An-Naml · Makki · ayah 19 of 93

An-Naml 27:19

فَتَبَسَّمَ ضَاحِكًا مِّن قَوْلِهَا وَقَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِىٓ أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَىَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَٰلِدَىَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَـٰلِحًا تَرْضَىٰهُ وَأَدْخِلْنِى بِرَحْمَتِكَ فِى عِبَادِكَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ

“So [Solomon] smiled, amused at her speech, and said, "My Lord, enable me[1073] to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to do righteousness of which You approve. And admit me by Your mercy into [the ranks of] Your righteous servants."[1074]”

Saheeh International

Essence

At the height of his power, a king hears an ant speak well of his army, smiles, and asks to be held to gratitude.

A reflection

Not 'thank You', but 'hold me to thanking You'

Ask people what this duʿāʾ is, and most will say: a prayer of thanks. Many recite it after a promotion, a wedding or a safe arrival. It sounds like a king saying thank you.

Read it again. He does not say 'I thank You'. He says rabbi awziʿnī an ashkura: my Lord, make me give thanks. He asks for gratitude the way a sick man asks for an appetite.

Picture a man who ends every prayer with a quick 'thank You for everything, Allah'. It is the same tone he uses to thank the cashier. Nothing is wrong with the words. They simply cost him nothing and change nothing.

The early explanations of awziʿnī gather around a few senses: inspire me, make me, urge me on, make me devoted to it. One rhetorician gives its inner picture. Make me hold on to the gratitude for Your favour, and keep it tied, so that it does not slip loose from me. The root's first sense is restraint, holding something back. Another commentary turns it round: hold me back from everything except gratitude for Your favour.

So the request is double. Tie gratitude to me. Keep me from whatever pulls me away from it.

Why would a king who has everything need to ask? Because everything is exactly what makes gratitude slip. A blessing repeated becomes ordinary. Plenty starts to feel earned. The more you have, the more there is to stop noticing.

He asks at the very moment he is most delighted. He has just caught an ant's whisper across a valley, a gift no one else on earth was given. That is when he reaches for the tether.

'Thank You' is a sentence you can say on your way out of the door. 'Hold me to thanking You' is a confession. Left to myself, I would forget.

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.