and from malignant diseases. The word asqām is the plural of suqm, meaning illness, and therefore covers every harmful sickness, including what is now known as cancer—may Allah grant us well-being—for it is among the most severe of maladies. A person should take care to memorize such narrations and model himself on the Prophet ﷺ in this regard. For example, the Prophet ﷺ used to seek refuge with Allah from hunger, declaring it “a wretched bedfellow,” and from treachery, for “it is a vile companion.” As I told you yesterday, no matter how many ḥadiths one merely recites, they soon dissipate; instead, one should copy them from this book onto separate pages, keep them for personal study, and commit them to memory little by little. Allah is the One who grants success.

1487 – ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn ⦗may Allah be pleased with him⦘ reported that the Prophet ﷺ taught his father, Ḥuṣayn, two phrases by which he would supplicate: “O Allah, inspire me with right guidance and protect me from the evil of my own soul.” Recorded by al-Tirmidhī, who graded it sound (ḥasan).

1488 – Abū al-Faḍl al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ⦗may Allah be pleased with him⦘ said: “I asked, ‘Messenger of Allah, teach me something I can ask Allah, the Exalted, for.’ He replied, ‘Ask Allah for well-being.’ After a few days I returned and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, teach me something I can ask Allah for.’ He said to me, ‘O ʿAbbās, uncle of the Messenger of Allah, ask Allah for well-being in this world.’”