Dua Makarim Al-Akhlaaq

This Du'a has been taught by our fourth Imam (a) and is a clear indication of the loftiness of moral virtues expected of a believer. Islam believes in the elevation of the human being, that a human is a great and dignified creation, far above the animal world. One of the signs of this dignity is the possession of noble and magnanimous qualities.

In order to achieve this behavioural excellence, man needs to overcome his base and selfish attributes, and cultivate noble qualities. In this Du"a the Imam specifies these qualities, and shows how we can try to inculcate them in ourselves. Taken as a lesson in Akhlaq, the Du'a is a wonderful program for those who wish to excel in good manners.

"The most complete in faith among the believers is he who has the best manners." [Holy Prophet (s)]

"Habituate yourself to magnanimity, and choose for yourself the most excellent of all etiquettes, for virtuous behaviour is a habit. Avoid the most low of all etiquettes, and struggle with yourself to avoid it, for evil is stubborn." [Imam Ali (a)]

The following is Du`a #20 in Al­Saheefat Al­Sajjadiyya

O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, cause my faith to reach the most perfect faith, make my certainty the most excellent certainty, and take my intention to the best of intentions and my works to the best of works! O God, complete my intention through Thy gentleness, rectify my certainty through what is with Thee, and set right what is corrupt in me through Thy power! O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, spare me the concerns which distract me, employ me in that about which Thou wilt ask me tomorrow, and let me pass my days in that for which Thou hast created me! Free me from need, expand Thy provision toward me, and tempt me not with ingratitude! Exalt me and afflict me not with pride! Make me worship Thee and corrupt not my worship with self-admiration! Let good flow out from my hands upon the people and efface it not by my making them feel obliged! Give me the highest moral traits and preserve me from vainglory! O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, raise me not a single degree before the people without lowering me its like in myself and bring about no outward exaltation for me without an inward abasement in myself to the same measure! O God, bless Muhammad and Muhammad's Household, give me to enjoy a sound guidance which I seek not to replace, a path of truth from which I swerve not, and an intention of right conduct in which I have no doubts! Let me live as long as my life is a free gift in obeying Thee, but if my life should become a pasture for Satan, seize me to Thyself before Thy hatred overtakes me or Thy wrath against be becomes firm! O God, deposit in me no quality for which I will be faulted, unless Thou settest it right, no flaw for which I will be blamed, unless Thou makest it beautiful, no deficient noble trait, unless Thou completest it! O God, bless Muhammad and Muhammad's Household and replace for me the animosity of the people of hatred with love, the envy of the people of insolence with affection, the suspicion of the people of righteousness with trust, the enmity of those close with friendship, the disrespect of womb relatives with devotion, the abandonment of relatives with help, the attachment of flatterers with love set right, the rejection of fellows with generous friendliness, and the bitterness of the fear of wrongdoers with the sweetness of security! O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, appoint for me a hand against him who wrongs me, a tongue against him who disputes with me, and a victory over him who stubbornly resists me! Give me guile against him who schemes against me, power over him who oppresses me, refutation of him who reviles me, and safety from him who threatens me! Grant me success to obey him who points me straight and follow him who guides me right! O God, bless Muhammad and his Household and point me straight to resist him who is dishonest toward me with good counsel, repay him who separates from me with gentle devotion, reward him who deprives me with free giving, recompense him who cuts me off with joining, oppose him who slanders me with excellent mention, give thanks for good, and shut my eyes to evil! O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, adorn me with the adornment of the righteous, and clothe me in the ornaments of the godfearing, through spreading justice, restraining rage, quenching the flame of hate, bringing together the people of separation, correcting discord, spreading about good behaviour, covering faults, mildness of temper, lowering the wing, beauty of conduct, gravity of bearing, agreeableness in comportment, precedence in reaching excellence, preferring bounteousness, refraining from condemnation, bestowing bounty on the undeserving, speaking the truth, though it be painful, making little of the good in my words and deeds, though it be much, and making much of the evil in my words and deeds, though it be little! Perfect this for me through lasting obedience, holding fast to the community, and rejecting the people of innovation and those who act in accordance with original opinions! O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, appoint for me Thy widest provision in my old age and Thy strongest strength when I am exhausted, try me not with laziness in worship of Thee, blindness toward Thy path, undertaking what opposes love for Thee, joining with him who has separated himself from Thee, and separating from him who has joined himself to Thee! O God, make me leap to Thee in times of distress, ask from Thee in needs, and plead to Thee in misery! Tempt me not to seek help from other than Thee when I am distressed, to humble myself in asking from someone else when I am poor, or to plead with someone less than Thee when I fear, for then I would deserve Thy abandonment, Thy withholding, and Thy turning away, O Most Merciful of the merciful! O God, make the wishing, the doubt, and the envy which Satan throws into my heart a remembrance of Thy mightiness, a reflection upon Thy power, and a devising against Thy enemy! Make everything he causes to pass over my tongue, - the indecent or ugly words, the maligning of good repute, the false witness, the speaking ill of an absent man of faith or the reviling of one present, and all things similar - a speech in praise of Thee, a pursual of eulogizing Thee, an excursion in magnifying Thee, a thanksgiving for Thy favour, an acknowledgement of Thy beneficence, and an enumeration of Thy kindnesses! O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, let me not be wronged while Thou canst repel from me, let me not do wrong while Thou art powerful over holding me back, let me not be misguided while Thou art able to guide me, let me not be poor while with Thee is my plenty, let me not be insolent while from Thee comes my wealth! O God, I come to Thy forgiveness, I go straight to Thy pardon, I yearn for Thy forbearance, and I trust in Thy bounty, but there is nothing with me to make me warrant Thy forgiveness, nothing in my works to make me merit Thy pardon, and nothing on my behalf after I judge my soul but Thy bounty, so bless Muhammad and his Household and bestow Thy bounty upon me! O God, make my speech be guidance, inspire me with reverential fear, give me success in that which is most pure, and employ me in what is most pleasing to Thee! O God, let me tread the most exemplary path and make me live and die in Thy creed! O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, give me to enjoy moderation, make me into one of the people of right behaviour, the proofs of right conduct, and the servants of righteousness, and provide me with triumph at the place of Return and safety from the Ambush! O God, take to Thyself from my soul what will purify it and leave for my soul that of my soul that will set it right, for my soul will perish unless Thou preservest it! O God, Thou art my stores when I sorrow, Thou art my recourse when I am deprived, from Thee I seek aid when troubled and with Thee is a substitute for everything gone by, a correction for everything corrupted, and a change from everything Thou disapprovest. So show kindness to me with well-being before affliction, wealth before asking, right conduct before misguidance; suffice me against the burden of shame toward the servants, give me security on the Day of Return, and grant me excellent right guidance! O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, repel from me through Thy gentleness, feed me through Thy favour, set me right through Thy generosity, heal me through Thy benefaction, shade me in Thy shelter, wrap me in Thy good pleasure, and give me success to reach the most guided of affairs when affairs confuse me, the purest of works when works seem similar, and the most pleasing to Thee of creeds when creeds conflict! O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, crown me with sufficiency, place in me excellent guardianship, give me to guide correctly, tempt me not with plenty, grant me excellent ease, make not my life toil and trouble, and refuse not my supplication in rejection, for I make none rival to Thee and I supplicate none with Thee as equal! O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, hold me back from prodigality, fortify my provision against ruin, increase my possessions through blessing them, and set me upon the path of guidance through piety in what I spend! O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, spare me the burden of earning, and provide for me without reckoning, lest I be distracted from Thy worship through seeking and carry the load of earning's ill results! O God, bestow upon me what I seek through Thy power and grant me sanctuary from what I fear through Thy might! O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, save my face through ease, and demean not my dignity through neediness, lest I seek provision from those whom Thou hast provided and asks for bestowal from the worst of Thy creatures! Then I would be tried by praising him who gave to me and afflicted with blaming him who held back from me, while Thou - not they - art patron of giving and holding back. O God, bless Muhammad and his Household and provide me with soundness in worship, detachment in renunciation, knowledge put into action, and abstinence in measure! O God, seal my term with Thy pardon, verify my expectation in hoping for Thy mercy, smooth my paths to reach Thy good pleasure, and make my works good in all my states! O God, bless Muhammad and his Household, incite me to remember Thee in times of heedlessness, employ me in Thy obedience in days of disregard, open a smooth road for me to Thy love, and complete for me thereby the good of this world and the next! O God, and bless Muhammad and his Household the best Thou hast blessed any of Thy creatures before him and wilt bless any of them after him, and give to us in this World good, and in the next world good, and protect me through Thy mercy from the chastisement of the Fire!