Fortress of the Muslim
Fortress of the Muslim
حصن المسلم
O Allah, I have entered the morning and call You to witness, and I call the bearers of Your Throne, Your angels, and all Your creation to witness that You are Allah—there is no deity but You alone, with no partner—and that Muhammad is Your servant and Messenger. (Four times when morning comes or in the evening.)
O Allah, whatever blessing has come to me this morning, or to any of Your creation, is from You alone. You have no partner. To You belong all praise and thanks.
O Allah, grant me health in my body. O Allah, preserve my hearing. O Allah, preserve my sight. There is no deity worthy of worship except You.
O Allah, I seek refuge in You from disbelief and poverty, and I seek refuge in You from the punishment of the grave. There is no deity worthy of worship except You.
(Three times.)
Allah is sufficient for me; there is no deity but Him. In Him I place my trust, and He is the Lord of the Magnificent Throne. (Seven times.)
Translation notes
(سبع مرات)
The Arabic says “seven times”; the witness adds that the recitation is in Arabic.
Is “in Arabic” sourced from material outside this Arabic occurrence?
O Allah, I ask You for pardon and well-being in this world and the next. O Allah, I ask You for pardon and well-being in my religion, my worldly life, my family, and my wealth. O Allah, conceal my faults and calm my fears. O Allah, protect me from in front of me and from behind me, from my right and from my left, and from above me. I seek refuge in Your greatness from being struck down from beneath me.
O Allah, Knower of the unseen and the seen, Originator of the heavens and the earth, Lord and Sovereign of everything, I bear witness that there is no deity but You. I seek refuge in You from the evil of my own self, from the evil of Satan and his shirk, and from committing an evil against myself or causing it to befall a Muslim.
Translation notes
وَمِن شَـرِّ الشَّيْـطانِ وَشِـرْكِه ،
The Arabic has shirkihi (“his shirk”); the witness renders this as “his helpers,” which does not directly match the Arabic wording.
Does shirkihi here refer to Satan's association of partners or to his incitement to shirk, rather than to helpers?
In the name of Allah, with whose name nothing can cause harm on earth or in heaven; He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. (Three times.)
Translation notes
(ثلاث مرات)
The Arabic says “three times”; the witness adds that the recitation is in Arabic.
Is “in Arabic” sourced from material outside this Arabic occurrence?
I am content with Allah as my Lord, with Islam as my religion, and with Muhammad as my Prophet. (Three times.)
Translation notes
وَبِمُحَـمَّدٍ نَبِيّـاً .
The English witness adds a blessing formula after Muhammad that is absent from the assigned Arabic text.
Does this blessing belong to a separate editorial tradition rather than the Arabic wording of this occurrence?
(ثلاث مرات)
The Arabic says “three times”; the witness adds that the recitation is in Arabic.
Is “in Arabic” sourced from material outside this Arabic occurrence?
O Ever-Living, O Sustainer, through Your mercy I seek relief. Set right all my affairs, and do not leave me to myself even for the blink of an eye.
We have entered the morning, and all dominion has entered the morning belonging to Allah, Lord of all the worlds. O Allah, I ask You for the good of this day: its opening, its victory, its light, its blessing, and its guidance. I seek refuge in You from the evil in it and from the evil that comes after it.
When evening comes, he says: We have entered the evening, and all dominion has entered the evening belonging to Allah, Lord of all the worlds. O Allah, I ask You for the good of this night: its opening, its victory, its light, its blessing, and its guidance. I seek refuge in You from the evil in it and from the evil that comes after it.
Translation notes
وإذا أمسى قال: أَمْسَيْـنا وَأَمْسـى المُـلكُ للهِ رَبِّ العـالَمـين ، اللّهُـمَّ إِنِّـي أسْـأَلُـكَ خَـيْرَ هـذهِ اللَّـيْلَة ، فَتْحَهـا ، وَنَصْـرَهـا ، وَنـورَهـا وَبَـرَكَتَـهـا ، وَهُـداهـا ، وَأَعـوذُ بِـكَ مِـنْ شَـرِّ ما فـيهـاِ وَشَـرِّ ما بَعْـدَهـا
The Arabic source includes a complete evening counterpart, while the English witness presents only the morning wording and relegates an evening substitution to a reference note.
Should a reviewer confirm the scope and wording of the evening counterpart against another source witness?
We have entered the morning [or evening] upon the natural disposition of Islam, upon the word of sincere devotion, upon the religion of our Prophet Muhammad, upon the way of our father Ibrahim, as one inclining to truth, a Muslim, and not one of the polytheists.
Translation notes
The Arabic brackets أَمْسَـينا as an alternative to أَصْـبَحْنا; the source text itself does not include the honorific or the explanatory glosses found in the English witness.
وَعلـى دينِ نَبِـيِّنا مُحَـمَّدٍ
The English witness adds an honorific absent from the Arabic text.
Is this addition editorial in the English witness?
علـى فِطْـرَةِ الإسْلام
The English witness interprets fitrah as the natural religion; this rendering uses the more literal 'natural disposition'.
Should the English rendering of fitrah be harmonized with an established project glossary?
Glory be to Allah, and praise be to Him. (One hundred times.)
Translation notes
(مائة مرة)
The English witness adds 'in Arabic'; this is not stated in the Arabic source.
Is 'in Arabic' an editorial addition in the English witness?
There is no god but Allah alone; He has no partner. To Him belong the dominion and praise, and He is powerful over all things. (Ten times, or once when one is feeling lazy.)
Translation notes
(عشر مرات أَوْ مرَّةً واحدةً عندَ الكَسَلِ)
The English witness adds 'in Arabic' and renders عند الكسل as 'to ward off laziness'; the Arabic says 'when feeling lazy'.
Should the repetition instruction or its rendering be checked against another witness?
There is no god but Allah alone; He has no partner. To Him belong the dominion and praise, and He is powerful over all things. (One hundred times when entering the morning.)
Translation notes
(مائة مرة إذا أصبح)
The English witness adds 'in Arabic' and renders 'when entering the morning' as 'upon rising'.
Are these additions editorial in the English witness?
Glory be to Allah and praise be to Him, as many as His creation, as much as pleases Him, as weighty as His Throne, and as abundant as the ink of His words. (Three times when entering the morning.)
Translation notes
(ثلاث مرات إذا أصبح)
The English witness adds 'in Arabic' and renders 'when entering the morning' as 'upon rising'.
Are these additions editorial in the English witness?
O Allah, I ask You for beneficial knowledge, good provision, and deeds that are accepted. (When entering the morning.)
Translation notes
(إذا أصبحَ)
The English witness adds 'in Arabic' and renders entering the morning as 'upon rising'.
Are these additions editorial in the English witness?
I seek Allah's forgiveness and repent to Him. (One hundred times during the day.)
Translation notes
(مِائَةَ مَرَّةٍ فِي الْيَوْمِ)
The English witness adds 'in Arabic'; this is not stated in the Arabic source.
Is this an editorial addition in the English witness?
I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He has created. (Three times when evening comes.)
Translation notes
(ثلاث مرات إِذا أمسى)
The English witness adds 'in Arabic', which is absent from the Arabic source.
Is 'in Arabic' an editorial addition in the English witness?
O Allah, bless and grant peace to our Prophet Muhammad. (Ten times.)
Translation notes
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَ سَلِّمْ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ
The English witness adds 'we ask for' and uses 'peace and blessings' for the two Arabic imperatives ṣalli wa sallim.
Should the English rendering be reviewed for fidelity to the Arabic imperatives?
(عشر مرات)
The English witness adds 'in Arabic'; this is not stated in the Arabic source.
Is 'in Arabic' an editorial addition in the English witness?
He cups his hands together, then blows into them and recites into them: In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. “Say: He is Allah, One. Allah, al-Ṣamad. He neither begets nor is born, and there is none equal to Him.”
In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. “Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak, from the evil of what He created, from the evil of darkness when it settles, from the evil of those who blow on knots, and from the evil of an envier when he envies.”
In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. “Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind, the Sovereign of mankind, the God of mankind, from the evil of the whisperer who withdraws, who whispers in the hearts of mankind, from among jinn and mankind.”
Then he wipes over as much of his body as he can reach with them, beginning with his head and face and the front of his body. (He does this three times.)
Translation notes
اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ
The Arabic term al-Ṣamad has a range of interpretive renderings; the English witness supplies an explanatory gloss. The retained transliteration leaves the translation unresolved.
What contextual English rendering should be used for al-Ṣamad?
ثُمَّ يَمْسَحُ بِهِمَا مَا اسْتَطَاعَ مِنْ جَسَدِهِ
The English witness shifts the Arabic third-person narration to an imperative and adds a second-person frame.
Should the English witness's change in grammatical person be noted as an editorial adaptation?