Supplication...

Back in the days when I lived in the ME, I remember going to Makkah with my parents to perform the Umrah during the last few days of Ramadhan. As a kid, it was such an overwhelming experience to be in this sea of humanity, amongst people of all races, creeds and colours standing shoulder to shoulder praying and worshiping. Even more startling was the one instance when in the wee hours of the night, all of them raised their hands and gradually started crying. It was weird to see all these grown men cry and the fact that it was being done in unison also stirred my curiosity. I remember asking my dad after the prayers were over why all of them were crying and he said that they had finished the Quran for the month of Ramdhan and the maulvi sahab was making a combined dua (supplication) to God. So, fast forward 17-18 years and today at sehri time, a live transmission was coming on a Saudi channel on TV with the same happening. It invoked the same memory. Hundreds of thousands of people with hands raised in the air, saying Ameen after every dua the Imam (leading the prayer) makes and crying so heavily in the process. The dua was in Arabic obviously and so I couldn't quite make out what was actually being said. This time I couldn't let this nagging curiosity go un-checked. In comes youtube (zindabad). After some search I manage to find the same dua (from 2008 Ramadhan actually) but most importantly with English translation. It's 27 minutes long. Some of it towards the second half is quite politicized and some of it involves un-necessary glorification of the Saudi royal family (which is understandable coz the Imam gets his salary from the royal coffers afterall). However, the part(s) which involve direct Man to God supplications are so overwhelming that I couldn't help but shed tears. Even if I didn't understand the Arabic, just looking at the emotions these people express, when they raise their hands to God asking for forgiveness and salvation, in itself is quite emotionally overwhelming. I just thought that if I can share a good song when I hear one, I must also share any spiritually enhancing stuff as well. After all, it is the middle path (mayana rawi) that is said to be the most suitable one. So here you go. At your own risk: