WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.250 --> 00:00:03.182 Most people learn a long du'a the same way. 2 00:00:03.182 --> 00:00:04.409 Start at line one. 3 00:00:04.409 --> 00:00:05.091 Repeat it. 4 00:00:05.091 --> 00:00:06.250 Move to line two. 5 00:00:06.250 --> 00:00:10.546 And a week later, it's a blur of beautiful words with no shape. 6 00:00:11.396 --> 00:00:13.976 So today we're going to do it differently. 7 00:00:13.976 --> 00:00:19.627 We'll learn Du'a Makarim al-Akhlaq, the Supplication for Noble Character, big picture first. 8 00:00:19.627 --> 00:00:22.083 By the end, you won't just have read it. 9 00:00:22.083 --> 00:00:24.356 You'll have a map of it in your head. 10 00:00:25.206 --> 00:00:27.668 Here's why line by line doesn't work. 11 00:00:27.668 --> 00:00:31.527 In a list, each line is only linked to the line before it. 12 00:00:31.527 --> 00:00:34.854 Lose one link, and everything after it falls away. 13 00:00:35.704 --> 00:00:42.094 When you understand the structure, what each part is for and how the parts connect, every line has many hooks. 14 00:00:42.094 --> 00:00:43.662 That's what makes it stick. 15 00:00:43.662 --> 00:00:45.928 And it's also what makes it meaningful. 16 00:00:46.778 --> 00:00:49.519 So our order today is: big picture first. 17 00:00:49.519 --> 00:00:50.922 Then the main chunks. 18 00:00:50.922 --> 00:00:53.663 Then the patterns that tie them together. 19 00:00:53.663 --> 00:00:54.866 Details come last. 20 00:00:55.716 --> 00:00:56.813 Quick context. 21 00:00:56.813 --> 00:01:05.351 This is supplication twenty in al-Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya, attributed to Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn, Zayn al-Abidin. 22 00:01:05.351 --> 00:01:09.972 The page we're working from takes it from Mafatih al-Jinan. 23 00:01:10.822 --> 00:01:12.678 The title tells you the goal. 24 00:01:12.678 --> 00:01:16.262 Makarim al-Akhlaq means the noblest traits of character. 25 00:01:16.262 --> 00:01:23.302 So before you read anything, ask yourself: if I wanted to build noble character, what would I need to ask for? 26 00:01:23.302 --> 00:01:25.350 Pause, and jot down your answer. 27 00:01:25.350 --> 00:01:27.142 We'll compare it at the end. 28 00:01:31.492 --> 00:01:32.928 Here's the big picture. 29 00:01:32.928 --> 00:01:37.300 The du'a builds character from the inside out, like rings on a target. 30 00:01:38.150 --> 00:01:43.574 At the centre is the core: faith, certainty, intention, and action. 31 00:01:44.424 --> 00:01:50.424 Around that is the self: the ego, and the traits that either grow or rot inside us. 32 00:01:51.274 --> 00:01:54.900 Then other people: enemies, relatives, companions. 33 00:01:54.900 --> 00:01:57.874 How we treat them, and how they treat us. 34 00:01:58.724 --> 00:02:03.716 Then the world: wealth, provision, need, and who we depend on. 35 00:02:04.566 --> 00:02:11.358 And around everything is the end: time, age, and how a life is finally sealed. 36 00:02:12.208 --> 00:02:16.175 The du'a doesn't walk through these in a straight line. 37 00:02:16.175 --> 00:02:17.329 It circles back. 38 00:02:17.329 --> 00:02:20.646 But every passage lands in one of these rings. 39 00:02:20.646 --> 00:02:26.344 So if you remember nothing else, remember this: core, self, others, world, end. 40 00:02:27.194 --> 00:02:28.562 Start at the centre. 41 00:02:28.562 --> 00:02:40.946 The opening asks God to bring four things to their best: faith to its most complete, certainty to its finest, intention to the best of intentions, and action to the best of actions. 42 00:02:41.796 --> 00:02:42.964 Notice the order. 43 00:02:42.964 --> 00:02:44.613 Faith becomes certainty. 44 00:02:44.613 --> 00:02:46.469 Certainty shapes intention. 45 00:02:46.469 --> 00:02:48.118 Intention drives action. 46 00:02:48.118 --> 00:02:51.348 It's a chain from the invisible to the visible. 47 00:02:52.198 --> 00:02:58.737 And straight away, it admits the chain is damaged: repair, by Your power, what is corrupt in me. 48 00:02:58.737 --> 00:03:00.917 So the du'a starts with honesty. 49 00:03:00.917 --> 00:03:02.348 It isn't a wish list. 50 00:03:02.348 --> 00:03:03.574 It's a repair job. 51 00:03:04.424 --> 00:03:05.880 Then it asks for focus. 52 00:03:05.880 --> 00:03:07.590 Spare me what distracts me. 53 00:03:07.590 --> 00:03:10.439 Use me for what I'll be asked about tomorrow. 54 00:03:10.439 --> 00:03:12.972 Spend my days on what I was created for. 55 00:03:12.972 --> 00:03:16.328 Core values first, then where the time actually goes. 56 00:03:17.178 --> 00:03:18.872 Now the first big pattern. 57 00:03:18.872 --> 00:03:26.106 Watch how the du'a asks for something good: honour, worship, the chance to do good for people, noble character. 58 00:03:26.956 --> 00:03:30.537 And then, in the same breath, it guards each one. 59 00:03:30.537 --> 00:03:32.365 Honour, but no arrogance. 60 00:03:32.365 --> 00:03:34.704 Worship, but no self-admiration. 61 00:03:34.704 --> 00:03:38.577 Doing good, but never ruining it by reminding people. 62 00:03:38.577 --> 00:03:40.989 Noble character, but no boasting. 63 00:03:40.989 --> 00:03:43.036 Every blessing has a shadow. 64 00:03:43.886 --> 00:03:46.048 Then comes the most striking line. 65 00:03:46.048 --> 00:03:51.772 Don't raise me one degree among people without lowering me the same degree in my own eyes. 66 00:03:51.772 --> 00:03:56.414 Don't give me outward honour without an inward humility of the same size. 67 00:03:57.264 --> 00:04:00.589 That's pattern one: every gift comes with a counterweight. 68 00:04:00.589 --> 00:04:06.552 Once you see it, you'll spot it all through the du'a, and you'll start noticing it in your own life too. 69 00:04:07.402 --> 00:04:08.908 Still in the self ring. 70 00:04:08.908 --> 00:04:15.586 The du'a asks for guidance it won't swap, a path it won't drift from, and an intention it won't doubt. 71 00:04:16.436 --> 00:04:18.767 Then a sobering request about time. 72 00:04:18.767 --> 00:04:22.363 Give me long life, as long as it's spent in obedience. 73 00:04:22.363 --> 00:04:27.092 But if my life becomes a grazing ground for Satan, take me before that. 74 00:04:27.942 --> 00:04:29.553 And then a full self-audit. 75 00:04:29.553 --> 00:04:38.742 Leave no flaw in me that You don't fix, no fault I'm blamed for that You don't make good, and no noble trait that's half-finished that You don't complete. 76 00:04:39.592 --> 00:04:40.497 Try this now. 77 00:04:40.497 --> 00:04:45.440 Name one flaw, one fault, and one half-finished good trait in yourself. 78 00:04:45.440 --> 00:04:48.016 That's the du'a turned into a mirror. 79 00:04:52.366 --> 00:04:55.383 Now the second big pattern: transformation. 80 00:04:55.383 --> 00:04:58.611 The du'a doesn't just ask to avoid bad things. 81 00:04:58.611 --> 00:05:02.401 It asks for each one to be replaced with its opposite. 82 00:05:02.401 --> 00:05:03.594 Hatred into love. 83 00:05:03.594 --> 00:05:04.997 Envy into affection. 84 00:05:04.997 --> 00:05:06.190 Fear into safety. 85 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:08.820 Look at who's on the left. 86 00:05:08.820 --> 00:05:09.711 Enemies, yes. 87 00:05:09.711 --> 00:05:14.983 But also family, close relatives, even good people who are suspicious of you. 88 00:05:14.983 --> 00:05:16.011 It's realistic. 89 00:05:16.011 --> 00:05:19.640 The hardest relationships are often the closest ones. 90 00:05:20.490 --> 00:05:21.988 Then there's protection. 91 00:05:21.988 --> 00:05:24.047 A hand against whoever wrongs me. 92 00:05:24.047 --> 00:05:26.543 A tongue against whoever argues with me. 93 00:05:26.543 --> 00:05:28.602 Safety from whoever threatens me. 94 00:05:28.602 --> 00:05:29.850 Strength is allowed. 95 00:05:30.700 --> 00:05:32.752 But then the du'a climbs higher. 96 00:05:32.752 --> 00:05:43.783 Guide me to answer deceit with sincere advice, desertion with kindness, deprivation with giving, being cut off with keeping ties, and backbiting with speaking well of them. 97 00:05:43.783 --> 00:05:46.156 Thank the good, and overlook the bad. 98 00:05:47.006 --> 00:05:49.620 So in relationships there are two levels. 99 00:05:49.620 --> 00:05:54.592 Being protected from harm, and then rising above it by returning good for bad. 100 00:05:54.592 --> 00:05:57.206 You need both to understand this section. 101 00:05:58.056 --> 00:06:01.718 Next comes a long list: the adornment of the righteous. 102 00:06:01.718 --> 00:06:07.777 This is where most people's memory collapses, because it's just item after item after item. 103 00:06:07.777 --> 00:06:08.976 So let's chunk it. 104 00:06:09.826 --> 00:06:12.479 Five chunks instead of twenty items. 105 00:06:12.479 --> 00:06:13.437 Peace-making. 106 00:06:13.437 --> 00:06:16.016 Showing kindness and hiding faults. 107 00:06:16.016 --> 00:06:16.679 Softness. 108 00:06:16.679 --> 00:06:17.490 Initiative. 109 00:06:17.490 --> 00:06:19.406 And honesty with yourself. 110 00:06:19.406 --> 00:06:21.322 Now every item has a home. 111 00:06:22.172 --> 00:06:29.028 And notice the very last one loops back to pattern one: see your own good as small, even when it's large. 112 00:06:29.028 --> 00:06:31.052 That's the counterweight again. 113 00:06:31.902 --> 00:06:33.129 Now the world ring. 114 00:06:33.129 --> 00:06:38.942 The du'a asks for the widest provision when I'm old, and the most strength when I'm tired. 115 00:06:38.942 --> 00:06:40.686 And no laziness in worship. 116 00:06:41.536 --> 00:06:43.524 Then a key theme: dependence. 117 00:06:43.524 --> 00:06:45.992 Let me turn to You when I'm in need. 118 00:06:45.992 --> 00:06:53.464 And don't test me by making me lean on others, humble myself before others, or plead to anyone less than You. 119 00:06:54.314 --> 00:06:57.050 Later it gets very practical about money. 120 00:06:57.050 --> 00:06:58.517 Protect me from waste. 121 00:06:58.517 --> 00:07:00.452 Guard my provision from loss. 122 00:07:00.452 --> 00:07:04.055 Provide for me without my being consumed by the chase. 123 00:07:04.055 --> 00:07:10.994 And keep my dignity, so I'm not begging from people, praising whoever gives and blaming whoever refuses. 124 00:07:11.844 --> 00:07:13.703 See the link back to the core? 125 00:07:13.703 --> 00:07:18.226 If you depend on people, your emotions follow whoever gives or withholds. 126 00:07:18.226 --> 00:07:23.244 The du'a points your dependence in one direction, so your character stays steady. 127 00:07:24.094 --> 00:07:32.852 And one line sums up the balance: health with worship, free time with detachment, knowledge with practice, and piety with moderation. 128 00:07:32.852 --> 00:07:36.211 Every good thing, paired with what keeps it useful. 129 00:07:36.211 --> 00:07:37.462 Pattern one, again. 130 00:07:38.312 --> 00:07:42.348 The transformation pattern comes back for the inner world. 131 00:07:42.348 --> 00:07:52.160 Whatever Satan throws into my mind, wishful fantasies, suspicion, envy, turn it into remembering Your greatness and reflecting on Your power. 132 00:07:53.010 --> 00:08:01.722 And whatever slips onto my tongue, obscenity, insults, false testimony, backbiting, turn it into praise and gratitude. 133 00:08:02.572 --> 00:08:04.200 This is useful psychology. 134 00:08:04.200 --> 00:08:06.329 You can't just delete a bad habit. 135 00:08:06.329 --> 00:08:07.331 You redirect it. 136 00:08:07.331 --> 00:08:10.588 And the du'a gives you the replacement for each one. 137 00:08:11.438 --> 00:08:13.344 Then we reach the emotional centre. 138 00:08:13.344 --> 00:08:16.230 Let me not be wronged while You're able to defend me. 139 00:08:16.230 --> 00:08:19.334 And let me not wrong others while You're able to stop me. 140 00:08:20.184 --> 00:08:21.087 And then this. 141 00:08:21.087 --> 00:08:23.151 To Your forgiveness I have come. 142 00:08:23.151 --> 00:08:29.214 I have nothing that earns Your forgiveness, and nothing in my deeds that deserves Your pardon. 143 00:08:29.214 --> 00:08:32.568 After judging myself, all I have left is Your grace. 144 00:08:33.418 --> 00:08:35.920 That's the counterweight at its deepest. 145 00:08:35.920 --> 00:08:41.362 All this talk of noble character, and the person asking claims none of it as their own. 146 00:08:42.212 --> 00:08:43.683 Finally, the end ring. 147 00:08:43.683 --> 00:08:45.689 Seal my life with Your pardon. 148 00:08:45.689 --> 00:08:48.162 Make my hope in Your mercy come true. 149 00:08:48.162 --> 00:08:50.636 Make the paths to Your pleasure easy. 150 00:08:51.486 --> 00:08:54.211 Wake me to remember You when I'm heedless. 151 00:08:54.211 --> 00:08:56.936 Use me in obedience in the days I'm given. 152 00:08:56.936 --> 00:09:07.446 And it closes by sending blessings on Muhammad and his family, with the familiar request: good in this world, good in the hereafter, and protection from the Fire. 153 00:09:08.296 --> 00:09:10.665 Let's put it all together. 154 00:09:10.665 --> 00:09:14.584 Five rings: core, self, others, world, end. 155 00:09:15.434 --> 00:09:18.125 Two patterns running through all of them. 156 00:09:18.125 --> 00:09:21.078 Pattern one: every gift gets a counterweight. 157 00:09:21.078 --> 00:09:25.082 Pattern two: every negative is transformed into its opposite. 158 00:09:25.932 --> 00:09:29.298 And one thread holding everything together: humility. 159 00:09:29.298 --> 00:09:30.759 Lowered in my own eyes. 160 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:32.156 My good seen as small. 161 00:09:32.156 --> 00:09:34.951 Nothing that earns forgiveness except grace. 162 00:09:34.951 --> 00:09:38.381 Now compare this to the answer you wrote at the start. 163 00:09:38.381 --> 00:09:39.524 What did you miss? 164 00:09:39.524 --> 00:09:42.636 What did the du'a include that you didn't expect? 165 00:09:43.486 --> 00:09:45.959 Here's how to actually learn it this week. 166 00:09:45.959 --> 00:09:49.257 One: before you read, sketch the five rings from memory. 167 00:09:49.257 --> 00:09:54.262 That's priming, which just means giving your brain a structure to hang new things on. 168 00:09:55.112 --> 00:10:01.1000 Two: read it once through, and for each passage, ask: which ring is this, and which pattern? 169 00:10:02.850 --> 00:10:05.236 Three: draw arrows between the rings. 170 00:10:05.236 --> 00:10:08.782 Where does a line about money connect back to the core? 171 00:10:08.782 --> 00:10:11.490 Those links are where understanding lives. 172 00:10:12.340 --> 00:10:15.368 Four: pick one transformation pair a day. 173 00:10:15.368 --> 00:10:17.509 Say, desertion into kindness. 174 00:10:17.509 --> 00:10:19.060 And actually live it. 175 00:10:19.910 --> 00:10:22.655 Five: review the map, not the list. 176 00:10:22.655 --> 00:10:25.478 Try to rebuild it from a blank page. 177 00:10:26.328 --> 00:10:30.621 If you can redraw this map from scratch, you've understood the du'a. 178 00:10:30.621 --> 00:10:35.104 And once you understand it, reciting it stops being a string of sounds. 179 00:10:35.104 --> 00:10:36.745 It becomes a conversation. 180 00:10:36.745 --> 00:10:40.344 So close this video, grab a blank page, and draw the map.