• (Supplication of Yousuf Alihe Salam)You are my Protector in this Life and in the Hereafter 

Allah says that Yusuf (Joseph, peace be upon him) said, which means,

“You are my Wali (Protector, Helper, Supporter, Guardian, etc.) in this world and in the Hereafter, cause me to die as a Muslim (the one submitting to Your Will), and join me with the righteous.” (Yusuf, 12: 101)

أَنتَ وَلِيِّي فِي الدُّنُيَا وَالآخِرَةِ تَوَفَّنِي مُسْلِمًا وَأَلْحِقْنِي بِالصَّالِحِينَ

Anta waliyyee fid-dunya wal-akhirati tawaffanee musliman waalhiqnee bissaliheen (Yusuf, 12: 101)

This    supplication    combined    the    acknowledgment    of monotheism, submission to Allah, showing one’s need for Him, being free of taking any supporters other than Him, expressing that dying while being a Muslim is the greatest aim of any servant. This entails acknowledging that we are in the hands ofAllah and not in the hands of any servant, confessing the truth of the Resurrection, and asking to join with the righteous.

The below is take from Tafseer Ibn Kathir:

Yusuf begs Allah to die as A Muslim

This is the invocation of Yusuf, the truthful one, to his Lord the Exalted and Most Honored. He invoked Allah after His favor was complete on him by being reunited with his parents and brothers, after He had bestowed on him prophethood and kingship. He begged his Lord the Exalted and Ever High, that as He has perfected His bounty on him in this life, to continue it until the Hereafter. He begged Him that, when he dies, he dies as a Muslim, as Ad-Dahhak said, and to join him with the ranks of the righteous, with his brethren the Prophets and Messengers, may Allah’s peace and blessings be on them all. It is possible that Yusuf, peace be upon him, said this supplication while dying.

In the Two Sahihs it is recorded that `A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said that while dying, the Messenger of Allah was raising his finger and said – thrice, ثَلَاثًا (O Allah to Ar-Rafiq Al-A`la ﴿the uppermost, highest company in heaven﴾.) It is also possible that long before he died, Yusuf begged Allah to die as a Muslim and be joined with the ranks of the righteous.

• The Complain of the Ignorant,

source : Al Fawaid (taken from the English translation of the book) p. 134

The ignorant people complain to people about Allaah, and this is the highest degree of ignorance, for if he had known his Lord, he would not have complained about Him, and if he had known the people he would not have complained to them.

One of the predecessors saw a man complaining to another man about his poverty and dire necessity. He said to him, ‘O you! By Allaah, you have done nothing but complain about He who has mercy for you, to the one who has no mercy for you’.

The following verses have been mentioned about the meaning of the previous statement of the predecessor.

When you complain to a son of Adam

verily you complain about the Most Merciful

to the one who does not pity.

On the contrary, the person who is profoundly knowledgeable about Allaah complains to Allaah alone. And the most knowledgeable person about Allaah is the one who complains about himself to Allaah, and never to people. He complains about the causes that make people do wrong to him, for he knows about the following Qur’anic verses,

‘And whatever of misfortune befalls you it is because of what your hands have earned. And He pardons much’

(Ash-Shura, 42: 30)

‘Whatever of good reaches you, is from Allaah but whatever of evil befalls you, is from yourself.’

(An-Nisa, 4: 79)

‘(What is the matter with you?). When a single disaster smites you, although you smote (your enemies) with one twice as great, you say: ‘From where does this come to us?’ Say (to them), ‘It is from yourselves (because of your evil deeds). ‘And Allaah has power over all things.

(Al-Imran, 3: 165)

Therefore, there are three levels: the lowest one is to complain about Allaah to his creatures, the highest one is to complain about yourself to Him and the middle one is to complain about His creatures to Him. May Allaah make us from those who complain to Him alone about ourselves, He the Majestic and Most High, Ameen.

• The Best Kind of Remembrance Heart & Tongue  

Source: Al-Fawaaid – A COLLECTION OF WISE SAYINGS – Imam Ibn AI-Qayyim,
Rendered into English by: Bayan Translation Services

Among those who remember Allah are those who begin remembering with the tongue even if he is negligent. He continues to do so until his heart is involved too.

Others do not agree with that and do not start while in a state of negligence, but instead wait until the heart is ready. He begins with his heart and then involves his tongue in remembrance. The first supplication goes from his tongue to his heart and the second from his heart to his tongue without empting any of the contents of his heart. He just waits until he feels that the utterance is ready to be verbalized. When he feels that his heart will utter! then the heart’s utterance would pass to verbal utterance. Then he would engross himself in that until he finds that every part of his being is supplicating Allah.

The best and more useful kind of supplication is what the heart and tongue are involved in, to be from among the prophetic supplications, and whoever is reciting it feels its meaning and aims.

*Note! Source Al-Fawwaid