English
A number of rites are advisably practiced at this blessed night. They are as follows:
First: It is recommended to bathe oneself at this night.
Second: It is recommended to visit the holy tomb of Imam al-Husayn (a.s.).
Third: It is recommended to recite Surahs al-An’am (No. 6), al-Kahf (No. 18), and Yasin (No. 36). It is also recommended to repeat the following imploration one hundred times:
اَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ وَاَتُوْبَ اِلَيْهِ۔
I implore for Allah’s forgiveness and I repent before Him.
Fourth: It is recommended to say the following supplicatory prayer that is reported by al-Kulayni from Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq(a.s.):
اَللّٰهُمَّ هٰذَا شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِيْ اَنْزَلْتَ فِيْهِ القُرْاٰنَ وَقَدْ تَصَرَّمَ،
O Allah, this month of Ramadan in which You revealed the Qur'an is about to come to its end.
وَاَعُوْذُ بِوَجْهِكَ الْكَرِيْمِ يَارَبِّ
I seek refuge with Your Noble Face, O Lord,
اَنْ يَطْلُعَ الْفَجْرُ مِنْ لَيْلَتِيْ هٰذِهِ
that it dawns tonight
اَوْ يَتَصَرَّمَ شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ
or the month of Ramadan elapses
وَلَكَ قِبَلِيْ تَبِعَةٌ اَوْ ذَنْبٌ تُرِيْدُ اَنْ تُعَذِّبَنِيْ بِهِ يَوْمَ اَلْقَاكَ۔
but I am still liable to an offense or a sin that You want to punish me for committing it when I will meet You.
Fifth: It is recommended to say the previously mentioned supplicatory prayer that begins with the following:
يَامُدَبِّرَ الْاُمُوْرِ،
O Director of all affairs!
يَابَاعِثَ مَنْ فِي الْقُبُوْرِ،
O Resurrector of all those in graves
يَامُلَيِّنَ الْحَدِيْدِ لِدَاوُدَ
صَلِّ عَلٰى مُحَمَّدٍ وَاٰلِ مُحَمَّدٍ
وَافْعَلْ بِي كَذا وَكَذا
Sixth: It is recommended to bid farewell to the month of Ramadan through the supplicatory prayers dedicated to this purpose and mentioned by al-Kulayni, al-Saduq, al-Mufid, al-Tusi, and Sayyid Ibn Tawus - may Allah be pleased with them all. Yet, the best farewell prayer in this respect may be the forty-fifth supplication of al-Sahifah al-Kamilah al-Sajjadiyyah, which begins with the following statement:
اَللّٰهُمَّ يَا مَنْ لَا يَرْغَبُ فِيْ۔۔۔۔
O Allah! O He who desires no repayment...
Sayyid Ibn Tawus has reported Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq(a.s.) as saying: Whoever bids farewell to the month of Ramadan with the following supplicatory prayer, Almighty Allah will forgive him before it dawn (fajr)s and will confer upon him with the bliss of submission before Him (i.e. Almighty Allah):
اَللّٰهُمَّ لَا تَجْعَلُهُ اٰخِرَ الْعَهْدِ مِنْ صِيَامِيْ لِشَهْرِ رَمَضَانَ،
O Allah, (please) do not decide my observance of fasting in this month of Ramadan to be the last of my observance of fasting.
وَاَعُوْذُ بِكَ اَنْ يَطْلُعَ فَجْرُ هٰذِهِ اللَّيْلَةِ اِلَّا وَقَدْ غَفَرْتَ لِي۔
I seek Your protection against that this day dawns before You shall forgive me.
Sayyid Ibn Tawus and Shaykh al-Saduq have both narrated the following on the authority of Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah al-Ansari:
I visited the Messenger of Allah (a.s.) on the last Friday of Ramadan. As he saw me, he said: O Jabir, this is the last Friday of Ramadan. You should thus bid farewell to it by saying the following:
اَللّٰهُمَّ لَا تَجْعَلُهُ اٰخِرَ الْعَهْدِ مِنْ صِيَامِنَا اِيَّاهُ
O Allah, (please) do not make it the last of our fasting in this month,
فَاِنْ جَعَلْتَهُ فَاجْعَلْنِيْ مَرْحُوْمًا وَلَا تَجْعَلْنِيْ مَحْرُوْمًا۔
but if You decide so, then (please) make me enjoy (Your) mercy and do not make me deprived (of it).
Verily, whoever says this supplicatory prayer will win one of the two good things; either attaining the next Ramadan or having the forgiveness and mercy of Almighty Allah.
Sayyid Ibn Tawus and al-Kaf’ami have reported the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) as saying, “At the last night of Ramadan, one may offer a prayer consisting of ten units at each of which Surah al-Faatehah is recited once and Surah al-Tawheedrepeated ten times. In the genuflection (ruku') of the prayer (ruku’) and prostration (sujud), the following doxology (zikr) may be repeated ten times:
سُبْحَانَ اللهِ
All glory be to Allah,
وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ
all praise be to Allah,
وَلَآ اِلٰهَ اِلَّا اللهُ
there is no god save Allah,
وَاللهُ اَكْبَرُ۔
and Allah is the Greatest.
After each couple of units, one may say the Tashahhud and Taslim statements. After the accomplishment of the ten units, one may say the Taslim statement and repeat ISTEGFAAR one thousand times
اَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ وَاَتُوْبَ اِلَيْهِ۔
I implore for Allah’s forgiveness and I repent before Him.
After that, one may prostrate and say the following:
يَاحَيُّ يَاقَيُّوْمُ،
O Ever-Alive! O Eternal!
يَاذَا الْجَلَالِ وَالْاِكْرَامِ،
O Lord of Majesty and Honor!
يَارَحْمٰنَ الدُّنْيَا وَالْاٰخِرَةِ وَرَحِيْمَهُمَا،
O All-beneficent of this world and the Next World and the All-merciful of them!
يَااَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ،
O most Merciful of all those who show mercy!
يَااِلٰهَ الْاَوَّلِيْنَ وَالْاٰخِرِيْنَ،
O God of the past and the coming generations!
اِغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوْبَنَا،
(Please) forgive us our sins
وَتَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا صَلَاتَنَا وَصِيَامَنَا وَقِيَامَنَا۔
and accept our prayers, fasting, and worship.
The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) then continues, “I swear by Him Who has sent me with the truth as prophet, Archangel Gabriel has reported to me from Archangel Seraph who directly reports from Almighty Allah that one who offers that prayer will not raise his head from prostration before Almighty Allah forgives him, accepts his acts during the month of Ramadan, and overlooks his sins... etc.”
It is worth mentioning that other narrations have confirmed that this prayer is offered at the Night of ‘Id al-Fitr (i.e. the first night of Shawwal) with a little difference in the form of the supplicatory prayer.