Upon going to bed the Messenger of Allah 
would say: 'Allãhumma rabbas samãwãti, wa
rabbal 'ardhi, wa rabbal `arshil `atheemi, rabbanã wa rabba
kulli shay'in, fãliqal-habbi wan-nawã, wa munazzil 'attawrãti
wal 'injeeli, wal-furqãni, 'a`outhu bika min sharri kulli thee
sharrin 'anta ãkhitkun binãsiyatihi, 'allãhumma
'antal 'awwalu falaysa qablaka shay'un, wa 'antal 'ãkhiru falaysa
ba`daka shay'un, wa 'anta 'ath-thãhiru falaysa fawqaka shay'un,
wa 'antal-bãtinu falaysa doonaka shay'un, 'iqdhi `anna 'ad-dayna,
wa 'aghninã min 'al faqri.(55)
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| Footnotes
(55) O' my 'ilah Lord of the
Heavens, Lord of the Earth, Lord of the Magnificent Throne, Our
Lord, and The Lord of everything, causer of seeds and fruit-stones
to germinate, down bringer of the Tawraht, 'Injeel, and Furqan.,
I seek refuge in You from the evil of all having evil whom You shall
be taking by the forelock. O' my 'ilah You are The First, for there
was nothing before You; You are the Last, for there is nothing after
You; You are The Outward [or Ascendant] for there is nothing above
You; and You are The Inner, for nothing is beyond You. Consume,
for us, our debts; and enrich us out of poverty".
Further Explanation: Dr. Sãlih Al-Fozãn says, in
his explanation of Ibn Taymiyas' 'Al-`Aqeedah 'Al-Wãsitiyyah,
that this hadeeth explains that Allah was before everything, and
remains after everything. It affirms that Allah is ascendant over
all else, and at the same time He is so close with his Knowledge
that He is the Inner (closer to the subject, in knowledge, than
itself), and nothing is beyond his Knowledge. This closeness is,
of course, the closeness of all-surrounding complete knowledge.
A different, yet consistent, perspective on this hadeeth is provided
by Shaikh Nãsiruddeen Al-Albãni. He explained "The
Inner" in the footnotes of his authentication of Ibn Taymiya's Al-Kalim
At-Tayyib: "Meaning that due to the magnificence of your Majesty,
and the perfection of your Pride no one is able to realize Your
essence in spite of your perfect outwardness". With respect to "nothing
is beyond You" he said, quoting Abul-Hasan As-Sanadee: "Meaning
that there is nothing beyond You that would be more Inner than You".
So just as Allah is The Outward and yet beyond our realization (The
Inner), there is not anything, or anyone that beyond Allah's knowledge
and realization (more Inner).
With respect to Allah Ascendance: Allah is above and higher than
all his creation, He is upon his Throne which is a greater creation
than the Heavens and the Earth and all that is in them (including
humans). Allah refers to this Throne in the Qur'an as the "Noble
Throne" and the "Magnificent Throne". Muslims are to affirm this
ascendance as Allah has affirmed it. We do not cast any resemblance
upon Allah to humans in his ascendance. We simply affirm what Allah
affirms! We know what it is to ascend; however we do not know how!
The how is beyond the limits of human comprehension, and thus we
are not to think about it. We simply say that it is in a manner
befitting to the Might, and Glory of Allah the Exalted Most High.
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© 1993 Waleed Al-Essa
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