FIRST ZIYARAH

Shaykh al-Mufid, al-Shahid, Sayyid Ibn Tawus, and others have mentioned the following form of Ziyarah:

As you are determined to visit the tomb of Imam ‘Ali (‘a), you should bathe yourself, put on two clean pieces of dress, and use a perfume, even though it is acceptable without it. While you are about to leave your house, you may say the following:

You may then proceed, extolling Almighty Allah with the following doxology (zikr):

Once you reach the trench of al-Kufah, you may stop there and say the following words:

Once your eyes fall on the holy dome, say these words:

As soon as the sight of the za’ir, especially the learnt and righteous, falls on the luminous dome of Imam ‘Ali’s holy shrine, he/she feels active and delightful; and love and loyalty begins arousing in his heart, making he/her try to turn to the Imam (‘a) with full heart and to praise and commend him in all languages and styles, and to find suitable poetic verses through which he/she can express his/her actual feelings. I therefore deem suitable to cite the following poetic verses excerpted from the famous poem of al-Azri, hoping that the gentle za’ir, being at this situation, will convey my greetings to the owner of that dome and will not exclude from those for whom he prays:

When you reach at the fortress of Najaf (hisn al-najaf), you may say the following words:

You may then enter the city, saying:

When you reach at the first doorstep, you may say the following:

You may then stop at the gate of the courtyard, saying the following:

You may then enter the courtyard of the holy shrine and say the following words:

You may then walk until you stop at the door of the portico and say the following words:

You may then enter the portico with your right foot, stop at the door of the dome, and say these words:

You may then kiss the doorstep and enter there with your right foot, saying the following:

You may then walk until you face and become opposite to the holy tomb. You may stop there before reaching the tomb, and say the following:

You may then draw near the tomb, face it, make the kiblah direction behind you, and say the following words:

You may then kiss the tomb from the head’s side and say the following words:

You may then kiss the tomb, face the tomb of Imam al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali (‘a), make the kiblah direction seem to be between your shoulders, and say the following words:

You may then move to the side of the feet and say the following words:

You may then say the following:

You may then return to your place at the side of the head for visiting Prophet Adam and Prophet Noah, peace be upon them. Visiting Prophet Adam, you may say the following:

Visiting Prophet Noah, you may say the following words:

You may then offer a six unit prayer. In the first two units, which are intended for visiting the tomb of Imam ‘Ali Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a), you may recite Surah al-Fatihah and Surah al-Rahman (No. 55) at the first unit, and recite Surah al-Fatihah and Surah Yasin (No. 36) in the second. When you say the tashahhud and taslim statements, you may then say the famous Tasbih al-Zahra’ litany, implore for Almighty Allah’s forgiveness (i.e. istighfar), pray Him to grant you your personal needs, and then say the following words:

You may then provide the other four units as present to Prophet Adam and Prophet Noah.

You may then prostrate yourself for thanksgiving (sajdat al-shukr) and say the following words:

You may then put your right cheek on the ground and say the following words:

You may then put your left cheek on the ground and say the following words:

You may then return to the state of ordinary prostration and repeat the following word one hundred times:

You are recommended to pray Almighty Allah as earnestly as possible, because the place you are in is the zone of granting requests. You are also recommended to implore Almighty Allah for forgiveness as sincerely as possible, because the place you are in is the zone of forgiveness. You are recommended to beseech Almighty Allah for settling your needs as seriously as possible, because the place you are in is the zone of responding to the needs.