The Prayer for Eclipses, Earthquakes, Winds, and Oppression and Their Causes

Sulaiman al-Daylami asked Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام about earthquakes and what they are. Imam عليه السلام said: "It is a sign." Sulaiman then asked: "What is its cause?" Imam عليه السلام said: "Allah سبحانه وتعالى, Blessed and Exalted, has assigned an angel to the veins (roots) of the earth. When Allah سبحانه وتعالى wishes to cause an earthquake in a land, He commands that angel to move a specific vein." Imam continued, "The angel moves that vein of the land which Allah سبحانه وتعالى has commanded, and it shakes along with its inhabitants." Sulaiman asked: "What should I do when that happens?" Imam عليه السلام replied: "Pray the Prayer of the Eclipse (Salat al-Kusuf), and when you have completed it, fall into prostration to Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Mighty and Glorious, and say in your prostration: Yumsiku as-samāwāti wa al-arḍa an tazūlā, wa la’in zālatā in amsakahumā min aḥadin min ba‘dihi, innahu kāna ḥalīman ghafūrā.Yā man "yumsiku as-samā’a an taqa‘a ‘ala al-arḍi illa bi-idhnihi," amsik ‘annā as-sū’a innaka ‘alā kulli shay’in qadīr. 'O’ He who holds the heavens and the earth lest they should fall apart, and if they were to fall apart, none would hold them except Him. Truly, He is Most Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving. O’ He who holds the heaven from falling upon the earth except by His permission, withhold harm from us, for You have power over all things.'"