Fortress of the Muslim
Fortress of the Muslim
حصن المسلم
No servant commits a sin, then performs ablution well and stands to pray two units, then asks Allah to forgive him, without Allah forgiving him.
Seeking refuge in Allah from him.
Translation notes
الاستعاذة بالله منه
The witness specifies Satan and expands the phrase as an instruction to say ‘I seek refuge in Allah from Satan the outcast’; the Arabic retains only the pronoun ‘him’. Nearby chapter context concerns expelling Satan, but the source phrase itself does not name him.
Should the referent be made explicit as Satan, or should the pronoun be retained?
Remembrances and recitation of the Qur’an.
Translation notes
الْأَذْكَارُ وَقِرَاءَةُ الْقُرْآنِ
The witness contains a long explanatory passage and quotations in its English material, while the Arabic unit consists only of this heading; the extra material has no Arabic text in this source block.
Should this unit remain limited to the Arabic heading, with the longer English material treated as witness-only context?
Allah decreed it, and whatever He wills, He does.
Translation notes
قَدَّرَ اللهُ وَما شـاءَ فَعَـل
The witness paraphrases the opening as ‘It is the Decree of Allah’; the Arabic more directly says ‘Allah decreed’. This is a common expression used when accepting what has occurred.
Should this be rendered with the active verb ‘Allah decreed’ or the witness’s nominal ‘It is Allah’s decree’?
“May Allah bless you with what has been bestowed upon you, may you give thanks to the Giver, may the child reach maturity, and may you be granted his righteousness.”
The person being congratulated replies, saying: “May Allah bless you and bestow blessing upon you, reward you with good, grant you the like of it, and increase your reward abundantly.”
Translation notes
وَشَكَرْتَ الْوَاهِبَ
The witness explicitly adds ‘you (the new parent)’ in a parenthesis; the Arabic addresses the listener without this explanatory label.
Should the contextual label ‘new parent’ be included only in a separate note, or omitted from the translation?
The Messenger of Allah used to seek protection for al-Hasan and al-Husayn, saying: I place you both under the protection of Allah's perfect words from every devil and every venomous creature, and from every harmful eye.
Translation notes
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يعوذ الحسن والحسين " أعيذكما بكلمات الله التامة ، من كل شيطان وهامة ، ومن كل عينِ لامة "
The witness renders this as an envious blameworthy eye; the Arabic says every lammah eye, commonly understood as a harmful or afflicting eye.
Should the Arabic sense of harm or the witness interpretation of envy be used?
I ask Allah, the Magnificent, Lord of the Magnificent Throne, to heal you. (seven times)
Translation notes
(سبع مرات)
The witness adds ‘in Arabic’ to the repetition instruction; the Arabic states only ‘seven times.’
Should the language instruction be included despite its absence from the source?
He, Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, said: “When a man visits his Muslim brother, he walks through the gardens of Paradise until he sits. When he sits, mercy envelops him. If he visits in the morning, seventy thousand angels supplicate for him until evening; and if he visits in the evening, seventy thousand angels supplicate for him until morning.”
Translation notes
مَشَى فِي خِرَافَةِ الْجَنَّةِ
The phrase khirāfat al-jannah literally evokes gathering fruit in Paradise; the witness renders it as a path of Paradise.
Should the traditional phrase be rendered as a path, a garden, or fruit-gathering in Paradise?
O Allah, forgive me, have mercy on me, and join me with the Highest Companion.
Translation notes
بِالرَّفـيقِ الأّعْلـى
The witness adds ‘in Paradise’ as an explanatory parenthesis; it is not explicit in the Arabic phrase.
Should the explanatory location ‘in Paradise’ be included?
At the time of his death, the Prophet, Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, would put his hands into water, wipe his face with them, and say: “There is no deity except Allah; indeed, death has agonies.”
Translation notes
لا إله إلا الله
The witness expands the declaration as ‘none worthy of worship but Allah’; the Arabic says ‘there is no deity except Allah.’
Should the explanatory worship gloss be included?
There is no deity except Allah, and Allah is greatest. There is no deity except Allah alone. There is no deity except Allah alone; He has no partner. There is no deity except Allah; to Him belong dominion and praise. There is no deity except Allah, and there is no might or power except through Allah.
Translation notes
لا إلهَ إلاّ اللّهُ
The witness repeatedly expands the declaration with ‘worthy of worship’ or ‘has the right to be worshipped’; these phrases are not explicit in the Arabic wording.
Should the witness’s explanatory worship gloss be included in this repeated formula?
Whoever has “There is no deity except Allah” as his final words will enter Paradise.
Translation notes
من كان آخر كلامه "لا إله إلا الله" دخل الجنة
The witness adds an explanatory parenthesis (‘whose meaning is’) and explicitly mentions dying; the Arabic simply says whoever’s last words are this declaration will enter Paradise.
Should the witness’s explanatory gloss be included?
We belong to Allah, and to Him we return. O Allah, grant me reward for my affliction and replace it for me with something better.
Translation notes
اْجُـرْني في مُصـيبَتي
The witness renders this as ‘take me out of my plight’; the Arabic asks Allah to reward the speaker in the affliction.
Should the meaning of reward or the witness’s wording about deliverance be used?
O Allah, forgive so-and-so (naming him) and raise his rank among those rightly guided. Be a successor for him among those he leaves behind. Forgive us and him, Lord of the worlds, make his grave spacious, and fill it with light.
Translation notes
وَاخْـلُفْـهُ في عَقِـبِهِ في الغابِـرين
The witness renders this as ‘send him along the path of those who came before’; the Arabic appears to ask Allah to provide a successor for him among those who remain, including his descendants.
How should the request concerning his descendants and those who remain be rendered?
O Allah, forgive him, have mercy on him, grant him well-being and pardon him, honor his reception, and make his entrance spacious. Wash him with water, snow, and hail, and cleanse him of sins as You cleanse a white garment of dirt. Give him a home better than his home, a family better than his family, and a spouse better than his spouse. Admit him to Paradise and protect him from the punishment of the grave [and the punishment of the Fire].
Translation notes
وَعافِهِ وَاعْفُ عَنْـه
The witness renders ʿāfihi as ‘give him strength’; the Arabic more directly asks that he be granted well-being or safety.
Should this be translated as well-being or strength?
وَزَوْجَـاً خَـيْراً مِنْ زَوْجِه
The witness specifies ‘wife’, while the Arabic uses the masculine generic term zawj, which can mean spouse or partner.
Should the translation specify wife or preserve the Arabic’s broader term?
O Allah, forgive our living and our dead, those of us who are present and absent, our young and our old, our males and our females. O Allah, whoever among us You keep alive, keep him alive upon Islam, and whoever among us You cause to die, cause him to die upon faith. O Allah, do not deprive us of his reward, and do not lead us astray after him.
Translation notes
اللهُـمِّ لا تَحْـرِمْنـا أَجْـرَه
The Arabic has the singular pronoun ‘his’; the English witness renders this as ‘their reward.’
Should the singular pronoun be preserved or rendered as a collective plural?
O Allah, so-and-so son of so-and-so is under Your protection and the covenant of Your guardianship. Protect him from the trial of the grave and the punishment of the Fire. You are worthy of fulfilling promises and upholding the truth. Forgive him and have mercy on him; You are the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
Translation notes
اللهُـمِّ إِنَّ فُلانَ بْنَ فُلانٍ في ذِمَّـتِك
The witness converts the generic placeholder into an instruction to name the person; the Arabic source itself says ‘so-and-so son of so-and-so.’
Should the placeholder be preserved as written or converted into an instruction for the reader?
وَحَبْـلِ جِـوارِك
The phrase literally refers to the rope of Your protection/neighborly security; the witness renders it as the rope of Your security.
Which natural English rendering best preserves this protective image?
O Allah, Your servant and the son of Your female servant is in need of Your mercy, while You have no need of his punishment. If he has done good, increase his good deeds; if he has done wrong, then pardon him.
Translation notes
اللهُـمِّ عَبْـدُكَ وَابْنُ أَمَـتِك، احْتـاجَ إِلى رَحْمَـتِك، وَأَنْتَ غَنِـيٌّ عَنْ عَذابِـه، إِنْ كانَ مُحْـسِناً فَزِدْ في حَسَـناتِه، وَإِنْ كانَ مُسـيئاً فَتَـجاوَزْ عَنْـه
The witness glosses muhsin as pious and musii as transgressor; the Arabic says if he is a doer of good or a doer of wrong.
Should the witness specific glosses be used, or should the more direct good/wrong wording be retained?