Supplication for All-Encompassing Good: Quranic Supplications 5

During Ramadan 2023, Sheikh Faraz Rabbani gave a series of daily video talks on supplications in the Quran. This series of articles is drawn from those talks and the related eBook. This article is about asking Allah for acceptance. The video series can be viewed here.

يَقُولُ رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةًۭ وَفِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ حَسَنَةًۭ وَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ

“Our Lord, give us in this world mighty good, and in the next world mighty good, and protect us from the chastisement of the Fire.” [Quran, 2:201]

This is a beautiful supplication in Surat al-Baqara. Many of us probably recite it after every single prayer because it is one of the recommended prayers of our beloved prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Very often we recite supplications that are full of meaning, but we don’t realize what we’re asking for. 

When we say, O Lord, and we turn to him in need, we have within our hearts and our consciousness and concern many worries, many fears. But we raise our worries and our concerns and our fears, whether in our life or in our religion, our spiritual life, up to the One who alone can fulfill them.

“O Lord, grant us in this world, in this life, mighty good.” The good here is expressed in the indefinite: حَسَنَةًۭ. Instead of asking for the good, it’s in the indefinite, which in Arabic refers to mighty good. Good beyond our definition of good. Grant us in this world mighty good.

Good Beyond Good

The true good is that which leads to the eternal good in the next life and the good pleasure of God. “O Lord, grant us in this life mighty good.” وَفِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ حَسَنَةًۭ – “and in the next life, mighty good.”The believer seeks the greatest possible good. We want the closeness of Allah, the love of Allah, eternal presence with God, with our prophet and the past prophets, and with our loved ones of family and friends, eternal joy.

And since we seek that, we close by saying: حَسَنَةًۭ وَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ – “and shield us from the chastisement of the fire.” Because just as we seek good, we have our wayward tendencies. As if to say: Don’t allow us, O Lord, to stray, lest we slip and fall. That is a commitment and declaration – both to seeking the good, but also to guarding the good in my life. It’s a statement of committing to mindfulness of God, of taqwa. 

There’s a prophetic encouragement to make the supplication after every prayer, even within any prayer. Whenever you have a need, you can use this prophetic supplication but mean it as you say it. Feel it as you express it and feel contentment and joy. Allah has told us: “Call upon me, I will surely answer you.”

Praise be to Allah, Lord of all the worlds.