Supplication at the beginning of the new year

By Habib Ali bin Muhammad al-Habshi

 ﷽

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our Master Muḥammad, our great means to You, seeking Your acceptance, fulfilling our hopes, and forgiving our sins. And upon his family, his companions, and all who follow them.

O Allah, a full year of our lives has passed. You have overwhelmed us with blessings we cannot begin to thank You for. You protected us from harm and trials we could never have defended ourselves from. And we leave behind actions only You fully know.

Whatever good we managed to do, which You alone enabled us to do, accept it from us and record it among our righteous deeds. Forgive us for what was tainted by pride, showing off, insincerity, or anything else. Make our good deeds a means to draw nearer to Your pleasure and closeness to You.

And whatever sins, faults, and actions displeasing to You that we have departed the year with. And for intentions that were not righteous, whether with our limbs or our hearts, we ask You, O Allah, by the right of Your Essence, Your Names, Your Attributes, and by the right of the magnificent Qur’an and Your revealed Books.

And by the right of our Master Muḥammad ﷺ, by the right of the one who has the highest rank and status in Your presence among all of creation, we ask You to forgive all our sins entirely, and to conceal all our faults completely.

Bestow upon us from the vastness of Your immense generosity all that we hope for. Turn our sins into good deeds. Grant us to attain Your highest pleasure and the fulfilment of our greatest aspirations.

Indeed, our forelocks are in Your hand. You control our every state. Whatever display we put forth in front of You, You know what truly lies within us, our desperation for You and our neediness before You, none of it is hidden from You.

These are our hands raised before You. Our hearts turn to You. Do not turn us away empty-handed, O the Hope of the aspirers and the Refuge of those who seek refuge.

Have mercy on the one who calls upon You, believing that You are his Lord.

He turns to You, placing his trust in You, knowing that You are sufficient for him.

We now enter a new year after our previous one has passed. We do not know what has already been pre-ordained in Your knowledge regarding us.

Our hope is that You will open for us in this new year the gates of sincere and genuine repentance. A repentance that is not followed by a return to sin.

Grant us success in righteous, accepted deeds that bring us closer to Your pleasure. Let our limbs be constantly engaged in obedience to You.

Fill our hearts with love for You, love for those whom You love, and for whatever leads us to Your love. Expand our hearts for Your intimate knowledge, the kind You grant Your righteous servants.

Grant us the taqwā with which You honored the pious, its reality, its fruits, its roots and branches. Raise us to the highest ranks of steadfastness and certainty.

Guide us to the path of following the words, actions, intentions, and deeds of Your beloved, the noblest of all creation, our Master Muḥammad ﷺ.

Grant us an abundant share of love for this beloved Prophet, and the ability to follow him in all of our conditions. Make us, O our Lord, among those who are the happiest of people through him, the closest of people to him, and among those most loved by creation for his sake.

Honor us with seeing his noble face ﷺ, while he is pleased with us, in our dreams and our wakeful moments, in this world, in the grave, and the Hereafter.

Honor us, O our Lord, with complete and wide-reaching blessings, in our actions, intentions, provisions, movements, and in our places of rest.

Make the coming years of our lives rooted in faith and service to You.

Protect us from Shayṭān, from the self’s evil inclinations, and from the trials of this world.

Shield us from its deceptions and illusions, and from the tests of wealth, family, and other distractions. Protect us from destructive desires.

Guard us from hasty worldly ambitions, bad companions, and corrupt influences. Let all our renewed span of life be spent in what pleases You.

Whatever blessings You have granted, enable us to show gratitude. Make us cling to the firm rope of faith and be truthful with You in all pursuits.

Include with us in this du‘ā’ our children, our parents, our companions, and all our brothers and sisters in faith. Grant us strength that strengthens obedience to You.

Grant us the fulfillment of Your right in the manner You love and are pleased with. Give us a share in striving for Your service and consistent righteous deeds.

Open for us a clear opening in reflecting upon the Noble Qur’ān, and access to its secrets, and to embody proper etiquette when reciting its verses and listening to them.

Grant us, O our Lord, the memorisation of its words, and the preservation of its rights, in word and spirit. Make us responsive to its call, swift in acting upon it, eager to uphold its commands and avoid its prohibitions. Make us among the people of loyalty to it in truth.

Make the Qur’ān a witness for us before You, that we followed it sincerely and acted upon what it taught us, O Most Merciful of those who show mercy.

May Allah send blessings upon our Master Muḥammad, his family, and companions. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.