MOMENTS OF ACCEPTANCE

As we approach the final moments of Friday, I recall my teenage days in the Holy city of Qum, when after having read about how some saints would recite two units of prayer and do istighfar, I would do the same. In those days, these prayers, I feel, had such a satisfying effect in my broken soul, that words are beyond expression. The last hour of Friday is so important that Hadhrat Fatima Zahra (‘a), the daughter of the Holy Prophet (s), would eagerly wait for this time in order to supplicate to the All-loving Beloved, who at each an every moment invites us all to His proximity. In our traditions it is termed as sa‘at al-ijaaba (the period of acceptance of prayer). Due to the eclipse of our hearts, we unfortunately are not able to receive Divine grace. Otherwise, the Bestower constantly bestows. We always recite the following prayer on Thursday evenings : “Ya Daa’imal Fadhli ‘ala al-Bariyya.” (O one who perpetually bestows grace on the creation.) There is a tradition, which reveals how constant are the opportunities of ijaaba (Divine acceptance), while we are in oblivion: The Holy Prophet (s) narrates a sacred tradition in which Almighty Allah says: 'Whosoever does something that breaks his wudhu, and then does not perform wudhu (minor ablution), surely He has turned away from Me; and whosoever does something that breaks his wudhu, and performs wudhu, but does not pray two units of prayer, then indeed He has turned away from Me; and whosoever does something that breaks his wudhu, performs wudhu, prays two units of prayer, and then supplicates to Me, and I do not accept His prayer for what He asks me of matters pertaining to his religion and the Hereafter, then I have turned away from him; and I am not a Lord who turns away.' Therefore let us humbly beseech Allah for “the receptivity” to change and totally transform our imaginal past before the opportunity of this life, whose final point we are not aware of, comes to an end, and regret is of not benefit to us.