Salam
The ‘Dalail al-Khayrat’ is indeed a blessed text, may Allah (the Exalted) enable us to benefit from it and have the tawfiq to write more on it in the future.
I was given a small paperback book consisting of litanies compiled by Shaykh Abu Bakr al-Mulla al-Ahsai. [Please note that Sh Abu Bakr was a contemporary of Imam Ibn Abidin] They consisted of three texts:
-‘Tajrid Kawkab al-Munir’, a shorter version of it called ‘Dalail al-Fadail’: both manuals on sending salawat upon the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace)
-And an abridgement of the ‘Hizb al-Azam’
I requested Shaykh Yahya to select 40 salawat whose source is from the hadith from the ‘Dalail al-Fadail’ or perhaps the ‘Safwat al-Dalail’ which is also edited by Shaykh Yahya and is by a Shafi scholar from al-Ahsa. I requested this mainly for myself and perhaps others whose unfortunate laziness and lack of resolve means that we are unable to fully benefit from the ‘Dalail al-Khayrat’.
Shaykh Yahya -Allah preserve him- was happy to help with this request and promised to work on this project in addition to his many other commitments of: full time work, teaching students, editing books, looking after Masjids and Madaris amongst other things.
I have pasted below the beginning of Shaykh Abu Bakrs introduction to his ‘Dalail al-Fadail’ which is based on another work of his which was described by some as: “It is as if the one who recites it has recited the Dalail al-Khayrat’.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمدُ لله تعالى وحدهُ ، والصلاةُ والسلامُ على منْ لا نبيَّ بعدهُ ، صلاةً وسلاماً يعمانِ آلهُ وصحبهُ وجندهُ ، أما بعدُ :
فإني لما جمعتُ كتابَ الكوكبِ المنيرِ في الصـلاةِ على البشيرِ النذيرِ المشتملِ على عدةِ كيفيـاتٍ تفوقُ الواحدةُ منها عدداً كثيراً منَ الصلواتِ ، حتى قيلَ في بعضها : أنَّ منْ صلى بها فكأنما قرأَ دلائلَ الخيراتِ .
أحببتُ أنْ أنتخبَ فرائدهُ رَوْماً للاختصارِ ، وترغيباً للمنتفعينَ المعرضينَ عنِ الإكثارِ ، فَلَخَّصْتُ منهُ ذلكَ وَأَضَفْتُ إلى ما هنالكَ جملةً منْ مفتاحِ السعادةِ ومعراجِ السيادةِ للسيدِ الشريفِ أحمدَ بن عمرَ الهندواني ، لِمَا اشتملَ عليهِ منْ الكيفياتِ النافعـةِ المتضمنةِ لأدعيةٍ هيَ لخيراتِ الدارينِ جامعةٌ ، فلذلكَ لَمَّا فرغــتُ مـــنْ هذا المنتخــبِ الكـــاملِ سميتــهُ ( دلائلُ الفضائلِ ) واللهُ سبحانهُ وتعالى المسؤولُ أنْ يَمُنَّ عَلَيَّ بالقبولِ ، إنهُ أكرمُ مأمولٍ .
