“The prayer of the paralytic” (Dua e Mashlool) دعاء المشلول
(This du-a’a known as “supplication of the youth stricken for his sin,” is quoted from the work of Kaf-ami and from Muhaj al Da-wat by Sayyid ibn Tawus)
Imam Husain (as) related that once on a cold, wintry night he accompanied his father Hazrat Ali (as) to the Sacred Mosque of the Kaaba and performed the circumambulations. The night was pitch dark and there was no one there except his father and himself. Everyone was asleep. Presently, they heard the mournful voice of someone reciting the following poem:
“O Thou that answereth the prayers of the disconsolate in the depth of darkness; O Thou that wardeth off the baneful influences of calamities and diseases. Lo, those who surrounded the Kaaba sleep and wake up; But Thou, Exalted be thy Name, never sleepest. Forgive me by the Grace of Thy Bounty and Thy Mercy. O Though towards whom all creation bows down in this Sanctuary! If Thy Mercy be not such as giveth hope to the transgressors, Then who is there to take pity on the sinners by His Bounty?”
Imam Husain (as) related the rest of the story:
My father sent me towards the man who was reciting these lines of poetry and I brought him with me into his presence. Hazrat Ali (as) asked his name and he said,
