In these supplications, Habib Ali al-Habashi (may Allah have mercy upon him and benefit us by him) teaches us to seek high degrees of love and closeness to Allah and His Beloved ﷺ :

 

اللَّهُمَّ اطْوِ مَسَافَةَ البُعْدِ بَيْنِي وبَيْنَ حَبِيبِكَ المًصْطَفى

واجْمَعْ بَيْنِي وبَيْنَهُ في هَذِهِ الدَّارِ وفي تِلْكَ الدَّارِ جَهْراً وخَفَا

اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْ لي حَظَّاً وافِرَاً مِنْ حُبِّكَ وحُبِّهِ وسَهْمَاً كامِلاً مِنْ قُرْبِكَ وقُرْبِهِ

اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّ قَلْبي يَدَّعِي حُبَّكَ و رُوحِي تَشْتَاقُ قُرْبَكَ فَاجْعَلْ لِلدَّعْوَةِ حَقِيقَة واسْلُكْ بي في قُرْبِكَ أَقْوَمَ طَرِيقَة

اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ جَعَلْتَ العَلامَةَ على حُبِّكَ اتِّبَاعَ حَبِيبِكَ وﻻ طَاقَةَ لي على ذَلِكَ إِﻻَّ بِتَوْفِيقِكَ لي فَوَفِّقْني اللَّهُمَّ لِذَلِكَ لأَكُونَ مِنْ المُحِبِّينَ لَكَ حَقِيقَةً يا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِين

 

O Allah, roll up the distance between me and Your Beloved, the Chosen One, and unite me with him in this abode and the next inwardly and outwardly!

O Allah, give me a huge portion of Your love and his and a massive share of closeness to You and him!

O Allah, my heart claims to love You and my spirit longs to be close to You, so make this claim a reality and allow me to travel the best of paths to attain that closeness!

O Allah, You made following Your Beloved a sign of love for You and I have no ability to do this without Your grace, so enable me to follow him, O Allah so that I be someone that truly loves You, O Most Merciful!

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Image: view of the city of Say’un with the green dome of the resting place of Habib Ali al-Habashi in the foreground and the minaret of Masjid Ta Ha in the background. Masjid Taha was established by Imam Taha bin `Umar al-Safi al-Saqqaf (died 1007), the first of the `Alawi Sayyids to settle in Say’un.

Image courtesy of Yousef Alhasny