Question:
The following is the Idrisi Tahlil. According to publications in the internet, the tahlil reads as follows:
لاَاِلَهَ اِلاّ اللهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللهِ فِي كُلِّ لَمْحَةٍ وَنَفَسٍ عَدَدَمَا وَسِعَهُ عِلْمُ اللهِ
I have a doubt about one word in the above tahlil. The word is نَفَسٍ
To my understanding it should be NAFSIN, not NAFASIN. I understand that the error might have been introduced while typing. I searched for such a word as given in the above tahlil; but my wider understanding is that it should be “nafsin”. Could you please comment and correct.
Was salam
Answer:
“Fi kulli lamhatin wa nafasin” means “in every glimpse of the eye and every breath”. To replace nafasin with nafsin would make it mean “in every glimpse of the eye and every soul” which, while still acceptable, removes the stylistic correspondence between the two senses (sight and breath) and does away with the figure of thought that conveys innumerability, as glimpses and breaths are virtually countless.
Transmission-wise we only know it as NAFASIN since this is how we received it:
1. From Sayyid Ahmad b. Idris b. Muhammad al-Sharif al-Idrisi, from his father, from King Idris al-Sanusi, from his father Muhammad al-Mahdi, from his father the Hafiz Muhammad b. `Ali al-Sanusi, from Imam Ahmad b. Idris, from Abu Muhammad `Abd al-Wahhab al-Tazi (1099-1206) (Allah sanctify their souls) who said:
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ صَلاةً كَامِلَةً وَسَلِّمْ سَلَاماً تَامّاً
عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ الَّذِي تَنْحَلُّ بِهِ الْعُقَدُ
وَتَنْفَرِجُ بِهِ الْكُرَبُ وَتُقْضَى بِهِ الْحَوَائِجُ
وَتُنَالُ بِهِ الرَّغَائِبُ وَحُسْنُ الخَوَاتِيمِ
وَيُسْتَسْقَى الْغَمَامُ بِوَجْهِهِ الْكَرِيمِ
وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ فِي كُلِّ لَـمْحَةٍ وَنَفَسٍ
بِعَدَدِ كُلِّ مَعْلُومٍ لَكَ
2. With the same chain but stopping at Imam Ahmad b. Idris, the following is related from him and is known as the Salat al-`Azimiyya and again the correct expression here is NAFASIN:
اللهم إني أسألك بنور وجه الله العظيم
الذي مَلَأَ أركان عرش الله العظيم
وقامت به عَوَالِمُ الله العظيم
أن تُصَلِّيَ على مولانا محمدٍ ذي القَدْر العظيم
وعلى آل نبي الله العظيم
بقدْر عَظَمَةِ ذاتِ الله العظيم
في كُلّ لمْحةٍ وَنَفَسٍ عَدَدَ ما في عِلْمِ الله العظيم
صلاةً دائمةً بِدَوَامِ الله العظيم
تعظيماً لِحَقِّك يا مولانا يا محمّدُ يا ذا الخُلُقِ العظيم
وسلِّم عليه وعلى آله مثلَ ذلك واجمعْ بيني وبينه كما جمعت بين الروح والنَّفْس
ظاهراً وباطناً يَقَظَةً ومناماً واجعلْه يا ربي روحاً لذاتي من جميع الوجوه في الدنيا قبل الآخرةِ يا عظيمُ
3. From Sayyid Yusuf b. Sayyid Hashim al-Rifa`i, from Sayyid Muhammad Makki al-Kattani, from Sayyid Ibrahim al-Rawi (1276-1365), as he recorded it in his book al-Sayr wal-Masa`i fi Akhbar al-Sayyid al-Ghawth al-Rifa`i, as that Salat is also narrated from Sayyid Ahmad al-Rifa`i (Allah sanctify his soul).
4. From Shaykh Munir al-hayik al-Himsi, from the Muhaddith Shaykh Ahmad b. Ahmad Ka`ka al-Himsi al-Naqshbandi (d. 1998CE) who used to teach hadith in the Nuri great mosque of Hims and would recite:
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ شَمْسِ الذَّاتِ الْأَحَدِيَّةِ، وَقَمَرِ الصِّفَاتِ الصَّمَدِيَّةِ، وَبُؤْبُؤِ عَيْنِ الْكَائِنَاتِ الْوُجُودِيَّةِ، وَمَهْبَطِ التَّجَلِّيَاتِ الْإِحْسَانِيَّةِ، وَرُوحِ جَسَدِ الْكَوْنَيْنِ، وَعَيْنِ حَيَاةِ الثَّقَلَيْنِ، وَمِنْهَا حَصَلَتِ النَّشْأَةُ الْآدَمِيَّةُ، وَمِنْهَا حَصَلَتِ الْخِلَّةُ الْإِبْرَاهِيمِيَّةُ، وَمِنْهَا حَصَلَتِ الْكَلِمَةُ المُوسَوِيَّةُ، وَمِنْهَا حَصَلَتِ الرُّوحُ الْعِيسَوِيَّةُ، وَمِنْهَا ظَهَرَتِ المَحَبَّةُ المُحَمَّدِيَّةُ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلِّمْ فِي كُلِّ لَمـْحَةٍ وَنَفَسٍ بِعَدَدِ كُلِّ مَعْلُومٍ لَكَ.
And Allah knows best.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
