Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, and to Allah belongs all praise. There is no god but Allah alone, He has no partner; to Him belongs the dominion and to Him belongs all praise. O Allah, guide me with guidance, protect me with piety, and forgive me in the Hereafter and the first life." He then lowers his hands and remains silent for the duration (5) of time it takes for a person to recite the Opening Chapter (al-Fatihah), then he returns to raising his hands and says the like of that. He continued to do so until he departed. Sufyan ibn Uyaynah was asked about the best supplication on the day of Arafah, and he said: "There is no god but Allah alone, He has no partner; to Him belongs the dominion and to Him belongs all praise, and He is over all things omnipotent." It was said to him, "This is praise, not a supplication." He replied: "Have you not heard the saying of the poet (6):
Shall I mention my need, or has your modesty sufficed me? Indeed, your nature is modesty.
If a person praises you one day, that praise suffices him from having to ask."
It is reported that (7) among the supplications of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) at Arafah was: "O Allah, You see my place, hear my speech, and know (8) my secret and my openness, and nothing of my affair is hidden from You. I am the miserable, the poor, the one who seeks aid and sanctuary, the fearful, the apprehensive, the one who admits and confesses his sin. I ask You as the destitute asks, and I implore You as the lowly sinner implores, and I call upon You as the fearful, distressed one calls, whose neck has bowed to You, whose body has humbled itself to You, whose eye has shed tears for You, and whose nose has been rubbed in the dust (9) for You" (10). We have also narrated from Sufyan al-Thawri that he said: I heard a Bedouin, while lying down at Arafah, saying: "My God, who is more entitled to error and shortcoming (11) than I, for You created me weak? And who is more entitled to forgive me than You, when Your knowledge regarding me is antecedent, and Your command over me is encompassing? I obeyed You by Your permission and the favor belongs to You, and I disobeyed You by Your knowledge and the argument belongs to You. So I ask You by the necessity of Your argument and the breaking of
(5) In A, B, and M: "ka-qadri" (the duration of). (6) He is Umayyah ibn Abi al-Salt, from a poem in which he praises Abdullah ibn Jud'an. Both verses are in: Al-Ishtiqaq 143, and Al-Aghani 8/328. The first verse is in: Tabaqat Fuhul al-Shu'ara 1/265. (7) Omitted from: B, M. (8) In the original: "wa-tasma'u" (and You hear). (9) Ragham: (with any of the three vowel sounds for the ghayn): meaning humiliation. (10) Cited by al-Haythami, in: The Chapter on Departing to Mina and Arafah, from the Book of Hajj. Majma' al-Zawa'id 3/252. He attributed it to al-Tabarani in al-Kabir and al-Saghir. (11) In the original: "wa-bil-taqsir" (and with shortcomings).
