FORTY FORCES OF BEING SERVANT, FORTY LESSONS FOR LIFE

The supplication of Abu Hamza al-Thumali is a Dua attributed to Ali Zayn al-Abidin. Abu Hamzah Al-Thumali, who was a companion of three Shia Imams, received it from Ali Zayn al-Abidin and was the principal narrator of the work. This supplication is mentioned in Eqbal al-a‟mal – a work in Arabic authored by Sayyed Ibn Tawus that included Duas, prayers, and practices which were recommended to be performed at specific times of the year. It was said that Ali Zayn al-Abidin recited the supplication every evening or dawn during Ramadan. Thābit ibn Safiya, known as Abu Hamza alThumali, descends from the Safiye family. Born in Kufa, al-Thumali was a companion of three Shia Imams – Ali Zayn al-Abidin, Muhammad al-Baqir, and Jafar al-Sadiq. Although there is little information about his birth, it is believed that he lived in the seventh and eighth centuries. Therefore, it is possible that he was a companion of Imam Kadhim, also.
Abu Hamza al-Thumali had great esteem for Imams, and they apparently considered him trustworthy. Ali al-Ridha, the eighth Imam of Shia, stated about him: "Abu Hamza in his time was similar to Salman in the prophet's time." Ahmad ibn Ali al-Najashi, a grand scholar of Shia, said: "He was the best of our companions and the most reliable of them in narration and tradition." He wrote several works about Islamic subjects such as the Kitab fi Tafsir al-Quran al-Karim (an exegesis of the Quran), Kitab al-Nawadir (a book on the rare things), Kitab al-Zuhd (on asceticism) and Al-Risalah al-Huquq (about all kinds of rights). He died in the year 150 A.H.