Fortress of the Muslim
Fortress of the Muslim
حصن المسلم
In the name of Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah.
O Allah, I ask You for Your bounty.
O Allah, protect me from Satan, the accursed.
He says what the caller to prayer says, except when he says, ‘Come to prayer’ and ‘Come to success’; then he says: ‘There is no might or power except through Allah.’
And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner; that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. I am content with Allah as Lord, with Muhammad as Messenger, and with Islam as religion.
Translation notes
وَأَنا أَشْـهَدُ أَنْ لا إِلـهَ إِلاّ اللهُ
The witness includes the interpretive phrase ‘has the right to be worshipped,’ which is not explicit in the Arabic wording.
Should this interpretive gloss be retained, or should the more direct wording be used?
وَبِالإِسْلامِ دينَـاً
The English witness includes a separate recitation instruction absent from the Arabic unit.
Is the bracketed instruction editorial context from another source, and should it be excluded from this unit's translation?
He invokes blessings upon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, after finishing his response to the caller to prayer.
Translation notes
يُصَلِّي عَلَى النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم بَعْدَ فَرَاغِهِ مِنْ إِجَابَةِ الْمُؤَذِّنِ
The witness makes the instruction second-person and adds ‘in Arabic’; the source uses a third-person verb and contains no Arabic-language qualifier.
Is the English instruction paraphrase acceptable, or should the translation preserve the Arabic's impersonal third-person wording?
O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and the prayer that is established, grant Muhammad the means of approach and distinction, and raise him to the praised station that You promised him. (Indeed, You do not fail in Your promise.)
Translation notes
آتِ محَـمَّداً الوَسيـلةَ وَالْفَضـيلَة
The witness renders الوسيلة as ‘intercession,’ while the Arabic term has a specialized religious sense and is also commonly rendered ‘means of approach’ or ‘means of nearness.’ This short unit does not define the intended sense.
Which sense of الوسيلة is intended in this supplication, and should the witness's ‘intercession’ be retained?
He should supplicate for himself between the call to prayer and the commencement of the prayer, for supplication at that time is not rejected.
O Allah, distance me from my sins as You have distanced the East from the West.
O Allah, cleanse me of my sins as a white garment is cleansed of filth.
O Allah, wash me of my sins with snow, water, and hail.
Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You. Blessed is Your name, exalted is Your majesty; there is no god besides You.
Translation notes
وَلا إِلهَ غَيْرُك
The English witness adds ‘worthy of worship,’ an interpretive gloss not explicit in لا إله غيرك.
Should the witness’s interpretive gloss be retained, or should the direct wording be used?
I have turned my face toward the One who created the heavens and the earth, inclining toward the truth, and I am not among the polytheists. Indeed, my prayer, my rites, my life, and my death are for Allah, Lord of the worlds. He has no partner. This is what I have been commanded, and I am among the Muslims.
O Allah, You are the Sovereign; there is no god but You. You are my Lord, and I am Your servant. I have wronged myself and acknowledged my sin, so forgive all my sins, for none forgives sins except You. Guide me to the best character, for none guides to the best of it except You. Turn its bad away from me, for none turns its bad away from me except You.
I respond to Your call and am at Your service. All good is in Your hands, and evil is not attributed to You. I am through You and toward You. Blessed and exalted are You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance.
Translation notes
إِنَّ صَلاتـي ، وَنُسُكي ، وَمَحْـيايَ ، وَمَماتـي للهِ رَبِّ العالَمين
The English witness renders نُسُكي as ‘my sacrifice’; the Arabic term can refer to devotional rites or sacrifice, and the short clause does not settle the scope.
Should نُسُكي here be rendered as ritual sacrifice, devotional rites, or another contextually supported sense?
وَالشَّرُّ لَيْـسَ إِلَـيْك ، أَنا بِكَ وَإِلَيْـك ،
Both clauses are compressed and admit interpretive renderings; the witness paraphrases them as ‘evil does not stem from You’ and ‘I exist by your will and will return to you.’
Which English wording best preserves the Arabic without adding a theological explanation?
O Allah, Lord of Gabriel, Michael, and Israfil, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the seen: You judge between Your servants concerning that over which they differ. Guide me, by Your permission, to the truth concerning that over which they have differed. Surely You guide whom You will to a straight path.
Translation notes
اللّهُـمَّ رَبَّ جِـبْرائيل ، وَميكـائيل ، وَإِسْـرافيل،
The witness appends ‘(great angels),’ a parenthetical description absent from the Arabic unit.
Is this an editorial gloss from outside the unit, and should it be excluded from a translation of the Arabic text?
Allah is supremely great. Allah is supremely great. Allah is supremely great. Praise be to Allah abundantly. Praise be to Allah abundantly. Praise be to Allah abundantly. Glory be to Allah at the beginning and end of the day. (Three times.)
I seek refuge in Allah from Satan: from his puffing, his spitting, and his prodding.
Translation notes
مِنْ نَفْخِـهِ وَنَفْـثِهِ وَهَمْـزِه
The witness renders three distinct terms as ‘breath,’ ‘voice,’ and ‘whisper’; the Arabic expressions نفخه ونفثه وهمزه are specialized and their precise English equivalents are not settled by this unit.
Which documented senses best fit these three terms in this supplication?
وَسُبْـحانَ اللهِ بكْـرَةً وَأَصيـلا.( ثَلاثاً )
The Arabic says ‘three times’ but does not say ‘recite in Arabic.’
Should the witness’s added language instruction be treated as editorial and excluded?
O Allah, to You belongs all praise. You are the Light of the heavens and the earth and whoever is in them. And to You belongs all praise; You uphold the heavens and the earth and whoever is in them.
[And to You belongs all praise; You are the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whoever is in them.]
[And to You belongs all praise; Yours is the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whoever is in them.]
[And to You belongs all praise; You are the King of the heavens and the earth.]
[And to You belongs all praise.]
[You are the Truth; Your promise is true; Your word is true; meeting You is true; Paradise is true; the Fire is true; the prophets are true; Muhammad is true; and the Hour is true.]
[O Allah, to You I have submitted, upon You I rely, in You I believe, and to You I turn in repentance. For Your sake I contend, and to You I refer for judgment. So forgive me what I have sent ahead and what I have left behind, what I have concealed and what I have made public.]
[You are the One who brings forward and the One who delays; there is no god but You.]
[You are my God; there is no god but You
Translation notes
[أَنْـتَ إِلـهي لا إِاـهَ إِلاّ أَنْـت
The final source phrase appears to contain a malformed spelling of إله and has an opening bracket with no closing bracket. The translation follows the apparent wording but cannot confirm the intended source text or boundary.
Can the Arabic source spelling and bracket boundary be verified against an authoritative edition?
وَلِقـاؤُكَ الْحَـق
The witness says ‘Your audience is true,’ while لقاءك more directly denotes meeting or encounter with You.
Is ‘meeting You’ the intended sense, or is there an established contextual rendering to retain?
Glory be to my Lord, the Magnificent. (Three times.)
Translation notes
سُبْـحانَ رَبِّـيَ الْعَظـيم
The witness renders العظيم as ‘Exalted,’ while the adjective more directly means ‘Magnificent’ or ‘Great.’
Should the conventional witness rendering be retained or a closer lexical rendering preferred?
(ثلاث مرات)
The Arabic says ‘three times’ but does not specify ‘in Arabic.’
Should the witness's language instruction be treated as editorial and omitted from the translation?
Glory be to You, O Allah, our Lord, and praise be to You. O Allah, forgive me.
O Allah, to You I bowed, in You I believed, and to You I submitted. My hearing and my sight, my brain, my bones, my nerves, and whatever my feet carry have humbled themselves to You.
Glory be to the Possessor of might, sovereignty, grandeur, and greatness.
Our Lord, to You belongs all praise: abundant, wholesome, blessed praise.
[Praise] filling the heavens and the earth and what lies between them, and filling whatever else You will. O Possessor of praise and glory, the most rightful thing a servant says—and we are all Your servants. O Allah, none can withhold what You give, nor give what You withhold; and no person's good fortune can avail him against You.
Translation notes
أَهـلَ الثَّـناءِ وَالمَجـد ، أََحَـقُّ ما قالَ العَبْـد ، وَكُلُّـنا لَكَ عَـبد .
The compressed syntax links ‘Possessor of praise and glory,’ ‘the most rightful thing the servant says,’ and ‘we are all Your servants’ without an explicit verb in this source text.
How should these clauses be punctuated and connected while preserving their source wording?
وَلا يَنْفَـعُ ذا الجَـدِّ مِنْـكَ الجَـد
The repeated word الجَدّ has several contextual senses; the English witness chooses ‘might of the mighty person,’ while fortune, status, or wealth are also possible renderings.
Which contextual sense of الجَدّ is supported for both occurrences here?