim among all people.
You blessed his descendants until the Day of Judgment.
You made his example live through generations,
a light carried by prophets after him,
by Musa,
by Isa,
and finally by Muhammad,
peace be upon them all.
And through them,
You carried his legacy to us today
until the final hour arrives.
O Allah,
Ibrahim prayed that this land become safe,
that its people be provided with fruits,
and that hearts among humanity would long toward it.
And You answered his prayer,
O Hearer of supplication.
You made Makkah the direction of hearts,
the home of longing,
and the place of tears.
People come to it from every corner of the earth.
Different languages.
Different colors.
Different nations.
Yet they arrive with one heart.
They wear white garments,
leaving behind names and statuses.
They stand before You poor and helpless,
just as You created them.
They circle Your House
while their hearts cling desperately to Your mercy.
They run between Safa and Marwa,
and in every step lives the memory of Hajar.
They drink from Zamzam,
and within every drop remains the trace of trust in You.
They stand in Arafah
carrying nothing except hope and desperation.
They weep over their sins.
They beg for Your forgiveness.
They raise trembling hands toward the sky,
knowing they have no refuge except You.
O Allah,
today we too stand here
as part of Ibrahim’s prayer,
part of the fruit of his call,
part of the blessing of his surrender.
Just as You never wasted his prayer,
do not waste our prayers today.
Just as You returned creation to Your House,
return our hearts back to You.
Do not send us away from this day empty-handed.
Do not let these raised hands return without mercy.
Do not let these weeping eyes dry without forgiveness.
Do not let these broken hearts leave without healing.
O Allah,
we claim that we love You,
yet our hearts are filled with other things besides You.
So remove from our hearts
everything that distances us from You.
Make You more beloved to us
than this world and everything within it.
O Allah,
this is the Day of Arafah.
The day of Ibrahim, Hajar, and Ismail.
The day of weeping and returning.
The day of forgiveness and brokenness.
The day of poverty before You
and desperate need of You.
The day of trusting You
when every road feels blocked.
The day of surrendering to You
when we do not understand the wisdom.
This is the day of those who stand before You
with shattered hearts,
owning nothing except supplication,
hoping for nothing except Your mercy.
We raise our hands,
and within every hand is a story of pain.
We lift our trembling voices,
and every voice still carries hope in Your mercy.
Do not turn us away, O Allah,
after we have come to You
with every wound inside us.
We came with our fears,
our weakness,
our sins,
our exhaustion,
our confusion,
and our helplessness.
We came with hearts
that know they cannot survive except through You,
and souls that know
they cannot rest except near You.
So grant us hearts that walk toward You
even while trembling.
Grant us souls that trust You
even while exhausted.
Grant us certainty that says in every darkness:
Allah will never abandon us.
O Allah,
this world has exhausted us.
It has taken much from our souls.
We began seeing everything except ourselves.
We hear everything except the Qur’an.
We fear everything except distance from You.
We prepare for every appointment
except the appointment of meeting You.
O You who returned Yusuf to Yaqub,
and returned Musa to his mother,
and returned Muhammad safely to Makkah,
return us to You beautifully.
Take our hands when we become lost.
Make this day a doorway
through which we return to Your light.
Make this supplication a path
through which we leave our heedlessness
and return to Your remembrance.
Return us to You beautifully.
A return through which our faces become radiant
after long heedlessness and loss.
A return through which our souls finally rest
after exhausting themselves
chasing this fleeting world.
A return through which we go back to the Qur’an
as though we are hearing it for the first time.
A return through which we stand in prayer
with hearts fully present.
A return through which we weep from awe of You
after our tears had dried from hardness.
Do not let our hearts become attached
to what swiftly fades away.
Not to the praise of people,
not to wealth,
not to appearances,
not to temporary pleasures,
and not to a world that makes us laugh briefly
only to leave us shattered afterward.
Let us fear losing You
more than losing this world.
Let us fear the hardness of the heart
more than financial loss.
Let us fear distance from You
more than distance from people.
Let us long for a glance from Your mercy
more than we long for anything beneath You.
O our Guide,
guide the lost.
Guide those consumed by desires
and devoured by heedlessness.
Guide those who once knew You,
then became swallowed by this world.
Guide a young man drowning in sins.
Every time he tries to rise,
his own soul drags him lower again.
Guide a young woman exhausted by loneliness.
She smiles before people,
yet collapses silently in the darkness.
Guide a servant whose roads have darkened before his eyes,
who no longer sees hope for himself,
and no longer knows how to begin returning.
Guide hearts that have forgotten the path back to You.
Hearts exhausted by sins
until they believed they could never be forgiven.
So open for them, O Allah,
a path back to You.
A door that never closes in their faces.
A door after which they never wander again.
Show them the beauty of nearness to You
before they die in distance from You.
Let them taste the sweetness of sujood,
the sweetness of tears,
and the sweetness of belonging to You.
O Allah,
just as You were with Yusuf
in the loneliness of the well,
when he was thrown and abandoned by his own brothers,
with no father holding him,
no mother calming his fear,
and no one beside him except Your gaze that never disappears,
and just as You were with him
in the darkness of the prison,
when waiting became long
and relief seemed delayed,
when the people of earth forgot him
while the heavens still carried his name,
be with every prisoner today.
O Allah,
how many prisoners sit in darkness today,
counting days that move painfully slowly.
People upon whom the night has grown long.
Few remember them.
Many have forgotten them.
They hear the footsteps of guards
more than the voices of those they love.
They sleep upon longing
and awaken upon longing.
Mothers cry behind closed doors,
waiting for news that will calm their hearts.
Children wait for voices they ache to hear,
asking, “When is my father coming home?”
Fathers wither from grief and loneliness.
Wives hide their tears
so the home does not collapse.
O Allah,
be with every prisoner
when the night becomes cold upon him,
when the walls close tightly around him,
when longing suffocates him,
and when he cries in darkness
while no human being sees him.
Open for him a door of tranquility
that no one can shut.
Open for him a door of hope
that years cannot extinguish.
Return him to his mother beautifully.
Return him to his children peacefully.
Return him to his home mercifully.
O Most Merciful,
have mercy upon our mothers.
Those who stayed awake while we slept.
Those who cried for us when we never knew.
Those who prayed for us while we continued falling short.
Those who feared for us more than we ever feared for ourselves.
Those who carried our burdens
while remaining silent and exhausted.
O Allah,
our hearts hold a love for them
that words cannot describe.
So do not let us see in them
pain that we cannot bear.
Do not let illness exhaust them.
Do not let grief consume them.
Lengthen their lives in well-being.
And if one of them now lies beneath the earth,
illuminate her grave
and expand it with mercy.
Let the fragrance of Paradise reach her every morning.
Let her prayers for us remain a light for us
on the Day we meet You.
O Allah,
repair the exhausted homes.
Homes where words became few
and coldness filled the rooms.
Homes where people live beneath one roof
while their hearts drift far apart.
Marriages consumed by hardship.
Fathers crushed by provision and fear.
Mothers exhausted by carrying and raising the children.
Children growing up in silence,
hearing nothing except shouting,
seeing nothing except exhaustion.
So send upon these homes a mercy from You.
A mercy that melts harshness.
A mercy that returns affection.
A mercy that teaches hearts
how to apologize and forgive.
A mercy that reunites souls
after years of wounds and silence.
Do not let Shaytan build walls of cruelty
between those who love one another.
Return fathers to their children
with softer hearts.
Return children to their parents
with gentleness and goodness.
Return husbands and wives to one another
with love, patience, and tranquility.
O The Loving One,
make our homes homes of Qur’an and remembrance,
not homes of screaming and conflict.
Place within them prayers
that gather hearts together.
Place within them tears
that extinguish the fires of arguments.
Place within them honest laughter
that restores life back into exhausted souls.
Do not let our children grow up
afraid of their own homes.
Make our homes a refuge
from the exhaustion of this world.
Make them small pieces of Paradise
filled with mercy and safety.
O Allah,
repair the Ummah of Muhammad.
An Ummah exhausted and wounded.
An Ummah whose hearts have weakened
and whose unity has shattered.
An Ummah crying across the earth.
Remove from our hearts hatred, arrogance, and envy.
Do not let Shaytan rejoice at our division.
Gather the hearts of the Muslims upon the Qur’an,
upon mercy,
upon prayer,
and upon Your remembrance.
Gather them upon sincere tears,
upon supplication in the night,
upon feeding the hungry,
upon helping the oppressed,
and upon healing the broken.
Do not let our labels become walls between us.
Do not let our debates bury our compassion.
Make us people who show mercy when we disagree,
who support one another when weak,
and who feel each other’s pain like one body.
Restore to this Ummah its soul.
Restore the Qur’an to our hearts.
Restore night prayer to our homes.
Restore sincerity, modesty, and truthfulness to us.
Restore to us the feeling of nearness to You.
Do not let this world become our greatest concern.
Do not let people become our greatest fear.
Let You remain the most beloved to our hearts.
O Allah,
do not let these hearts leave disappointed.
Do not let these tears be wasted.
Leave no sin except that You forgive it.
No worry except that You relieve it.
No broken soul except that You heal it.
No sick person except that You cure them.
No lost soul except that You guide it.
No suffering person except that You show mercy to them.
And no dead among us
or among the Muslims
except that You illuminate their graves
and expand them with mercy.
My Creator,
if we become heedless, awaken us gently.
If we become weak, carry us with Your mercy.
If we fall, raise us with Your generosity.
If we drift far away, return us to You beautifully.
Do not take our souls
except when You are pleased with us.
Let the last words upon our tongues be:
There is no god except Allah.
And send Your peace and blessings upon Muhammad,
the Prophet of Mercy and the Light of Insight,
and upon his pure family,
the lamps in darkness and the keys of goodness.
By Your mercy,
O Most Merciful of those who show mercy.
Read Alfurqan by Hashem Nabil
Website: https://blog.for-allah.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@readalfurqan
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Email: read.alfurqan@gmail.com