Buraida reported that when the Prophet entered the market he said, “In the name of God. O God, I ask Thee for the good of this market and the good of what it contains, and I seek refuge in Thee from its evil and the evil of what it contains. O God, I seek refuge in Thee lest I get a bad bargain in it.”
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said that at the battle of the Trench they asked God’s messenger whether there was anything they could repeat, for their hearts were in their mouths.* He replied that there was; they should say, “O God, cover our danger points(1) and give security from fears.” He said that God then sent a wind in the faces of His enemies and God routed them by the wind.
*Literally, ‘For the hearts had reached the windpipes.’
1. The word is 'aurat used in a similar prayer on p. 510. There it was translated 'faults'. Another meaning refers to places on a frontier, etc., which give openings to an enemy, and so are places where caution is necessary. This seems more suitable in the present context. Cf. Mirqat, iii, 134.
Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “Seek refuge in God from severe calamity, being overtaken by misery, (1) evil destiny, and the triumphant mockery of enemies.”
1. darak ash-shaqa. It might be translated “the depth of misery.” Cf. Qur’an, iv, 145 where the accepted reading is dark, although the word has also been read darak.
Anas told that when anything caused God’s messenger anxiety he would say, “O Living One, O Eternal One, in Thy mercy I seek help.”
Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a gharib tradition which is not committed to memory.*
*Laisa bi-mahfuz is used here. A tradition called mahfuz is one which is considered superior when compared with a shadhdh tradition (cf. p. xii).
