Forgiveness and Goodly Service
رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي، وَهَبْ لِي مُلْكًا لَا يَنْبَغِي لِأَحَدٍ مِنْ بَعْدِي، إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ.
رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَهَبْ لِي مُلْكًا لَا يَنْبَغِي لِأَحَدٍ مِنْ بَعْدِي إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ
Could not load the audio. Please try again later.
“My Lord! Forgive me and grant me a kingdom such as will not befit anyone after me. Indeed, You are the Bestower.”
Forms: the verbs “ighfir li” (اغفر لي — forgive me) and “hab li” (هب لي — grant me). A request for a kingdom and dominion for the exaltation of the Word of Allah on earth.
Tafsir of Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Saadi
Sheikh as-Saadi writes: “Sulayman first asked for forgiveness, and then asked for a unique kingdom, so as to use it for the spread of Islam and the subjugation of the jinn and the winds.”
Tafsir of Imam Ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir explains: “Allah subjected to him the winds, the jinn, and the birds. The Prophet Muhammad once caught a shaytan, but released him, recalling this supplication of Sulayman.”
Tafsir al-Baghawi
«…He said: “My Lord! Forgive me and grant me a dominion that will not befit anyone after me…”» Muqatil and Ibn Kaysan said: No one after me will have it. Ata ibn Abi Rabah said: What is meant is: Grant me a dominion that You will not take away from me at the end of my life, nor give to anyone else, just as You have already taken it away from me.
«…Indeed, You are the Bestower!”…» One opinion is that he asked for this so that it would be a sign of his prophethood, proof that he was a messenger, and a miracle.
Another opinion is that he asked for this so that he might know that his repentance had been accepted, because Allah answered his supplication by restoring his dominion to him and increasing it further.
Muhammad ibn Hayyan said: Sulayman had dominion, but with the words «that will not befit anyone after me…» he asked that the wind, the birds, and the shaytans be subjected to him. The proof for this is the following verse.
In “Sahih al-Bukhari” (No. 461) it is narrated from Abu Hurayrah: “A shaytan tried to interrupt my prayer… I wanted to tie him to a pillar of the mosque, but I remembered the words of my brother Sulayman.”