Reflection and Deliverance
رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَٰذَا بَاطِلًا سُبْحَانَكَ، فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ. رَبَّنَا، إِنَّكَ مَنْ تُدْخِلِ النَّارَ، فَقَدْ أَخْزَيْتَهُ، وَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنْصَارٍ. رَبَّنَا إِنَّنَا سَمِعْنَا مُنَادِيًا يُنَادِي لِلْإِيمَانِ، أَنْ آمِنُوا بِرَبِّكُمْ، فَآمَنَّا. رَبَّنَا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا، وَكَفِّرْ عَنَّا سَيِّئَاتِنَا، وَتَوَفَّنَا مَعَ الْأَبْرَارِ. رَبَّنَا وَآتِنَا مَا، وَعَدْتَنَا عَلَىٰ رُسُلِكَ، وَلَا تُخْزِنَا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، إِنَّكَ لَا تُخْلِفُ الْمِيعَادَ.
رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَٰذَا بَاطِلًا سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ رَبَّنَا إِنَّكَ مَنْ تُدْخِلِ النَّارَ فَقَدْ أَخْزَيْتَهُ وَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنْصَارٍ رَبَّنَا إِنَّنَا سَمِعْنَا مُنَادِيًا يُنَادِي لِلْإِيمَانِ أَنْ آمِنُوا بِرَبِّكُمْ فَآمَنَّا رَبَّنَا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَكَفِّرْ عَنَّا سَيِّئَاتِنَا وَتَوَفَّنَا مَعَ الْأَبْرَارِ رَبَّنَا وَآتِنَا مَا وَعَدْتَنَا عَلَىٰ رُسُلِكَ وَلَا تُخْزِنَا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّكَ لَا تُخْلِفُ الْمِيعَادَ
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“Our Lord, You have not created this in vain. Glory be to You! So protect us from the punishment of the Fire. Our Lord, indeed whoever You admit into the Fire, You have disgraced him, and the wrongdoers have no helpers. Our Lord, we have indeed heard a caller calling to faith, ’Believe in your Lord,’ and we have believed. Our Lord, so forgive us our sins and remove from us our evil deeds and cause us to die with the righteous. Our Lord, and grant us what You promised us through Your messengers, and do not disgrace us on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed, You do not fail in the promise.”
Forms: The glorification of the Creator (tasbih), followed by the requests “qina” (قِنَا), “ighfir” (اغْفِرْ), “kaffir” (كَفرْ), “tawaffana” (تَوَفنَا) and “atina” (آتِنَا). Five great evening-and-night verses of the Quran.
Tafsir of Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Saadi
Sheikh as-Saadi explains: “Those who reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth come to the knowledge of the wisdom of the Creator, are delivered from sins, and ask to be given rest with the righteous and to be granted all the rewards promised through the Messengers.”
Tafsir of Imam Ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir cites the hadith of Aisha: The Messenger of Allah would rise at night, look at the sky, recite these verses from Surah Al-Imran and weep.
Tafsir al-Baghawi
“…those who remember Allah standing, sitting, and (lying) on their sides…” ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them), an-Nakha‘i, and Qatadah said: This refers to prayer—a person prays standing, and if unable, sitting, and if unable even to sit, on his side.
Other commentators said: What is meant is the constant remembrance of Allah in every state, because a person is rarely outside one of these three positions.
Something similar occurs in Surah “an-Nisa”: “And when you have completed the prayer, remember Allah standing, sitting, and on your sides…” (Surah “an-Nisa,” verse 103)
“…and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth…” and on what He has manifested in His signs, so that these might point them to Allah’s power, and so that they might realize that they have a Creator, Almighty, Disposing of affairs, Wise.
Ibn ‘Awn said: Reflection dispels heedlessness and brings forth God-consciousness in the heart, just as water brings forth plants from the earth. Nothing purifies the heart better than sorrows, and nothing illuminates it better than reflection. “…(O) our Lord!…” That is, they also say: “O our Lord…”
“…You did not create this…” Allah, Exalted is He, refers this to all that has been created. Thus, He said “this,” rather than “these,” referring to the creations that have been enumerated.
“…in vain…” That is, without purpose, pointlessly, as a jest. Rather, You created this for a great purpose.
The word “batilan” is in the accusative because a preposition has been omitted (that is: not pointlessly).
“…Glory be to You! So protect us from the punishment of the Fire…”
“…(O) our Lord! Indeed, whomever You admit to the Fire, You have certainly disgraced…” That is, humiliated. It is also said: destroyed. It is also said: brought into disrepute, as in the words of the Exalted: “…and do not disgrace me before my guests” (Surah “Hud,” verse 78).
If someone says: The Exalted said, “…on that Day Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believed with him” (Surah “at-Tahrim,” verse 8), yet among the believers are those who will enter the Fire; and it is also said, “Whomever You admit to the Fire, You have disgraced,” the response is as follows:
Anas and Qatadah said: The meaning is: Whomever You leave in the Fire forever, You have disgraced.
Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyib said: This applies only to those who will not leave it.
Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) transmitted from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): “Indeed, Allah will admit some people to the Fire, then they will be brought out of it.” “…And the wrongdoers will have no helpers…”
“…(O) our Lord! Indeed, we heard a caller…” That is, Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). This was said by Ibn Mas‘ud, Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them), and the majority of people.
Al-Kurazi said: That is, the Qur’an, because not everyone meets the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in person. “…who called to Faith…” That is, to faith.
“Believe in your Lord!” And we believed (with true faith). “(O) our Lord! So forgive us our sins, remove from us our evil deeds, and cause us to die among the righteous…” That is: include us among the righteous.
“…(O) our Lord! And grant us what You promised us through Your messengers…” That is, through the words of Your messengers.
“…and do not disgrace us…” That is: do not subject us to punishment, destroy us, bring us into disrepute, or humiliate us
“…on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed, You do not break (Your) promise…”
If someone says: What is the meaning of their words, “O our Lord! And grant us what You promised us through Your messengers,” if they already knew that Allah does not break His promise? The response is as follows: The words are in the form of supplication, while their meaning is in the form of a statement. That is: “Indeed, You will surely grant us what You promised us through Your messengers.”
What is meant is: “Forgive us our sins, cover our transgressions, do not disgrace us on the Day of Resurrection, and grant us what You promised us through Your messengers—out of mercy, kindness, and generosity.”
It is also said: The meaning is: “Our Lord! Make us among those who deserve Your reward and to whom You grant what You promised through the words of Your messengers,” for they were not certain that they deserved this great honor, and so they asked Allah to make them worthy of it.
It is also said: They were asking that Allah’s promise of victory over their enemies be fulfilled sooner, saying: “We know that You do not break Your promise, but we have no patience with Your waiting; so hasten their humiliation and grant us victory over them.”
In Sahih al-Bukhari (No. 4569) and Sahih Muslim (No. 256) it is narrated that the Prophet Muhammad would recite precisely these 10 verses every time he woke up for the night prayer standing (Tahajjud).