O God *
Please God, don't turn me into a tyrant terrifying the innocent, or a weakling intimidated by tyrants
Help me speak justly in the face of the strong
Help me not tell falsities so as to win the applause of the weak
Should You grant me success, don't take away my humility
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| The Saudi monarch pointing (above) to his framed dua'a (below) |
And should You grant me strength, don't take away my wits
And should You grant me humility, don't take away my self-esteem
Help me see the other side of the picture, and don't let me accuse my adversaries of treachery because they did not share my opinion
Teach me to love people as much as I love myself
Teach me to hold myself accountable such as I hold others
Do not let me turn arrogant if I succeed, or cave in to despair if I fail
But remind me always that failure is a sum total of experiences that herald success
And that eagerness for revenge is a first sign of weakness
Should You turn me penniless, keep me filled with hope
And should You strip me of success, keep me the determination to overcome failure
And if You deny me the blessing of good health, keep me the blessing of faith
Should I wrong people, grant me the fortitude to repent
And should people wrong me, grant me the fortitude to pardon
If I forget Thee, O God, do not forget me
*Copyrighted translation by Fawaz C. Najia of a supplication (Ar. Dua’a) enjoying pride of place at the summer residence in Casablanca , Morocco, of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and prime mover of the 2008 Interfaith Dialogue Initiative who has just been named by Newsweek as the world’s topmost reformer (Newsweek). A photo of the framed supplication, written in Arabic calligraphy, appeared in a pictorial published by the Saudi newspaper of record Asharq Alawsat in August 2009.
