“And You have guaranteed the acceptation of the call of Your servants, and have not deprived one who came to Your door with hope and one who brought You his needs, and no requester returns with empty hands from Your giving nor return unsuccessful.”
Sometimes, when there is all daily activity, we feel overwhelmed and feel some part of our soul is lost; a part which can be our whole being. We might have gone to His blissful court at times, but has sometimes returned with just saying “Useless, I will not return handful.” But in the above prayer Imam Hassan al-Askari (PBUH) illustrates the issue in another way. Let’s review the prayer once more:
“O God, You have called your servants to ask for Your beneficence, and have bidden us to ask, and You have guaranteed the acceptation of requests of Your servants, and have not deprived one who came to Your court with hope, and one who brought you his needs, and no requester returns with empty hands from Your giving nor return unsuccessful. There is no migratory person who has headed for Your door and did not find You close to him/her. Or is there anyone who comes to Your court and some impediment averts him? And who can be a seeker of Your grace and does not find Your bliss ample? And who can be looking for Your extensive giving and remains deprived from Your cupful granting?
My God, I have come to Your door hopefully, and knock Your door of beneficence house, and my heart whispers with You humbly. And I have found You the best interceder for Yourself. And You are aware of my need earlier than me. So my God, align my prayer with acceptation.
O God, You made us know ourselves, and You have made us familiar with our shortcomings which we feared to prevent us to seek Your acceptance. You are the one who gives affluences to the undeserved, and You do good even if they do not ask. So grant us from Your greatness and generosity and virtue and beneficence. Indeed You do whatever You will. We are hopeful at Your door.”
Without any doubt this way of praying of Imam Hassan al-Askari (PBUH) makes it clear that whenever we want to have contact to God, the doors of His bliss are open to us, and if we have a need, we do not return with empty hands. In other words, it is impossible that one goes to the blissful door of God and gets rejected and not satisfied from His great giving.
However, as the Ahl al-Bayt (PBUH) teach us, if in some cases, when Allah (SWT) has just granted our prayer in delay, He however will also recompense for this delay on the resurrection day, and treat us with blessing and kindness.
Even in some cases, we may feel that our request has still not been granted, possibly because of some observations that we are not aware. It is necessary to know that sometimes what we may have requested is not to our best. In better words, granting that request, as we desire, will lead to our detriment, either corporeally or spiritually. Instead of granting our prayer in the fashion that we asked for, Allah (SWT) will recompense in another respect, for example by elevating our position in the hereafter, or forgiving our sins. (2)
(Selection taken from “Encyclopedia of the Words of Imam Hassan al-Askari (PBUH)”, by Hadith group of Baqir al-Ulum research center, with some additions and changes)
On behalf of the Roshd website, we pay our condolences upon the 8th of Rabi al-Awwal, the martyrdom of the pure and righteous Imam, Imam Hassan ibn Ali al-Askari (PBUH).
If you are interested to know more about the conditions and barriers of granting prayer, you may refer to the article entitles as “Granting Prayer” in Q&A section of website.
Footnotes:
1. Imam Sadiq (PBUH) has said, “When a servant encounters such blessings on the resurrection day, he wishes that none of his prayers had been granted in this world.” (Al-Kafi, vol. 2, pp.490-491)
2. It is like a kind father who would delay or reject granting his child’s request due to reasons, and finally it is beneficial to the child.