WE HAVE ALREADY mentioned the hadith of ‘Ā’ishah
about what the sick should say and what should be recited for them.
We relate in the book of Ibn as-Sunnī from one of the wives of the Prophet
who said: “The Messenger of Allah
came to me when a pimple had come out on my finger. He asked: ‘Do you have any dharīrah [1].?’ He put it on [the pimple] and said: ‘Say: O Allah, Who make the great small and make the small great, make my problem small.’ It was cured.” [2].
Allāhumma Muṣaghghira-l-kabīri wa Mukabbira-ṣ-ṣaghīr, ṣaghghir mā bī.
I say that the word batharah, with a fatḥah on the bā’ and a sukūn on the thā’ and also a fatḥah—there are two variants—means a small skin infection (or spot). Hence it is said: “His face bathara—broke out in pimples (or spots)” with a kasrah on the thā’ and a fatḥah and a ḍammah—three variant spellings.
As for dharīrah, it is a powdered [scented] reed, calamus aromaticus, which is brought from India.
References
[1] Dharīrah is a fragrant powder imported from India.
[2] Ibn as-Sunnī (640) and an-Nasā’ī (1031) in ‘Amal al-yawm wa al-laylah.