Fortress of the Muslim
Fortress of the Muslim
حصن المسلم
Allah—there is no deity but Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer. Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth. Who can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what lies before them and what lies behind them, and they encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and preserving them does not tire Him. He is the Most High, the Magnificent.
Translation notes
وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ
The witness renders Kursi as “Throne,” while the Arabic source uses the term Kursi.
Should Kursi be retained or rendered as Throne in this edition?
اللَّهُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ
The witness expands the declaration to “none worthy of worship but He”; this worship gloss is not explicit in this Arabic wording.
Should the witness expansion be noted as an interpretive gloss?
The Messenger believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and the believers as well. Each believes in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers. We make no distinction between any of His messengers. They say, “We hear and obey. Your forgiveness, our Lord! To You is the return.” (285)
Allah does not burden any soul beyond its capacity. It will have the good it has earned, and it will bear the consequence of what it has earned. Our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make a mistake. Our Lord, do not place upon us a burden as You placed upon those before us. Our Lord, do not burden us with what we have no strength to bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our Protector, so grant us victory over the disbelieving people. (286)
Translation notes
لاَ يُكَلِّفُ اللهُ نَفْسًا إِلاَّ وُسْعَهَا لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ
The English witness explicitly glosses the first earning as good and the second as evil; these evaluative words are not explicit in this Arabic wording.
Should the two verbs be rendered neutrally as ‘earned’ or glossed as good and evil?
In Your name, my Lord, I lay my side down, and by You I raise it. If You take my soul, have mercy on it; and if You release it, protect it as You protect Your righteous servants.
O Allah, You created my soul, and You take it in death. Its death and its life belong to You. If You keep it alive, protect it; and if You cause it to die, forgive it. O Allah, I ask You for well-being.
Translation notes
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ العَافِيَةَ
The witness renders al-ʿāfiyah as ‘strength’; its sense here is well-being, safety, or soundness.
Which context-sensitive English rendering of al-ʿāfiyah should be preferred here?
O Allah, protect me from Your punishment on the day You raise Your servants.
Glory be to Allah (thirty-three times), praise be to Allah (thirty-three times), and Allah is greatest (thirty-four times).
O Allah, Lord of the seven heavens and Lord of the Mighty Throne, our Lord and Lord of all things, Splitter of the grain and the date-stone, Revealer of the Torah, the Gospel, and the Criterion: I seek refuge in You from the evil of everything whose forelock You hold. O Allah, You are the First, and nothing is before You; You are the Last, and nothing is after You; You are the Manifest, and nothing is above You; You are the Hidden, and nothing is beneath You. Settle our debts for us and free us from poverty.
Translation notes
وَأَنْـتَ الْبـاطِـنُ فَلَـيْسَ دونَـكَ شَيء
The Arabic says al-Bāṭin and negates anything beneath You; the witness instead calls this ‘the Most Near’ and says nothing is nearer than You.
Should this phrase follow the Arabic wording (‘the Hidden … nothing beneath You’) or the witness’s different rendering?
Praise be to Allah, who fed us, gave us drink, sufficed us, and sheltered us. How many there are who have no one to suffice them and no one to shelter them.
O Allah, Knower of the unseen and the seen, Originator of the heavens and the earth, Lord and Sovereign of all things, I bear witness that there is no deity except You. I seek refuge in You from the evil within myself, from the evil of Satan and his call to associate others with You, and from committing evil against myself or bringing it upon a Muslim.
Translation notes
وَمِن شَـرِّ الشَّيْـطانِ وَشِـرْكِه
The phrase shirkihi may refer to Satan’s association of partners with Allah, his invitation to it, or those who associate others with Allah; the witness has ‘his helpers.’
Which contextual sense of shirkihi is intended in this supplication?
أَشْهَـدُ أَنْ لا إِلـهَ إِلاّ أَنْت
The witness adds ‘worthy of worship’ to the Arabic declaration ‘there is no deity except You.’
Should the witness’s explanatory ‘worthy of worship’ be included?
He recites “Alif Lām Mīm Tanzīl” (Surat as-Sajdah) and “Blessed is the One in whose hand is dominion” (Surat al-Mulk).
Translation notes
يقرأ ((ألم * تنزيل)) السجدة، و((تبارك الذي بيده الملك))
The witness adds ‘in Arabic’; the source text itself gives the surah names and does not specify a language.
Should the witness’s language instruction be included despite its absence from the Arabic?
O Allah, I have surrendered myself to You, entrusted my affairs to You, turned my face toward You, and leaned my back upon You, seeking and fearing You. There is no refuge and no escape from You except to You. I believe in the Book You sent down and the Prophet You sent.
Translation notes
بِكِتـابِكَ الّـذي أَنْزَلْـتَ
The witness identifies the Book as the Qur’an in parentheses; the Arabic says only ‘Your Book that You sent down.’
Should the explanatory identification ‘the Qur’an’ be added despite its absence from the Arabic?
There is no deity except Allah, the One, the All-Overpowering, Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, the Almighty, the All-Forgiving.
Translation notes
لا إِلـهَ إِلاّ اللهُ
The witness expands this declaration as ‘There is none worthy of worship but Allah’; the Arabic wording itself says ‘There is no deity except Allah.’
Should the witness’s explanatory worship gloss be included?
I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from His anger, His punishment, and the evil of His servants, and from the promptings of the devils and their presence.
Translation notes
وَمِنْ هَمَـزاتِ الشَّـياطينِ
The witness renders hamazāt as ‘taunts’; the Arabic can convey the devils’ incitements or promptings.
Which English rendering best preserves the sense of hamazāt here?
Blow lightly to your left three times. Seek refuge in Allah from Satan and from the evil of what you saw, three times. Do not tell anyone about it. Turn onto your other side.
He gets up and prays if he wishes to do so. He gets up and prays if he wishes to do so.
Translation notes
يقوم يصلي إن أراد ذلك.ويَقُومُ يُصَلِّي إِنْ أَرَادَ ذَلِكَ.
The Arabic source contains the same sentence twice, first without diacritics and then with them; the English witness includes it once.
Should the duplicated Arabic sentence be preserved or treated as a source duplication?
O Allah, guide me among those You have guided, grant me well-being among those You have granted well-being, take me into Your care among those You have taken into Your care, and bless for me what You have given. Protect me from the evil of what You have decreed, for You decree and none can decree against You. Surely, none whom You take into Your care is humiliated, [and none whom You oppose can prevail]. Blessed are You, our Lord, and Exalted.
Translation notes
وَعـافِنـي فـيمَنْ عافَـيْت
The witness renders this as ‘strengthen me’; the Arabic is from the root ʿāfā and more directly asks for well-being or safety.
Should this be rendered as ‘well-being’ or follow the witness’s ‘strength’?
وَلا يَعِـزُّ مَن عـادَيْت
The source brackets this clause as a variant; the witness renders it as ‘none whom You have taken as an enemy shall taste glory.’
Should this bracketed variant be retained as translated, and how should yaʿizzu be rendered in this context?
O Allah, I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your anger, in Your protection from Your punishment, and in You from You. I cannot enumerate praise of You; You are as You have praised Yourself.
Translation notes
وَبِمُعـافاتِـكَ مِنْ عُقوبَـتِك
The witness translates muʿāfātika as ‘Your forgiveness’; the Arabic more directly indicates safety, well-being, or protection.
Which contextual rendering of muʿāfātika should be preferred?
O Allah, You alone we worship; to You we pray and prostrate. Toward You we strive and hasten. We hope for Your mercy and fear Your punishment. Your punishment will surely overtake the disbelievers. O Allah, we seek Your help and Your forgiveness, and we praise You with what is good. We are not ungrateful to You; we believe in You and humble ourselves before You. We renounce whoever disbelieves in You.
Translation notes
وَإِلَـيْكَ نَسْـعى وَنَحْـفِد
The witness expands this as hastening to worship and serve; the Arabic verb conveys striving or hastening eagerly without explicitly naming worship or service.
Should the witness’s explanatory ‘to worship and to serve’ be included?
“Glory be to the King, the Holy.” (three times; on the third, he raises and prolongs his voice.) “Lord of the angels and the Spirit.”
Translation notes
ثلاث مرات والثالثة يجهر بها ويمد بها صوته
The English witness adds ‘in Arabic’ to the instruction; the Arabic source does not specify a language.
Should the witness’s ‘in Arabic’ be included?