Personalities

On Thursday night the Moslems finish the night prayers. They sit down in lines. They implore Allah, the Merciful Creator, to forgive them their sins. They ask him to be pleased with them.

Sweet words flow out of the mosque minarets. The words fly high in the clear sky full of stars:

Allah, I implore You with Your mercy that has included everything.

And with Your power with which You have overcome everything,

And every thing has.yielded to it...

Whose supplication is this? It's Kumail's.

What's the story of this supplication?

Who was Kumail?

He was Kumail bin Zyyad al-Nakhay. He was one of Imam Ali's companions. He was a noble man. His people obeyed him. He came from Yaman. His family inhabited Kufa during Imam Ali's Caliphate.

Abid al-Rahman bin al-Ashath led a revolution against alHajjaj. Kumail joined the revolution. He led the Koran Readers' Battalion.

The Beginning

Our Master Muhammad said:

I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate.

Imam Ali (A.S.) was a great scholar. He said: Allah's Apostle has taught me a thousand doors of knowledge. Each door leads to a thousand doors.

He also said: The Zakat (alms) of knowledge is to publish it.

So, Imam Ali (A.S.) taught his companions whatever they wanted. One day, he took Kumail with him outside Kufa. It was night. The sky was full of stars. Northern fresh breeze was blowing.

Imam Ali (A.S.) said to his companion: Kumail, these hearts are containers (of knowledge). The best of them are those that best preserve the knowledge. Therefore, preserve what I say to you:

There are three classes of people. The first class knows Allah. The second learns knowledge as means of salvation. And the third is rabble, - followers of every crower, who bend with every breeze. These men do not seek to be illuminated by the light of learning, nor do they resort to any authority.

Kumail, knowledge is better than wealth. Knowledge guards you while you guard wealth. Wealth is diminished by expenditure while knowledge is increased even by giving it away.

Kumail, those who amass wealth die even as they live, while those who have knowledge will continue to exist for as long as time lasts.

Al-Khidr's Supplication

Imam Ali (A.S.) was sitting with a group of his companions. One of them asked him about the explanation of the following Holy Verse:

"Therein every wise affair is made distinct"

The Imam said: It is on Shaban 15th.

Then he added:

By Allah, man faces his fate on Shaban 15th. So, man must implore Allah at such a night He must read Al-Khidr's supplication. Certainly, Allah accepts it.

The meeting was over and the Imam went home.

The evening came. Then it got dark. People went to bed. At that hour, Kumail got up. He went to Imam Ali's house. He had a question.

Kumail knocked at the door. Imam Ali (AS.) said: Kumail what has brought you?

Kumail, politely said: Amirul-Momineen, Al-Khidr's supplication

The Imam kindly said: Kumail, please sit down.

Then he added: I'll read you a supplication. Read it on Thursday nights.

The Imam began reading the supplication. Kumail was writing it. Nowadays, millions of Moslems read the supplication. They call it Kumail's supplication.

Thursday night, when you are free, then read Kumail's supplication. Faith will shine in your heart. It will illuminate the way of your life as it had illuminated the way of Kumail's life.

Adapted from the book: "The Companions of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w)"