FIFTEENTH NIGHT OF SHABAN

This night is extraordinarily honorable. Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq(a.s.) has narrated that when Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) was asked about the merits of the fifteenth night of Sha’ban, he answered, “It is the most favorable night after the Qadr Night. At this night, Almighty Allah bestows upon His servants with His favors and grants them His pardon out of His conferral of benefits to them. Therefore, you should exert all efforts to seek nearness to Him at this night, because He - the Majestic and Honorable - has decided not to reject any asker as long as he does not ask for an act of disobedience to Him. Almighty Allah has chosen this night for us, the Ahl al-Bayt, just as He has chosen the Qadr Night for our Prophet - peace be upon him and his Household. You should thus pray and thank Him diligently.”

One of the marvelous blessings of this night is that it is the birth night of the Patron of the Age, Imam al-Mahdi(a.s.) - may Allah accept our souls as ransoms for him. He was born in Surra-man-ra’a (currently Samarra’) at the hour before daybreak in AH 255. This incident increases the merits of this honorable night.

However, narrations have carried may recommended rites to be carried out at this night:

First: It is highly recommended to bathe oneself at this night, for this act decreases the punishment for one’s sins.

Second: It is highly recommended to imitate Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-’Abidin (a.s.) who used to spend this whole night with acts of worship, prayers, supplications, invocations, and implorations for forgiveness. A tradition confirm that as for one who spends this whole night with acts of worship, his heart will not die when other hearts die.

Third: It is highly recommended to visit the tomb of Imam al-Husayn (a.s.). In fact, this is the most favorable act at this night. It also brings about forgiveness of one’s sins. If you desire that 124,000 Prophets shake hands with you, you may visit the holy tomb of Imam al-Husayn (a.s.) at this night. The least act of Ziyarah is to go up an elevated place, look to the right and the left, raise the head towards the heavens, and say these statements:

Peace be upon you, O Abu-'Abdullah!

Peace and Allah’s mercy and blessings be upon you.

One who performs this form of Ziyarah is expected to win the reward of one Hajj and one ‘Umrah. In the section of Ziyarat, we will mention further details about the peculiar merits of Ziyarah at this night.

Fourth: It is recommended to say the following supplicatory prayer, which stands for a form of Ziyarah for Imam al-Mahdi(a.s.). This supplicatory prayer has been mentioned by both Sayyid Ibn Tawus and Shaykh al-Tusi:

O Allah, I beseech You in the name of this night, in the name of him whom was born at it,

in the name of Your Argument, and in the name of Your promise in it;

the night that You have added a new merit to its many merits.

So, Your Word has been accomplished truly and fairly.

No one can change Your words

or obscure Your signs.

(He is) Your glowing Light,

Your bring splendor,

the luminous sign in the obscurity of darkness,

the absent, and the concealed.

Lofty is his birth and noble is his lineage.

The angels are his witnesses

and Allah is his Supporter and Backer

when his time comes and the angels shall be his sponsors.

He shall act as the sword of Allah that shall never miss the target,

His light that shall never be extinguished,

and the forbearing person who shall never deviate the truth.

He is the motive and reason of the course of events,

the one for whom the laws of ages have been made,

and one of the men in authority

who receive that which is revealed on the Grand Night,

and the managers of the Resurrection and the Account.

They are the interpreters of His revelations

and in charge of what is deemed lawful and what is deemed unlawful by Him.

O Allah, send blessings to their seal and their Riser

whom is hidden from their world.

O Allah, (please) make us causes for the coming of him

and causes for his advent and reappearance.

(Please) include us with his supporters,

join our vengeance to his vengeance,

and decide us to be among his assistants and elite ones.

Make us live in bliss in his reign,

win the ecstasy of his companionship,

among those who carry out our duty toward him,

and save us from evil.

O most Merciful of all those who show mercy!

All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.

His blessings be upon our master, Muhammad,

the seal of the Prophets and the Messengers,

upon his Household the veracious,

and upon his offspring, the spokespersons of the truth.

Curse all the wrongdoers

and judge between them and us.

O Most Just of all judges!

Fifth: Shaykh Isma’il ibn Fadl al-Hashimi has narrated that Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq(a.s.) instructed him to say the following supplicatory prayer at the fifteenth night of Sha’ban:

O Allah, You are verily the Ever-living, the Self-Subsisting,

the Most High, the All-great,

the Creator, the Sustainer,

the Giver of live, the Causer of death,

the Originator, the Maker.

To You is the Majesty

to You is the favor,

to You is all praise,

to You is thanks,

to You is magnanimity,'

to You is generosity,i

to You do belong all affairs,

to You is glory,

and to You is gratitude.

You are alone without having any partner with You.

O One! O Absolute! O Besought of all!

O He Who neither begets nor is He begotten

and there is none like to Him!

(Please do) bless Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad,

forgive me, have mercy upon me,

relieve me from whatever has aggrieved me,

help me settle my debt,

and expand my provisions,

for You, at this night, make distinct all affairs of wisdom,

and You grant sustenance to whomever You wish among Your creatures.

So, (please do) grant me sustenance and You are verily the Best of sustainers.

You have said—and You are the Best of those who speak and utter—

“Ask Allah of His bounty.”

I thus ask You of Your bounty,

to You do I turn my face,

the intercession of Your Prophet’s son do I seek,

and for You do I hope.

So, (please do) have mercy upon me, O most Merciful of all those who show mercy!

Sixth: It is recommended to say this supplicatory prayer, which the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) used to say at this night:

O Allah, (please do) grant us an amount of fearfulness of You

that prevents us from committing acts of disobedience to You,

an amount of obedience to You that makes us attain Your satisfaction,

and an amount of conviction that help us tolerate the vicissitudes of this worldly life.

O Allah, (please do) make us enjoy our hearings, sights, and powers,

as long as You decide to keep us alive, and (please do) make it the inheritor of us.

(Please do) make us avenge ourselves against them who wrong us,

back us against them who antagonize us,

do not make us suffer misfortunes in affairs of our religion,

do not make our worldly affairs happen to be our greatest concern or our utmost knowledge,

and do set one who does not have mercy upon us as master over us,

in the name of Your mercy, O most Merciful of all those who show mercy!

Actually, this supplicatory prayer is one of the perfect, comprehensive prayers that may be said at all times. In the word of the book of ‘Awali al-La’ali, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) used to say this supplicatory prayer at all times.

Seventh: It is recommended to say the prayers that are preferably said at midday (zohr)s.

O Allah, (please do) send blessings to Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad;

the tree of Prophethood,

the trustees of the (Divine) Mission,

the frequently visited by the angels,

the core of knowledge,

and the Household of the Divine Revelation.

O Allah, (please do) send blessings to Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad,

the sailing ships through the abysmal waves.

He who embarks on will be saved

but he who abandons will be drowned.

He who precedes them will miss the Right Path

and he who misses them will lose,

but he who adheres to them will win.

O Allah, (please do) send blessings to Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad,

the impregnable shelter,

the succorers of the helpless, distressed ones,'

the haven of the fugitives,

and the asylum of those who seek refuge.

O Allah, (please do) send blessings to Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad

so many blessings that please them

and settle all (our) duties towards Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad,

by Your might and power, O Lo'rd of the worlds!

O Allah, (please do) send blessings to Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad,

the pure, pious, and righteous

whose rights have been made incumbent upon us by You

and the obedience to whom and whose (divinely ordained) leadership have been (also) deemed obligatory upon us by You.

O Allah, (please do) send blessings to Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad,

fill my heart with obedience to You,

do not disgrace me due to my acts of disobedience to You,

and grant me the feeling of sympathy towards those whom You have decided to straiten their sustenance

by means of Your favors that You have decided to make expansive for me

and by means of that with which You have covered me out of Your fairness.

Make me live under Your shade.

This is the month of Your Prophet and the Master of Your Messengers.

It is Sha'ban, which You have encompassed with Your mercy and pleasure

and on which the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his Household,

used to observe fasting painstakingly and used to spend it with acts of worship

on all of its days and nights

on account of Your honoring and dignifying this month,

up to his death.

O Allah, (please do) help us follow the example of him (i.e. the Holy Prophet as regards the honoring of this month)

and help us attain his intercession for us.

O Allah, (please do) decide him as my interceder (before You) whose intercession for me is acceptable

and as my clear path toward You,

and make me follow him

until I meet You on the Resurrection Day enjoying Your pleasure with me

and Your overlooking my sins

and thus You will confer upon me with Your mercy and pleasure

and allow me to reside in the Eternal Abode and the Place of the Righteous.

Eighth: It is recommended to say the famous supplicatory prayer known as Dua Kumayl, which has been cited in the previous section of this book. Narrations have mentioned that it is highly advisable to say this famous supplicatory prayer at this night.

Ninth: It is recommended to mention Almighty Allah by the following litany one hundred times so that one’s past acts of disobedience to Him will be forgiven and one’s worldly and religious needs will be granted:

All glory be to Allah,

all praise be to Allah,

there is no god save Allah,

and Allah is the Greatest.

Tenth: Shaykh al-Tusi, in Misbah al-Mutahajjid, has narrated a tradition about the merits of the night of mid-Sha’ban entailing that Abu-Yahya asked Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq(a.s.) about the best of supplicatory prayers to be said at this night. The Imam (a.s.) instructed him, saying:

After you accomplish the obligatory Isha’ Prayer, you may offer a two unit prayer in the first unit of which you should recite Surah al-Faatehah and Surah al-Kafirun and in the second Surah al-Faatehah and Surah al-Tawheed. When you accomplish the prayer, you may repeat (the phrase of) subhanallah thirty-three times, (the phrase of) alhamdulillah thirty-three times, and (the phrase of) Allahu-akbar thirty-four times. You may then say the following supplicatory prayer:

O He to Whom the servants (of Him) resort in urgencies

and to Whom the creatures turn in ordeals!

O He Who knows the open and the hidden matters!

O He from Whom neither the ideas of illusions nor the initiatives of delusions can be concealed!

O Lord of creatures and beings!

O He Who grasps the kingdoms of the earth and the heavens!

You are verily Allah; there is no god save You!

I thus try to connect with you in the name of ‘There is no god save You;’

so, O He save Whom there is no god,

(please) include me at this night with those at whom You have looked and thus You have mercy upon them,

with those whose prayers have been heard by You and thus You have responded to them,

and with those whose true repentance has been admitted by You and thus You have accepted it

and overlooked their past sins and enormous offenses.

verily, I am seeking Your shelter against my sins

and resorting to You so that You may conceal my defects.

O Allah, (please) bestow generously upon me with Your generosity and Favor,

condone my misdeeds out of Your forbearance and pardon,

and encompass me, at this night, with Your opulent honoring,

and include me at this night with Your intimate servants whom You have selected for obeying You,

whom You have chosen for worshipping You,

and whom You have made Your elite and select people.

O Allah, (please) make me of those whose efforts are of a happy end

and those whose shares of good things are big,

make me of those who enjoy blissful life as they have been safe (from sins),

and those who have been awarded excellently as they have won,

rescue me from the evil consequences of what I have committed,

save me from doing more acts of disobedience to You,

and make me love the acts of obedience to You and whatever draws me nearer to You and approaches me towards You.

O my Master, a fugitive resorts to none save You,

a needy begs none save You,

and only on Your generosity does a repentant and contrite depends.

You have disciplined Your servants by means of generosity, and You are verily the most Generous of all those who are generous.

You have instructed Your servants to pardon, and You are verily the All-forgiving, the All-merciful.

O Allah, (please) do not deprive me of Your generosity for which I hope,

do not make me despair of Your opulent bounties,

do not disappoint me ofYour abundant sustenance that You decide, this night, for those who are obedient to You,

and include me with Your protection against Your evil creatures.

O my Lord, if I do not deserve so,

then You are worth acting generously to me, pardoning, and forgiving me.

(Please) bestow upon me magnanimously according to that which befits You, not according to what I deserve.

Verily, I carry an excellent opinion about You,

I do hope for You,

and my self is hanged to the rope of Your generosity,

for You are verily the most Merciful of all those who show mercy

and the most Generous of all those who are generous.

O Allah, (please) confer upon me exclusively with an abundant share of what You decide, out of Your generosity.

I seek refuge with Your pardon against Your chastisement.

(Please) forgive me the sin that prevents me from enjoying high morals

and suppresses my sustenance,

so that I will accomplish what excellently achieves Your satisfaction,

I will enjoy Your profuse granting,

and I will be delighted by Your abundant bounties.

I am having recourse to Your sanctity,

asking for Your generosity,

and taking shelter in Your pardon against Your punishment

and in Your forbearance against Your ire.

So, (please) bestow upon me generously with that which I have asked from You

and confer upon me with that which I have begged from You.

I beseech You in Your name, since there is nothing great that You are.

You may prostrate yourself and repeat the following supplicatory phrase twenty times:

O my Lord!

And then repeat the following phrase seven times:

O Allah!

And then repeat the following phrase seven times:

There is neither might nor power save with Allah.

And then repeat the following phrase ten times:

Only that which Allah wants (will come to pass).

And then repeat the following phrase ten times:

There is no power save with Allah.

You may then invoke Almighty Allah’s blessings upon the Holy Prophet and beseech Him to grant your requests.

By Allah I swear, even if you pray for things that are as many as raindrops, Almighty Allah, out of His generosity and favors, will grant them all.

Eleventh: Shaykh al-Tusi and Shaykh al-Kaf’ami say: It is suitable to say the following supplicatory prayer at this night:

O Allah! Tonight, the seekers of favors, restless and eager, present themselves to You,

the determined aspirers have You in mind,

and those who make requests look long and attentively at Your obligingness and kindness.

You, at this night, give gifts, bounties beyond measure,

free donations, and favors

to those whom You will from among Your servants when they make a request,

and You say no to those who do not try to get in advance (i.e. remain behind) for obtaining the bounties from You.

I, a modest needy bondman,

am hopeful of Your obligingness and kindness.

Indeed, if You, O My Master,

bestows a favor on any one, at this night,

from among Your

created beings, and multiply profits and gains for him out of Your love and affection,

please send blessings to Muhammad and the Household of Muhammad:

the pure, the immaculate,

the virtuous, and the righteous,

and then give me abundantly on account of Your liberality and obligingness,

O Lord of the worlds!

May Allah send blessings to Muhammad, the seal of the Prophets,

and upon his Household, the immaculate,

and may He exalt them very much.

Verily, Allah is worthy of all praise, full of all glory.

O Allah, I am praying You as You ordered me to do;

so, (please) respond to me as You promised.

Verily, You never break Your promise.

It is worth mentioning that this supplicatory prayer is advisably said immediately after the accomplishment of the Shaf’ Prayer at the last hours of night.

Twelfth: It is recommended to say the supplicatory prayer narrated by Shaykh al-Tusi and Sayyid Ibn Tawus after each two units of the Night Prayer (Salat al-Layl), the Shaf’ Prayer, and the Witr Prayer.

Thirteenth: It is recommended to do the prostrations and say the supplicatory prayers that are reported from the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.). One of these is that Shaykh al-Tusi has narrated on the authority of Hammad ibn ‘Isa on the authority of Aban ibn Taghlib on the authority of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq(a.s.) recounted the following:

It was the fifteenth night of Sha’ban when the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) was with ‘A’ishah, his wife. At midnight, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) left the bed. When ‘A’ishah woke up and could not find him, she felt jealous and thought that he had joined one of his other wives. She therefore left her bed and put on her cloak, which was made of neither silk, nor linen, nor cotton; rather, it was made of camel hair. In any event, ‘A’ishah searched for the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) in all of the rooms of his other wives but she found him prostrating himself on the ground like a thrown dress. As she approached, she heard him saying:

Prostrating before You are my body and my shadow.

My heart is full of faith of You.

These are my two hands and this is what I have committed against myself.

O All-great! You are hoped for all enormous things.

Please, forgive me my serious offences,

because none can forgive the serious sin except the All-great Lord.

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) then raised his head and then prostrated himself again, saying:

I seek the protection of the light of Your Face

that has lit the heavens and the earth,

removed all darkness,

and made active all the affairs of the past and the coming generations

against Your sudden chastisement,

against withdrawing the good health that You have granted me,

and against the vanishing of Your bounties.

O Allah, (please) grant me a heart that is pious and pure,

released from polytheism,

and neither atheist nor unhappy.

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) then attached his face to the ground and said:

I am putting my face on the ground

and it is my duty to prostrate myself before You.

When the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) accomplished these acts of worship and directed towards his bed, ‘A’ishah ran before him until she reached the bed before he did. When he heard her speedy breathes, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) wondered. He then said, “Do you know what this night is? This is the mid-Sha’ban night. At this night, shares of provisions are distributed, lifetimes are decided, and the pilgrims are appointed. Verily, Almighty Allah, at this night, forgives as many of His creatures as the hairs of the horses of Kalb Tribe. Almighty Allah also orders angels to descend to the earth, to Makkah, at this night.

Fourteenth: It is recommended to offer the famous Ja’far al-Tayyar’s Prayer (Salat Ja’far) as is narrated by Shaykh al-Tusi from Imam al-Rida(a.s.).

Fifteenth: It is recommended to offer the prayers that are dedicated to this night. In fact, these prayers are many. One of them is what is reported by Abu-Yahya al-San’ani, as well as other thirty trustworthy reporters, from Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.) and Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq(a.s.) as follows:

At the mid-Sha’ban night, you may offer a four unit prayer in each unit of which you may recite Surah al-Faatehah once and Surah al-Tawheed one hundred times. After accomplishment, you may say the following supplicatory prayer:

O Allah, I am in need for You

and I am fearful of You, seeking Your shelter against Your chastisement.

O Allah, (please) do not erase my name,

do not change my body,

do not increase my ordeals,

and do not make my enemies rejoice at my misfortune.

I resort to Your pardon against Your punishment,

I resort to Your mercy against Your chastisement,

I resort to Your pleasure against Your wrath,

and I resort to You against You.

Enormous be the praise of You.

You are as exactly as You have praised Yourself

and above all that which is said about You.

It is worth mentioning that traditions have decided a great reward for one who offers a one hundred unit prayer at this night; in each unit, Surah al-Faatehah is recited once and Surah al-Tawheed ten times.

It has been previously mentioned, within the rites of Rajab, that it is recommended to offer a prayer composing of six units in each of which Surahs al-Faatehah, Yasin, al-Mulk, and al-Tawheed are recited.