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Chapter IX: Zikr and Invocations

O Prophet of God, my parents be sacrificed to you. Your excellence has reached God. He sent you as the last Prophet but He described you before all. For that He says: When I took covenant from you and the Prophets etc. O Prophet of God, may my parents be sacrificed to you, your excellence has reached God. The dwellers of Hell will wish how good it would have been if they had obeyed you. When they will receive punishment in different stages of Hell, they will say: Alas, had we obeyed god and His Apostle!

O Apostle of God, may my parents be sacrified to you. Moses, son of Imran, made to flow a stream of water from a stone. Is it not more wonderful that water flowed down from your fingers?
O Prophet of God, may my parents be sacrified to you. God made the wind subservient to Solaiman. He went one month's journey at dawn and one month's journey at dusk. Is it not more wonderful than the above that you travelled one night riding on a Buraq the seven heavens and said prayer at the Ka'ba the same very night? O Prophet of God, may my parent be sacrificed to you. God gave miracle to Jesus Christ, son of Mary, to make a dead man alive. Is it not more wonderful than it that cooked mutton mixed wit poison spoke with you? Don't eat me. I have got poison mixed with me.

O Prophet of God, may my parent be sacrificed to you. Noah prayed to God about his people: O my Lord, don't leave a single house of the unbelievers in the world. If you had prayed against us in a similar manner, we would have been destroyed. Your back was burdened, your front teeth were martyred, yet you did not invoke against them but for good and said: O God, forgive my people, as they know not what they do.

O Prophet of God, may my parents be sacrificed to you. Noah was not followed by so many people during his long stray as you have been followed in a short time. Innumerable people believed you. O Prophet of God, may my parents be sacrificed to you, if

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you had not permitted people lower in rank than you to come to you, we could not have taken seat with you. If you had not married women except those of equal rank with you, we would have no connection with you. If you had not taken meal except with the people of equal rank with you, we could not get the honour of taking food with you. By God, you kept company with us, married in our families, put on sufi dress, rode on asses, took companions behind, ate in cups of earth and licked your hands after eating.

EXCELLENCE OF ISTIGFAR OR • SEEKING FORGIVENESS

Source: Imam Al-Ghazali, Ihya Ulum al-Din (Revival of the Islamic Sciences)
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