Salat-i-Kabir (The Great Prayer)

Conducted once in every twenty-four hours

1 He is the One who sends down, the Forgiving, the Merciful.

For the one who prays to stand facing towards God, and when he stands and settles in his position, he looks to the right and the left as one who awaits the mercy of his Lord, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, then he says:

2 O God of Names and Originator of the heavens, I ask You by the rising places of Your hidden, lofty, and most splendid [presence], to make my prayer a fire that burns away the veils that have prevented me from witnessing Your beauty, and a light that guides me to the ocean of Your union.

Then he raises his hands for the Qunut, to God, blessed and exalted, and he says:

3 O Aim of the world and Beloved of the nations, You see me turning towards You, severed from all but You, clinging to Your rope by which all possibilities are moved. O Lord, I am Your servant and the son of Your servant; I stand present between Your hands, subject to Your will and desire. What I seek is Your pleasure. I ask You by the ocean of Your mercy and the sun of Your grace to treat Your servant as You wish and are pleased with. By Your holy majesty, beyond mention and praise, whatever appears from You is the aim of my heart and the beloved of my soul. My God, my God, do not look at my hopes and deeds, but rather at Your will that encompasses the heavens and the earth, and Your Greatest Name. O Sovereign of the nations, I desire nothing but what You desire, and love nothing but what You love.

Then he prostrates and says:

4 Glorified are You beyond being described by the descriptions of anyone other than You, or being known through the knowledge of anyone besides You.

Then he stands and says:

5 O Lord, make my prayer the abundance of life so that my essence may continue through the perpetuity of Your dominion, and that it may remember You in every world among Your worlds.

Then he raises his hands for the Qunut once again and says:

6 O You in whose separation hearts and livers have melted, and by the fire of whose love those in the lands have been ignited, I ask You by Your Name through which You have subdued the horizons, that You do not deprive me of what is with You, O Sovereign of necks. O Lord, You see the stranger hastening to his supreme homeland, under the shade of the domes of Your greatness and the proximity of Your mercy. The sinner seeks Your ocean of forgiveness, the humiliated [seeks] the expanse of Your might, and the needy [seeks] the horizons of Your wealth. To You belongs the command in whatever You will. I bear witness that You are the Praised in Your actions, the Obeyed in Your judgments, and the Chosen in Your command.

Then he raises his hands and says ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is the Greatest) three times, then he bows for the Ruku’ to Allah, Blessed and Exalted, and says:

7 O my God, You see my soul trembling within my limbs and my body, yearning for Your worship and eager for Your remembrance and praise. And it testifies to what Your authoritative word testifies to in the domain of Your declaration and the realm of Your knowledge. O Lord, I love to ask You in this position for everything You have, to affirm my poverty and elevate Your giving and Your abundance, and to reveal my incapacity and to demonstrate Your power and Your capability.

Then he stands and raises his hands for the Qunut once more and says:

8 There is no god but You, the Mighty, the Bestower. There is no god but You, the Judge in the beginning and the end. My God, My God, Your pardon has encouraged me, Your mercy has empowered me, Your call has awakened me, Your grace has established me and guided me to You. And as for my wealth and affairs, to stand at the door of Your closeness, or to turn towards the radiant lights from the horizons of Your Will’s sky. O Lord, You see the poor knocking at the door of Your bounty and the mortal desiring the abundance of everlasting life from Your generous hands. The command is Yours in all conditions. O Master of Names, to You belongs submission and contentment, O Creator of the sky.

Then he raises his hands three times and says:

9 Allah is greater than every great thing.

Then he prostrates and says:

10 Glory be to You, beyond the reach of the praises of those brought near or that the birds of the hearts of the sincere could ever arrive at the end of Your door. I bear witness that You are sanctified beyond attributes and exalted beyond names. There is no god but You, the Most High, the Most Glorious.

Then he sits and says:

11 I bear witness to what the things themselves, the Highest Assembly, the Highest Paradise, and beyond them the tongue of Grandeur from the most glorious horizon have borne witness: that You are God, there is no god but You, and the one who has appeared is indeed the Hidden Secret and the Stored Symbol, which is conjoined with its cornerstone ‘Nun’ by the ‘Kaf’. I bear witness that He is what is written by the Highest Pen and mentioned in the books of God, Lord of the Throne and the Earth.

Then he stands upright and says:

12 O God of existence and Sovereign of the unseen and the seen, You see my tears and my sighs, You hear my noise and my screams, and the yearning of my heart. By Your might, my audacity has kept me from drawing close to You, and my offenses have prevented me from entering the field of Your holiness. O Lord, Your love has weakened me, Your neglect has destroyed me, and Your distance has burnt me. I ask You by the landing of Your feet in this wilderness, by Your “Here I am, here I am” to Your chosen ones in this space, and by the breaths of Your inspiration and the breezes of the dawn of Your appearance, to decree for me a visit to Your beauty and to act according to what is in Your book.

Then he magnifies (saying God is Great) three times, bows, and says:

13 To you be the praise, O my God, for empowering me to remember You and praise You, for acquainting me with the dawning place of Your signs, for making me submissive to Your lordship, humbled before Your divinity, and acknowledging of what the tongue of Your grandeur has uttered.

Then he stands and says:

14 My God, my God, my disobedience has broken my back, and my heedlessness has destroyed me. Whenever I contemplate the badness of my deeds and the goodness of Yours, my liver melts and blood boils in my veins. Your beauty, O the Desired of the world, verily, the face is shy to turn towards You, and the hands of hope are embarrassed to be raised to the sky of Your generosity. You see, O my God, my tears prevent me from remembrance and praise. O Lord of the Throne and the Earth, I ask You by the signs of Your kingdom and the secrets of Your omnipotence, to do with Your friends what befits Your generosity, O Master of existence, and what is appropriate for Your grace, O Sovereign of the Unseen and the Witnessed.

Then he magnifies (saying God is Great) three times and prostrates and says:

15 Praise be to You, O our God, for what You have sent down to us that brings us closer to You and grants us every good You have revealed in Your books and scriptures. O Lord, we ask You to protect us from the forces of doubts and illusions. Indeed, You are the Mighty, the All-Knowing.

Then he raises his head, sits, and says:

16 I bear witness, O my God, to that which Your chosen ones have borne witness to, and confess to that which the inhabitants of the highest paradise and the highest heaven have confessed, and those who have circled around Your great throne. The sovereignty and the dominion belong to You, O God of the worlds.