Sad · Makki · ayah 35 of 88

Sad 38:35

قَالَ رَبِّ ٱغْفِرْ لِى وَهَبْ لِى مُلْكًا لَّا يَنۢبَغِى لِأَحَدٍ مِّنۢ بَعْدِىٓ ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْوَهَّابُ

“He said, "My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom such as will not belong to anyone after me. Indeed, You are the Bestower."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Sulayman asked forgiveness first, then the greatest kingdom, and rested both requests on one Name: You alone are the Giver whose gifts expect nothing back.

A reflection

Ask by the Giver, not by your record

Innaka anta al-Wahhāb: You, You alone, are the Giver. The prayer ends by resting everything on a Name. Sulayman does not say 'because I have served You', or 'because I am the son of Dāwūd'. He gives no reason in himself at all. The reason lies in the One he asks.

The lexicons describe hiba, a gift, as making what you own another's with no return. One adds that a true gift carries no exchange and no ulterior aim. Wahhāb is the intensive form: the One whose gifts are many, constant, and never a trade. The commentators gloss it as abundant in generosity. In His hand are the stores of everything, and He opens what He wills to whom He wills.

That is why this prayer can be so bold without being arrogant. The ego asks small when it looks at its own record. It reckons what it has earned and requests accordingly. Then, when it receives, it quietly concludes that it deserved it. Pride and false modesty are the same mistake: both keep the eyes on the self.

Sulayman looks elsewhere. A five-year-old in a toy shop does not ask her grandfather for the little plastic car. She points at the big wooden garage with the lift that winds up. He laughs and carries it to the till. He is not offended by the size of the request. He is pleased she thought him that generous.

Someone may ask why Allah should want to be called the Giver at all. Does He need His generosity acknowledged? He does not. A gift with no return cannot be a bid for thanks. The Name is taught for the asker's sake. It lifts his eyes off himself and onto the only door that never closes.

One commentary notes that 'You are the Giver' grounds both requests, the forgiveness and the kingdom. Pardon is a gift too. Neither was owed.

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.