Forgetfulness Remedy: Dua and Dhikr in Sufism
There is a form of forgetting that is not merely losing the keys. It is the servant who cannot remember why his heart feels far; who stands in prayer and finds the day’s ledger opening in front of him; who knows the words of the remembrance but cannot locate their taste. The classical books of spiritual medicine filed this complaint under a chapter heading, and the Al-Jawahir al-Khamsa — the Five Jewels of al-Attar, whose remedy chapters this series is reading — preserves one such chapter: for the one overcome by forgetfulness. What it offers is a forgetfulness remedy of the ordinary Sufi kind: a short formula of divine names, a continuity with the longer du’a this series met in post 113, and an ethic of regular wird and presence of heart. As everywhere in this series, dua and dhikr complement medicine and lawful effort; nothing here is a guaranteed cure, and the Shariah’s limits govern every practice below.
Forgetfulness in the Sufi Diagnosis
In the Sufi vocabulary, forgetfulness (nisyan) is not a cognitive accident but a condition of the heart. The heart was made to remember Allah, and its default gravity is toward remembrance; when the servant forgets, the tradition reads the lapse as a veil lying between the heart and its Lord, not as a verdict on his worth. The diagnosis matters practically, because it determines where the remedy is aimed. A problem of technique is answered with technique; a veiled heart is answered by lifting the veil — by remembrance, repentance and the company of the people of remembrance, not by self-flagellation.
The book’s chapter heading pairs forgetfulness with its frequent companion: the text treats the one overcome by forgetfulness together with the whispering of the devil that attends him. Readers of this series recognise the pairing from intrusive thoughts and waswasah, where the same book devotes a chapter to the khawatir — the uninvited thoughts that storm the heart during worship. The two chapters treat one soil from two angles: one clears the intrusive traffic, the other restores the direction of attention. Both rest on the Qur’anic anchor the series has carried — by the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest (13:28) — and both end in the same place: a regular, attended dhikr that gives the heart something truer than its own drift.
The Book’s Forgetfulness Remedy: A Formula, Recited Six Times
The chapter opens with its short remedy. The text states that whoever is overcome by forgetfulness — and by the devil’s urging that accompanies it — should recite against the two of them a formula of divine names six times. The formula, in the printed text, centres on Allah’s absolute sovereignty and overwhelming power: it opens by addressing the All-Overwhelming, and continues with a cluster of names expressing might and dominion — the cluster the OCR this series works from renders partially, and which is therefore described here in sense rather than reconstructed in letter. The book records a formula of divine names centred on divine sovereignty, and states that it is read six times. The reader who wants the exact Arabic should open a clean printed copy of the book or sit with a teacher — this series will not rebuild sacred wording from damaged scans.
The logic of the formula is worth more than its transcription. To address Allah by the names of sovereignty when one’s own remembering has failed is to re-seat the heart before the One who forgets nothing: the servant who cannot keep himself in mind hands himself to the Knower who has never lost track of him. The count of six is the text’s own instruction, kept here as the text states it — modest, repeatable, closer to a pulse than a project.
Continuity: The Alchemy of Happiness Strand
After the names-formula, the chapter delivers its long du’a — the one this series already read in the alchemy of happiness post, where the chain of contrasts between the servant and his Lord was set out line by line. The book frames that du’a here as the forgetfulness chapter’s main course and states a daily recitation of fifty times; attached to it, the text carries sayings attributed to Mikail and to Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) about the fruit of daily practice. The printed edition’s modern editor footnotes those sayings as untraceable among his sources, and this series honoured that footnote then and honours it now: the book reports, and we do not say more.
What deserves repeating here is not the du’a’s wording — post 113 stands for that — but its architecture. The chain of contrasts is itself a forgetfulness remedy in disguise: it walks the servant through an inventory of truths about himself and his Lord until the prayer composes itself, which is precisely the faculty forgetfulness injures. Recited regularly, the chain functions like a catechism of the heart — a servant who cannot remember where he stands is handed a map in du’a form. The fifty-recitation tally is the text’s instruction, carried out with sincerity rather than as a transaction, and made lighter if a trustworthy guide so directs.
Regularity, Presence and the Adab of the Wird
The chapter’s second teaching is the one every Sufi remedy in this book shares, and it is stated most sharply where the same author makes sincere conviction the explicit condition of his observances: a remedy carried out without presence of heart and without regularity is, in the tradition’s estimate, a form carried out without its soul. The adab runs in three lines. Consistency over intensity: the heart is rebuilt by a hundred faithful sittings, not one dramatic night — the same architecture as the daily wird as a complete remedy system. Presence over speed: a slow recitation with the heart seated beats a fast one rattled while the mind audits its worries — the same condition the book attaches to dua Bashmakh and the same cure the khawatir chapter prescribes. And portions under guidance: the physician of the heart sets the daily share; the beginner who takes the masters’ full tally and abandons it by Thursday has taken nothing at all.
What has this to do with forgetting, practically? Everything, the tradition answers: the heart forgets by habituation and is restored the same way. The whisperer’s craft is repetition until the thought feels like home; the reciter’s counter-craft is also repetition — of remembrance, of repentance, of the names — until the remembrance feels like home again. The classical books also note that remembrance brings clarity: the steady heart sees its road more clearly because it has stopped staring at itself. The remedy is not an arcane formula with a count; it is a way of keeping the heart in the room where its Lord is being remembered.
Boundary, Disclaimer and Guidance
Two boundaries belong with this counsel. The first is the boundary of claims: the sayings the book attaches to the alchemy of happiness strand are footnoted by its own modern editor as untraceable, and this series reports them only as the book’s report, never as promise and never as hadith. The second is the boundary of means: persistent forgetfulness, cognitive change, low mood and disorientation are medical matters before they are spiritual ones, and the Muslim seeks qualified help as a lawful means while keeping his wird. Dua, wird and tawakkul complement medicine and lawful effort; they never replace them, and nothing described here is a guaranteed cure. The strands of this book that involve letter-squares, planetary framing or written amulets are excluded entirely by house policy; what has been presented here is the names-formula as the text states it and the ethic of regular attended remembrance. Shariah limits apply; guidance should be sought from the knowledgeable — a trustworthy murshid in spiritual matters, a qualified physician in medical ones.
Frequently Asked Questions
What dua does the book prescribe for forgetfulness?
The chapter for one overcome by forgetfulness prescribes a formula of divine names — centred on Allah’s absolute sovereignty — stated in the text as six recitations against forgetfulness and its companion. It is followed by the long du’a known as the alchemy of happiness, with a daily tally of fifty recitations stated in the same chapter.
Is the names-formula given in the post’s exact Arabic?
No. The OCR this series works from is partially damaged at this point, and this series does not reconstruct sacred wording from damaged scans. The formula is described in sense — divine names of sovereignty, recited six times — and readers are directed to a clean printed copy or a knowledgeable teacher for the exact text.
What is the role of dhikr in the forgetfulness remedy?
Dhikr is the soil of the remedy. The tradition diagnoses forgetfulness as a veil on the heart and treats it by regular, attended remembrance — consistency over intensity, presence over speed — because the heart forgets by habituation and is restored the same way. The named formula sits inside that ethic; it is not a substitute for it.
Can this remedy replace treatment for memory problems?
No. Dua, wird and tawakkul complement medicine and lawful effort; they never replace them, and nothing described here is a guaranteed cure. Persistent forgetfulness, cognitive change or disorientation should be seen by a qualified physician while the spiritual practice continues alongside — within the Shariah’s limits and, where possible, under guidance.