Asking for God’s Unlimited Mercy in Sahar Supplication

TEHRAN (IQNA) – On the days of Ramadan when we recite the Sahar Supplication (Dua Sahar), we ask God to bless us with His unlimited mercy although we do not deserve it.

This is according to Hojat-ol-Islam Mohammad Soroush Mahalati, speaking in a session about the Sahar Supplication. Here are excerpts from his remarks:

We read in part of the Sahar Supplication:

“O Allah, I ask You to give me from Your mercy that gives much, and all Your kind leniencies are plenteously many. O Allah, I beseech You in the name of all Your compassions.”

There are some questions raised here. First, what is the mercy that gives much? Another question is whether everyone can ask for this mercy or is it only for certain individuals?

As for the first one, it is a kind of mercy that has no limits and is for all beings. It is not just for a certain group or individual. There is no exception in this mercy. The scope of this mercy is not restricted by any law or regulation.

Such a mercy with such a scope raises the second questions of whether all human beings can benefit from it.

Allameh Tabatabaei in Al-Mizan Exegesis of the Holy Quran says that some people are deprived of this mercy not because it has limits but because they lack the capacity and aptitude to receive it. These people do not want this mercy themselves.  The divine mercy is raining down but the person refuses to receive it.

The second kind of mercy is one that is given to people although they do not deserve it. In the Abu Hamza Thumali Supplication we read: O God! If we were to receive your mercy based on our deeds, we would be in trouble because our deeds are not good enough. O God! We do not deserve your mercy but because you ae so compassionate and merciful, bless us with your mercy.

In the first kind of mercy there are some conditions and stipulations but not in the second one. There it is a question of calculations and logic and here it is a question of love.

During these days of Ramadan when we say, “O Allah, I ask You to give me from Your mercy that gives much,” we are asking God not to use calculations to bless us with His mercy but give us the mercy that has no stipulations and is given even though we do not deserve it.