It is by this method that we are made to understand the...

It is by this method that we are made to understand the meaning behind invoking benedictions on the Prophet of Allah, on His Messengers and Chosen Ones from His creation, and the manner of doing this.

It is thus that we can understand how we should do good towards our parents - the obligations of the father towards the son, and of the son towards the father, as well as the obligations towards one's relatives and neighbours, and the obligations of all Muslims in general obligations of the poor towards the rich, and vice versa.

We are warned about repaying our debts towards others, about how we should act in commerce and business, and about how we should cooperate with our relatives, friends and all people with their interests at heart. In this way, all the good qualities in man are brought out. These ad'iyah comprise a comprehensive system of instructions in the science of ethics.

By reciting them we can come to know how to show patience in the midst of hardships and difficulties, and how to face both sickness and health. They explain the duties of Islamic armies and their soldiers, and the duties of the people towards these soldiers, and many other things which are in accordance with the essence of Islam and the revealedshari'ah, and all this has been done only in the form of thedu'a'. The following themes are recurrent in the Sahifah, and are frequent.

a) A description of Allah and His Grandeur and Power and a description of His Oneness and Transcendence, couched in the most exact and scholarly terms. This theme occurs in almost all of thead'iyah in various styles and ways of expression. For instance, in the firstdu'a' we come across the following passage: All praise is due to Allah, the First before Whom no being preceded, and the Last after Whom will be no other.

Whom the eyes of those who see cannot perceive, and Whom our descriptive imagination cannot envisage. With His Power He brought Creation into being out of nothingness, and made His creatures totally subservient to His Will. In this passage, he has explained the exact nature of the eternity of Allah, and has set Him above the level at which sight and mind may encompass His Being and has referred to the true nature of the Creation of Allah.

In the sixthdu'a' the Power of Allah and His regulation of the universe are referred to in a different manner.