The istikhāra prayer is the prayer which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught us to make when we were faced with a decision. But what if we do not have a specific decision to make? Is there a method of performing the istikhāra with a general intention of guidance in all decisions and matters for that day? The answer is yes, and many of the people of Allah would appoint a particular time each day to do this. Sheikh al-Akbar Ibn al-Arabi teaches us one particular method and supplication.
Al-Sheikh al-Akbar (Allah be pleased with him) said:
“The people of Allah Most High should perform the prayer of istikhāra every day at a set time which they appoint during the morning or evening. When they make the supplication after the salām, (i.e. after the two units of istikhāra prayer), they say:
O Allah, I seek guidance from you through Your knowledge. And I seek ability from You through Your power. And I ask You from your immense bounty. Indeed, You have power and I am powerless. You have knowledge and I do not know. And You are the Knower of the unseen.
O Allah, if you know that everything I will be undertaking concerning myself and concerning others; and everything others will be undertaking concerning me, concerning my family, children, and whatever I possess; is good for me in my religion and my dunya – in my immediate affairs and those in the future – from this very moment I am in until the same time tomorrow; then make it easy for me, decree it for me, and make me content with it.
And if You know that everything I will be undertaking concerning myself and concerning others; and everything others will be undertaking concerning me, concerning my family, children, and whatever I possess – from this very moment I am in until the same time tomorrow – is bad for me in my religion and my dunya, in my immediate affairs and those in the future; then divert it from me and divert me from it, and decree good for me wherever it may be, and make me content with it.
اَللّهُمَّ إِني أَسْتَخِيرُكَ بِعِلْمِكَ
وَأَسْتَقْدِرُكَ بِقُدْرَتِكَ
وَأَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ فَضْلِكَ الْعَظيم
فَإنَّكَ تَقْدِرُ وَلاَ أَقْدِرُ
وَتَعْلَمُ وَلاَ أَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتَ عَلاَّمُ الْغُيوب
اللّهُمَّ إنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أنَّ جَمِيعَ ما أَتَحَرَّكُ فِيه فِي حَقِّي وَفِي حَقِّ غَيرِي
وَجَمِيعَ ما يَتَحَرَّكُ فِيه غَيرِي فِي حَقِّي وفي حقِّ أَهْلِي وَوَلَدِي وَما مَلَكَتْ يَمِينِي
خَيْرٌ لِي فِي دِينِي وَدُنْيايَ وَعاجِلِ أَمْرِي وَآجِلِهِ مِنْ ساعَتِي هٰذِهِ إِلَى مِثْلِها مِنَ الْيَومِ الْآخِرِ فَيَسِّرْهُ لِي وَاقْدُرْهُ لِي وَرَضِّنِي بِهِ
وَ إنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ جَمِيعَ مَا أَتَحَرَّكُ فِيهِ فِي حَقِّي وَفِي حَقِّ غَيْرِي
وَجَمِيعَ مَا يَتَحَرَّكُ فِيهِ غَيرِي فِي حَقِّي وَفِي حَقِّ أَهْلِي وَوَلَدِي وَمَا مَلَكَتْ يَمِينِي
مِنْ سَاعَتِي هٰذِهِ إلَى مِثْلِهَا مِنَ الْيَوْمِ اْلآخِرِ
شَرٌّ لِي فِي دِينِي وَدُنْيَايَ وَعَاجِلِ أَمْرِي وَ آجِلِهِ
فَاصْرِفْهُ عَنِّي وَاصْرِفْنِي عَنْهُ
وَاقْدُرْ لِيَ الْخَيْرَ حَيْثُ كَانَ ثُمَّ رَضِّنِي بِهِ
The Sheikh (Ibn Arabi) then said, “So if he does that, he will not undertake anything, nor will anything be undertaken (by others) in respect to him, except that there will be unquestionable good in that thing, whether through doing it or leaving it. And I have tried and tested this.”
Sheikh Abdullah Sirāj al-Din comments on this, “So it is necessary for you, my brother, to appoint a specific time at the start of the day, or after Zuhr, or after Maghrib, or after Isha, to perform the two units of istikhāra prayer followed by recitation of the aforementioned supplication. And you must consistently do that every single day, for indeed, there is great good in it.”1
A jpeg image of the dua can be downloaded here.
1] Sheikh Abdullah Sirāj al-Dīn, al-Salat fi al-Islam (121-122)
Orthodox Muslim 