TREATMENT OF THE SICK BY REASSURANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT
Assalamu'alaikum wbt,
Munajat (Arabic) - Sami Yusuf
Wahdi fi dhulmati layli Fi wahshati darbi Hammi yuthqiluni Dhanbi yu'limuni Alone, in the darkness of my night In the loneliness of my path My worries weigh me down My sins pain me
Wahdi, ad'uka wa arju Min dhanbi ashku Mali siwak Ana fi himak Alone, I supplicate to You and I hope From my sins I complain I have no one but You I am at Your door
CHORUS: Farham 'abdan najak Ya Allah, ya Allah Anta alraja Minka alhuda Ya Allah, ya Allah So forgive a servant who intimately calls You O Allah, O Allah You are all hope, From You is guidance O Allah, O Allah
Rabbahu hudak Ma ziltu asir Wa'alal 'isyan Ma 'udtu qadir Fa'anir durubi Waghfir dhunubi Fa'anal faqir O Allah give me your guidance For I am still imprisoned Of disobedience I am no longer capable So illuminate my paths and forgive my sins For I am poor and in need of You Qad 'adal qalbu Fiddarbi yasir Farihan mushtaqan Lillahi yatir Wa rajahu ridhaka Yawma liqaka Antal qadir My heart has returned to walk on the path Full of joy and longing, flying to God And its only hope is gaining your pleasure On the day of meeting You You are the Omnipotent
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Taken from Medicine of The Prophet (Tibb an-Nabawi)by Ibnu Qayyim Al-Jauziyya, Chapter 23, page 88, published by Islamic Text Society.
Treatment of the Sick by Reassurance and Encouragement
Ibn Maja relates in his Sunan, from a hadith of Abu Said Al-Khudri, that the Messenger of God s.a.w. said: 'When you go in to a sick person, reassure him concerning his appointed life-span; for that does not contradict the decree, and it sets the patient's mind at ease.'
This hadith contains one of the most noble of all kinds of treatment. This is guidance to whatever will invigorate the soul of the patient, through words which will strengthen his constitution, revive his strength and increase his innate heat. The soul and the innate heat will assist each other to repel or alleviate the illness, which is the aim of the physician.
Giving joy to the patient's soul, and bringing pleasure to his heart and whatever will make him happy will have a wonderful effect in curing and alleviating his illness. For the vital spirits and the faculties grow strong thereby and they assist the constitution in repelling harmful agent. People have seen the faculties of many of the sick revived at the visit of one whom they love and hold in respect, by seeing such people, by the gracious treatment they are given and their talking with them. That is one of the advantages of visiting the sick. Visiting the sick has four kinds of advantages, one that returns to the patient, one to the person who visits, one to the family of the patient, one to people in general.
It has already been mentioned, concerning the guidance of the Prophet s.a.w, that he used to enquire of the patient what was his trouble and how he felt. He would ask him about what he desired, and would place his hand on his forehead, and sometimes place it at the centre of his chest. He would make supplication for him, and would prescribe for him what would benefit him in his illness. Sometimes he would say to the patient: 'No harm shall come to you, only purification, by the Will of God.' That is the most perfect of treatment, courtesy and consolation.