Narrated by ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir (رضي الله عنه) – The Messenger of Allāh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) used to invoke Allāh with:

اللَّهُمَّ بِعِلْمِكَ الْغَيْب، وَقُدْرَتِكَ عَلَى الْخَلْق، أَحْيِنِي مَا عَلِمْتَ الْحَيَاةَ خَيْرًا لِي، وَتَوَفَّنِي إِذَا كَانَتِ الْوَفَاةُ خَيْرًا لِي، وَأَسْأَلُكَ خَشْيَتَكَ فِي الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَة، وَأَسْأَلُكَ كَلِمَةَ الْحَقِّ فِي الْغَضَبِ وَالرِّضَى، وَأَسْأَلُكَ اْلْقَصْدَ فِي الْفَقْرِ وَالْغِنَى، وَأَسْأَلُكَ نَعِيمًا لَا يَنْفَد، وَأَسْأَلُكَ قُرَّةَ عَيْنٍ لَا تَنْقَطِع، وَأَسْأَلُكَ الرِّضَى بَعْدَ الْقَضَاء، وَأَسْأَلُكَ بَرْدَ الْعَيْشِ بَعْدَ الْمَوْت، وَأَسْأَلُكَ لَذَّةَ النَّظَرِ إِلَى وَجْهِك، وَأَسْأَلُكَ الشَّوْقَ إِلَى لِقَائِكَ، فِي غَيْرِ ضَرَّاءَ مُضِرَّة، وَلَا فِتْنَةٍ مُضِلَّة، اللَّهُمَّ زَيِّنَّا بِزِينَةِ الْإِيمَان، وَاجْعَلْنَا هُدَاةً مُهْتَدِين.

O Allāh! By Your knowledge of the unseen and Your power over the creation, give me life as long as life is good for me. And grant me death when death is best for me. And I beseech You to grant me fear of You in private and public. And I beseech you to grant me true speech, whether I am in a state of anger or bliss. And I beseech You to grant me economical balance, whether I am in a state of destitution or wealth. And I ask You for blessings that are never exhausted. And I ask You for that which is comfort to the eyes that continues uninterrupted. And I ask You to grant me pleasure following the occurrence of divine decrees. And I ask You for a comfortable existence after death. And I ask You to grant me the delight of gazing upon Your face. And I ask you to yearn for my meeting with You, while not myself in a state of severe distress concerning which I am impatient,¹ nor while I am subjected to a trial that is a means towards misguidance. O Allāh! Adorn us with the adornment of īmān, and make us guided, a means towards the guidance of others.²

Imām Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 AH) comments:

He (صلى الله عليه وسلم) combines in this magnanimous invocation between the most pleasurable of this worldly life, which is yearning for one’s meeting with Allāh, and the most pleasurable aspect of the hereafter, which is gazing upon the face of Allāh, the Glorified. The completion and perfection in the attainment of this is predicated upon not being subjected to that which causes distress in this worldly life, or that which represents a trial in one’s religion. Thus, he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says: “while not myself in a state of severe distress concerning which I am impatient, nor while I am subjected to a trial that is a means towards misguidance.”

Then, the servant of Allāh attains true perfection only when he is able to combine between possessing knowledge of the truth, acting in light of it, and teaching others to do so and guiding them towards it. Thus, he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says: “And make us guided, a means towards the guidance of others.”

Then, in consideration of the fact that the truly beneficial form of pleasure is that which is felt after the occurrence of the divine decree, not before it—as this represents firm determination and resoluteness in being pleased with the decrees of Allāh. Otherwise, following the occurrence of the divine decree, this firm determination becomes disjointed. Thus, he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) asks Allāh to grant pleasure following the occurrence of the divine decree. For all decreed matters are surrounded by two: Seeking aid in the making of a decision before the occurrence of what has been divinely decreed, and then being pleased after its occurrence. Thus, it is representative of true happiness for the slave of Allāh to combine between these two, as narrated in al-Musnad and others that he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “Indeed, the happiness of the slave of Allāh is found in him seeking aid from Allāh in the making of his decisions and then finding pleasure with whatever Allāh has decreed. Indeed, it is representative of the servant’s despair that he abandons seeking aid from Allāh when making decisions, then feels annoyance at that which Allāh—the Most High—has decreed.”³

Then, because having fear of Allāh in private and in public is at the very head of all good, he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) asks Allāh to grant this fear whether one is seen by the people or unseen.

Then, because most people only speak the truth when they are in a state of pleasure until when they are angered, their anger extricates them from their state, driving them towards speaking words of falsehood. While intense happiness also drives others towards speaking words of falsehood. In consideration of this, he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) asks Allāh—the Exalted in Might—to grant him true guidance towards speaking the truth, whether in a state of anger or bliss. It is for this reason that some of the pious predecessors used to say: “Do not be from among those who, when in a state of happiness, their bliss pushes them towards falsehood, or when they are angry their anger extricates them from the truth.”

Then, because destitution and wealth both represent tribulations and tests used by Allāh to test His servants such that when they are rich they stretch forth their hands, but when poor they clasp their hands [out of stinginess], he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) asks Allāh—the Exalted in Might—for balance in both states. That is, adoption of the middle path between seeking opulence and miserliness.

Then, because blessings are of two types: one that belongs to the body and the other for the heart—which is the comfort of the eyes one experiences. Perfection and completion of these blessings are achieved when that blessing is granted consistently and in perpetuity, he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) combines these two in his saying: “I ask You for blessings that are never exhausted. And I ask You for that which is a comfort of the eyes which will go uninterrupted.”

Then, because adornments are also of two types: one that belongs to the physical form and the other for the heart, but the beautification of the heart represents the more magnanimous of the two, more exalted in its ability to cause harm when absent even if the physical body was to attain beauty in the end [it fades]. Thus, he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) seeks the attainment of inner beauty saying: “Adorn us with the adornment of īmān.”

Then, because existence in this worldly life is never completely comfortable for a single person, whoever they may be, rather this existence is fraught with mortal distress and adversity, surrounded in every direction with physical and emotional pain, he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) seeks comfort in the existence after death.

In summary, he (صلى الله عليه وسلم) combines in this one invocation between the very best aspects of this worldly life and the very best aspects of the hereafter.

Endnotes:
[1] See explanation of this phrase in Dhakīrah al-ʿUqbá 15:245 by Shaykh Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Ādam al-Ityūbī and Faydh al-Qadīr by al-Manāwī 2:146.
[2] Authentic: narrated by al-Nasāʾī: 1305. Graded ḥasan by Shaykh ʿAbd al-Muḥsin al-ʿAbbād in Adʿiyah al-Nabī (صلى الله عليه وسلم) ḥadīth no: 21. Graded authentic by Shaykh al-Albānī in Ṣifah Ṣalāh al-Nabī (صلى الله عليه وسلم) ḥadīth no: 4 in the chapter entitled ‘Invocations before the Salām’. Also, graded authentic by al-ʿIrāqī in Takhrīj al-Iḥyāʾ 1:288.
[3] Weak: narrated by Ahmad: 1444, al-Tirmidhī 3:203. Graded weak by Shaykh al-Albānī in Ḍaʿīf al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr: 5300 and Silsilah al-Aḥadīth al-Ḍaʿīfah: 1906 with a wording slightly different than that mentioned here.

Source: Ighāthah al-Lahfān: 37-38
Translated by: Riyāḍ al-Kanadī