As-Saffat · Makki · ayah 100 of 182

As-Saffat 37:100

رَبِّ هَبْ لِى مِنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ

“My Lord, grant me [a child] from among the righteous."”

Saheeh International

Essence

A man who has left everything asks his Lord for one gift: a child from among the righteous.

A reflection

Asking for a gift, not striking a deal

Rabbi hab lī: my Lord, grant me. Three words, and each one carries something.

Rabbi comes without the usual 'O'. There is no distance to call across. It is the voice of someone who already knows he is heard. Ibrahim has just said, 'I am going to my Lord' (37:99). Now, on the road, he speaks to Him directly.

Hab is from hiba, a gift. The lexicons define it as making something you own another's with no return. One adds that a true gift has no exchange in it and no ulterior aim. This is an established sense. Ibrahim does not offer a bargain: give me a son and I will do this for You. He asks for a gift, from a Giver.

One classical commentator notes that the word 'gift' in the Quran is used mostly for children. 'We gave him Ishaq and Yaqub' (6:84). 'We gave him Yahya' (21:90). Children are never earned. They are given.

Picture a couple in the waiting room of a fertility clinic. They have been coming for two years. They know the statistics by heart and the forms by memory. Before the nurse calls their name, the husband takes his wife's hand and whispers a short prayer. He does not argue his case. He asks for a gift.

This is the posture the ayah teaches for any longing. We are tempted to treat du'a like a contract, listing our good deeds as payment. Ibrahim simply names his Lord and asks for what only He can give.

And if the gift is delayed, the posture still holds. Ibrahim was given his sons in old age, as he himself said (14:39). Zakariyya prayed into old age. The asking itself is worship, and the Giver knows both the need and the time.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.