يَا حَيُّ يَا قَيُّومُ بِرَحْمَتِكَ أَسْتَغِيثُ أَصْلِحْ لِي شَأْنِي كُلَّهُ وَلَا تَكِلْنِي إِلَى نَفْسِي طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ
O Ever Living One, O Sustainer of all, by Your mercy I call on You to set right all my affairs. Do not place me in charge of my soul even for the blinking of an eye
To be recited once
Brief Commentary
- The Prophet (SallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) is reported to have taught his daughter Fatimah to recite this supplication every morning and evening [1]
- We begin the supplication by calling Allah, the Ever-living. Allah’s living is very different to our own living, as our living contains periods of illness, tiredness, sleep, and many other ailments, including having a beginning and end. However, Allah has the most perfect form of life, as He was always present and will always remain. His life is not interrupted by any periods of sleep nor loss of power
- When we call upon Allah by Him being the Ever-living creator, we should realise we are calling the being who will always be present and available to help
- We also call upon Allah in that He is the Sustainer of all. This means He is the one who looks after everyone and everything, provides for them, and keeps everything in place e.g. planet orbitals, keeping the Earth and the Heavens intact, allowing life to continue etc.
- The Sustainer of all implies that Allah is complete in terms of His ability to carry out actions, therefore we call upon Him in that He is always there, and able to do whatever we require
- The prophet (SallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) is reported to have said that Allah has the greatest name that if you ask Him with it and supplicate to Him with this name then He will surely accept your supplication [2]. Many scholars have mentioned that this greatest name is in fact the two names at the beginning of this supplication, “O Ever Living One, O Sustainer of all”
- We also call upon Allah with His mercy that He saves us. We don’t mention what we want Him to save us from, but judging from how the supplication continues, it is understood we are asking Him to save us from everything that may harm us as we realise we cannot rely on ourselves for anything
- When we ask Allah to rectify all our affairs, this includes matters related to this life and the Hereafter
- The last part of this supplication sets in a place a very important concept in our life, which is that is we need Allah for everything in our lives, and that if we are left to ourselves without the help of Allah, even for a moment, then this would lead to our destruction
- By realising we cannot depend on ourselves alone, we implement what we recite at least 17 times a day, which is the verse in Surah Al-Fatiha, {Only You do we worship, and only in You do we seek assistance}
Action Points
- Memorise the greatest name of Allah, and ensure you always call upon Allah with this name whenever you supplicate to Him
- Though very short, this supplication carries great meanings, and must never be said without contemplation as you are setting your frame of mind for the rest of the day when you say this supplication
- Whenever you say this supplication, always ensure you realise you will fail if you only depend on yourself, even if it is for a moment of your life, so you are always in need for Allah
- Once you say this supplication from the bottom of your heart, you will feel at great ease and comfort as you have entrusted all your affairs to Allah, therefore you know you will have a very successful morning or evening
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- Hadith, reported by Al-Nasa’i, hadith number 10405, and Al-Hakim, hadith number 545
- Hadith, reported by Tirmidhi, hadith number 3544, Abu Dawud, hadith number 1496, Al-Nasa’i, hadith number 1300, and Ibn Majah, hadith number 3858
Hadith Commentary 