Quotes and Proverbs about Fathers
- There is no place where a child sleeps more securely than in their father’s room.
- Love your father if he is fair; if not, then tolerate him.
- A father’s heart does not rest until all hearts have found peace.
- One father is worth more than ten educators.
- A son is the secret of his father.
- A mother loves with all her heart, while a father loves with all his strength.
- A father can provide for ten children, but ten children cannot care for one father.
- The father is like the spirit; when he departs, the body collapses.
- There is no love greater than a father’s love, nor security like the safety he provides.
- The term ‘father’ does not merely imply fatherhood; anyone can have children, but being a father means having the ability to care for them.
- There is no greater joy than a son’s pride in his father’s glory, nor is there a greater joy for a father than his son’s success.
- It is said about fathers: he is the one whom two stars seek, and he returns carrying the heavens.
Prayers for Fathers
- O Lord, do not allow my father to experience distress after he has given me the sweetness of life.
- O Allah, take some of my years and extend my father’s life.
- O Lord, open the doors of provision for my father from sources he cannot anticipate.
- O Allah, bestow upon my father the health of this world and scatter it throughout his body.
- O Lord, grant my father eternal joy and continual health.
- O Lord, protect the father who has never deprived me of anything, and bless him with a long life as he has granted me all that I desired.
- O Allah, spread wellness throughout my father’s body and fill his heart with endless happiness.
- O Lord, I entrust my father’s heart to You, filling it with all that is beautiful from You.
- O Allah, I seek refuge in You from a day when I cannot hear my father’s voice.
- O Lord, do not allow even a fraction of sorrow or grief to linger in my father’s heart; bless him with more than he hopes for and grant him happiness to delight my heart as well.
- O Allah, O Lord of Glory and Honor, O Ever-Living and Sustainer, we call upon You by Your greatest name, which, if invoked, You respond; shower my father with Your blessings, mercy, and provision. Bestow upon him wellness so he can enjoy life, and grant him forgiveness, shielding him from the harm of sins. Protect him from any terror until You lead him to Paradise.
Poem by Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi about His Father
The poet Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi wrote the following verses about his father:
I never imagined after your departure, O my father
That I would thirst for life, and drink
From its fiery, intoxicating river
And return to the world with a fluttering heart
For love, joy, and melodies
And for all that exists in the universe of dreams
And the wonders of emotions and sorrow
Until years moved on, and life approached
With its enchanting magic
And lo, I still remain a child, enamored
Chasing lights and colors
And if despondency towards life and its rejection
Is a form of deception and delirium
Indeed, the son of Adam deep down
Is a servant of life, with sincere faith.
Poem “My Father” by Nizar Qabbani
The Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani penned this poem following his father’s passing:
Did your father die?
That’s absurd! My father does not die.
In the house, his scent
Remains, a memory of a prophet.
This is his corner; those are his possessions
Bring forth a thousand youthful branches.
His newspaper, his slippers
As if my father has not left.
And the ashtray, and his cup
Remain untouched as before.
Will his glasses part with the glass
Stains of tears from the sunset?
His remnants, in spacious rooms
Like the remains of eagles on the playground.
I wander through the corners of the house, for wherever I pass,
I touch the green.
I grasp his hands, lean on him
I pray on his weary chest.
My father… is still among us, and our conversations
Are those of cups at the bar.
He converses with us; the laden vines
Born from his sweet breath.
My father was a message from Paradise
And a meaning from the greatest vastness.
And my father’s eyes, a refuge for stars.
Will the East remember my father’s eyes?
With the summer memory of my father
Vines, and the memory of the planet.
O my father… the history of goodness
Walks behind you, so do not grieve.
In your name, we proceed, from the good,
To the sweetest of the sweet.
I carried you in my waking eyes; until
It seemed to people that I am my father.
I carry you even in the tone of my voice.
How could you leave… when you are still me?
If the home’s bloom has given us a sign
Then in the house, there are a thousand gilded mouths.
We have opened the doors to July.
This summer, my father surely returns.