Sayyidi al-Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf (may Allah preserve him) mentioned in a talk he gave in the mawlid in Dar al-Mustafa last week that to be raised by Allah one needs to lower oneself and realise one’s weakness and one’s slavehood to Allah. He then mentioned an important du`a which the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) taught his maternal uncle, al-Aswad bin Wahb. He said to him: “Shall I not teach you words that Allah teaches to the one for whom He wants good, and then never allows him to forget them?”

“Of course, O Messenger of Allah,” al-Aswad replied.

“Say:

الَّلهُمَّ إِنِّي ضَعِيفٌ فَقَوِّ في رِضَاكَ ضَعْفِي وَ خُذْ إِلى الخَيْرِ بِناصِيَتِي و اجْعَلْ الإسْلامَ مُنْتَهَى رِضَاي

(Meaning roughly: “O Allah truly I am weak so give me the strength to do that which pleases You, take me in my entirety to all goodness and make complete submission to You the summit of my aspirations.”)[1]

May Allah give us the ability to read these words, for if He does it is a sign that He wants good for us and He will then surely give us what we are asking for. May Allah shower peace and blessings upon the one who taught us them and may He be pleased and have mercy upon all those who conveyed them to us.

[1] Narrated by Ibn al-`Araabi in his Mu`jam