Al-Mu'minun · Makki · ayah 118 of 118

Al-Mu'minun 23:118

وَقُل رَّبِّ ٱغْفِرْ وَٱرْحَمْ وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ ٱلرَّٰحِمِينَ

“And, [O Muḥammad], say, "My Lord, forgive and have mercy, and You are the best of the merciful."”

Saheeh International

Essence

After creation, prophets, judgement and the Fire, the surah ends on five words: my Lord, forgive and have mercy, You best of the merciful.

A reflection

Even the best of creation was told to ask

The surah has just declared the deniers' failure. The believers' success was promised in its first line. One might expect it to end on triumph. Instead the last ayah is a command to the Prophet ﷺ himself: say, my Lord, forgive and have mercy.

He was the most devoted of all worshippers, the one to whom the whole surah was revealed. Yet the final instruction he receives is to ask for forgiveness. One classical commentator draws the lesson directly. The ayah is a sign, he says, that no one should be deceived by their own deeds. It is guidance to cling to the mercy of the Exalted King.

That is a hard blow to the ego. Most of us, after a good stretch of prayer, charity or study, feel a quiet satisfaction. We are doing well. We have earned something. This ayah puts the most righteous man who ever lived at the door of mercy, asking. If he did not stand on his deeds, what are ours worth on their own?

Another commentator explains why the surah closes this way. Having described the deniers' ignorance in this world and their punishment in the next, Allah commands the Messenger to cut himself off for Allah alone. He is to take refuge in His forgiveness and mercy. Those two, he says, are the protectors from every harm and every fear.

And the prayer ends with praise: wa-anta khayru al-rāḥimīn, You are the best of those who show mercy. Allah teaches His own Messenger how to praise Him. That is not because He needs the praise. It is because the one who asks needs to know whom he is asking.

So when you feel your good deeds swelling into pride, say this ayah. It is a pin in the balloon of self-satisfaction. Whatever you have done, you still stand where the Prophet ﷺ stood: at the door, asking.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.