The First Addendum to the Twenty‑Fourth Letter
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Say: No importance would your Sustainer attach to you were it not for your supplication.
Listen now to five points concerning this verse.
First Point
Supplication is a mighty mystery of worship; indeed, it is as though the spirit of worship. As we have mentioned in many places, supplication is of three sorts.
The First Sort of Supplication
This is the tongue of latent ability. Through it all seeds and grains supplicate the All‑Wise Creator, saying: “Make us grow! Make our tiny truths sprout and transform us into the mighty reality of a tree, so that we may display the elaborate embroideries of Your names!”
Another sort of supplication through the tongue of latent ability is this: the gathering together of causes is a supplication for the creation of the effect. That is to say, the causes take up a position whereby they resemble a tongue of disposition through which they beseech the effect from the All‑Powerful One of Glory. For example, water, heat, earth, and light take up positions around a seed, and their doing this constitutes a tongue of supplication which says: “O Our Creator, make this seed into a tree!” For the tree, a wonderful miracle of power, cannot be attributed to those unconscious, lifeless, simple substances; that would be impossible. This means the coming together of causes is a sort of supplication.
The Second Sort of Supplication
This is through the tongue of innate need. It is the supplication made by all living creatures to the All‑Compassionate Creator to give them the things they need and desire, which are beyond their power and will, from unexpected places, at the appropriate time. For an All-Wise and Compassionate One sends them all these things at the right time, from places they do not know. They are beyond their reach. That is to say, the bestowal is the result of supplication.
In Short: All that rises to the divine court from the universe is a supplication. Those things that are causes seek the effects from Allah the Most High.
The Third Sort of Supplication
This is the supplication of conscious beings, which arises from need. It is of two kinds:
If it is made at a time of desperate need, or is completely conformable with innate need, or if it is close to the tongue of latent ability, or is made with the tongue of a pure, sincere heart, this supplication is virtually always acceptable. The greater part of human progress and most discoveries are the result of this sort of supplication. For the things they call the wonders of civilization and the matters and discoveries they take pride in are the result of what is in effect supplication. They were asked for with a sincere tongue of latent ability and so were given. So long as there is nothing preventing them and they are conformable with conditions, supplications made through the tongues of latent ability and innate need are always acceptable.
The Second Kind: This is the well‑known supplication and it too is of two kinds. One is by action and the other by word. For example, ploughing is supplication by action. It is not seeking the sustenance from the earth; the earth is a door to a treasury of mercy, and the plough knocks on the earth, the door to divine mercy.
We shall skip details of the remaining sorts, and explain in the following two or three points one or two of the secrets of supplication by word.
Second Point
Supplication has a powerful effect. It almost always yields results, indeed, its results are continuous, especially if it gains universality and is constant. It may even be said that supplication was one of the reasons for the world’s creation. That is to say, the supplications of chiefly mankind, and of them principally the Islamic world, and mainly the sublime supplications of Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace) were a cause of the universe’s creation. That is to say, the Creator of the World knew that in the future Muhammad (UWBP) would ask for eternal happiness and for a manifestation of the divine names in the name of mankind, indeed, on account of all beings, and He accepted that future supplicaton and created the universe.
Since supplication possesses this great importance and capacity, is it at all possible that the supplications offered all the time for one thousand three hundred and fifty years by three hundred million of mankind and by uncountable numbers of blessed beings from among men, jinn, angels, and spirit beings for the bestowal of supreme divine mercy and eternal happiness on the Person of Muhammad (UWBP), and for the accomplishment of their aims would not be accepted? Is it in any way possible that their supplications would be rejected?
Since all these supplications have acquired universality, extensiveness, and continuousness to this extent and have reached the level of the tongues of latent ability and innate need, for sure, as a result of them, Muhammad the Arabian (UWBP) has achieved such a rank and degree that if all minds were to gather together and become one mind, it could not completely comprehend it.
O Muslims! This is the intercessor you shall have on the Day of Resurrection! So if you want to attract his intercession, follow his practices (Sunna)!
If You Ask: Since he is Allah the Most High’s Beloved, what need does he have of all these blessings and supplications?
The Answer: This Being (UWBP) is concerned with the happiness of all his community and shares in the good fortune of each of its members. So too, he is disturbed by all their tribulations. For sure, the degrees of his own happiness and perfection are endless, but since he desires ardently the numberless kinds of happiness for the numberless members of his community for an unlimited time, and is saddened at the numberless kinds of their wretchedness, he is surely worthy of and needy for endless blessings and supplications and mercy.
If You Ask: Sometimes supplications are offered for things that are definite; for example, the supplications in the prayers offered during lunar and solar eclipses. Also, sometimes supplications are made for things that will never come about. What does this mean?
The Answer: As is explained in others of the Words, supplication is worship. By means of it, Allah the Most High’s servant proclaims his powerlessness and want. The apparent purposes mark the times of the supplication and the supplicatory worship; they are not really the purpose. The purpose of worship and its benefits look to the hereafter. If its worldly aims are not obtained, it should not be said that the supplication was not accepted, but that the time for it has not yet ended.
Also, is it at all possible that eternal happiness, which all the believers have asked for at all times, continuously, with complete sincerity and yearning and entreaty, should not be given to them, and that the Absolutely Generous One, the Absolutely Compassionate One, who according to the testimony of the universe possesses boundless mercy, should not accept their supplications and that eternal happiness should not exist?
Third Point
There are two ways in which voluntary supplication by word is acceptable. It is either accepted exactly as desired or what is better is granted.
For example, someone asks for a son and Allah the Most High bestows a daughter like Mary. One should not say that his supplication was not accepted, but that it was accepted in a better way. Also, sometimes a person makes supplication for his happiness in this world and it is accepted for the hereafter. One should not say that his supplication was rejected, but that it was accepted in a better form.
Similarly, Allah the Most High is All‑Wise; we seek from Him and He responds to us. But He deals with us in accordance with His wisdom. A sick person should not cast aspersions on his doctor’s wisdom. If he asks for honey and the expert doctor gives him quinine, he should not say: “The doctor didn’t listen to me.” For the doctor listened to his sighs and moans; he heard them and responded to them. He prescribed something better than what was asked for.
Fourth Point
The best, finest, sweetest, most immediate fruit and result of supplication is this, that the person who offers it knows there is someone who listens to his voice, sends a remedy for his ailment, takes pity on him, and whose hand of power reaches everything. He is not alone in this great hostel of the world; there is an All‑Generous Being who looks after him and makes it friendly. Imagining himself in the presence of the One who can bring about all his needs and repulse all his innumerable enemies, he feels a joy and relief; he casts off his load, which is as heavy as the world, and exclaims: All praise be to Allah, the Lord and Sustainer of All the Worlds!
Fifth Point
Supplication is the spirit of worship and results from sincere belief. For the person who makes supplication shows that there is someone who rules the whole universe, saying: “He knows the least significant things about me, can bring about my farthest aims; who sees every circumstance of mine, and hears my voice. He hears the voices of all beings, and He hears my voice too. He does all these things, so I await my smallest needs from Him too. I ask Him for them!”
See the extensive, sincere belief in Allah the Most High’s unity that supplication gives, and the sweetness and purity of the light of belief that it shows! Understand the meaning of the verse, Say, No importance would your Sustainer attach to you were it not for your supplication; listen to the decree of, And your Sustainer says: Call on Me; I shall answer you.
As the saying goes: If I had not wanted to give, I would not have given wanting.
Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All‑Knowing, All Wise!
Allah, grant blessings to our master Muhammad from pre‑eternity to post-eternity, to the number of things present in divine knowledge, and to his Family and Companions, grant them peace; and preserve us from harm, and preserve our religion. Amen. And all praise be to Allah, the Sustainer of All the Worlds.