There are four main phrases.  After each main phrase there is a phrase that is said only once.   Each main phrase should be repeated according to the directions.

1.  Astaghfir allahu al-azhim (100 repetitions)  I ask God for forgiveness.

1a. La ilaha il-allahu al-hayy al-qayyum wa atouba ilay (say once) There is no God but He the Living, the Everlasting, and to Him I turn in repentance.

2. Allahumma salli ala sayyidina muhammadan wa aalihi wa sahbihi wa sallim (100 repetitions) Oh Allah send Your peace upon our Lord Muhammad, his family and his followers.

2a. Muhammadan Rasulallah  (say once) Muhammad is His messenger.

3. La ilaha il-allah (100 repetitions) There is no God but God.

3a. Muhammadan rasulallah (say once) Muhammad is His messenger.

4. Allah (500 times or for 1/2 hour)

My personal experience in doing the wird is that line 1 is digging out the dirt, line 2 is asking for blessings, line 3 brings in the energy of angels and prophets, and line 4, reciting Allah, is like a zipper that seals it up.

Some notes on pronunciation for line two:

• The “aa” in the word aalihi is pronounced flat like in the word apple and is elongated 4 counts.  This is not the same word as alayhi.  Aallihi means “his family” while alayhi means “upon him”.
• The “h” in the word sahbihi here is an aspirated h as in the Arabic Quality “Hayy”, not the English word “hi”.  It means “his companions”.
• The word sallim, is not the same word as salaam. It is a different word that also means peace.  It is pronounced with a double emphasis of the “l” and doesn’t have any “a” letters after it.  It sounds similar to the name Salima (without the a on the end) as opposed to salaam with a long “a” after the “l”.
• If pronounced correctly the second line of the wird means: O Allah send prayers upon our Master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, peace.  If it not pronounced correctly the meaning changes to: O Allah send prayers upon our Master Muhammad, and upon him (alayhi) and his companions peace (salaam in the wrong context).

This is a live recording of Sidi leading al wird at a Ramadan Retreat in 2005.  Posted with permission from Shadhiliyya Sufi Center (SSC).

To download a copy of this click here: Morning Al Wird Sidi

There is also a recording available done by Thea Elijah, who is one of Sidi’s students. Go to her website: PerennialMedicine.com and click on the audio link.