Ad-Dukhan · Makki · ayah 12 of 59

Ad-Dukhan 44:12

رَّبَّنَا ٱكْشِفْ عَنَّا ٱلْعَذَابَ إِنَّا مُؤْمِنُونَ

“[They will say], "Our Lord, remove from us the torment; indeed, we are believers."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Under the smoke, the doubters suddenly know exactly whom to call, and promise faith in the present tense to buy relief.

A reflection

The prayer that comes easily in the lift

Three ayat ago these people were described as in doubt, playing. Now the smoke has come down, and the doubt has vanished. They know at once whom to address: Rabbanā, our Lord.

Picture a man stuck in an office lift between floors. The lights flicker. The alarm button connects to nobody. After forty minutes he is sitting on the floor, and he finds himself talking to God for the first time in years. Get me out, he says, and I will ring my mother every week. I will change. After two hours the lift jolts and starts moving. By the time the doors open on the ground floor, he is already checking his emails.

The commentaries compare this ayah with others where people cry out once they see the punishment. One quotes their plea in another surah: if only we could be sent back, we would not deny the signs of our Lord (6:27). The next ayah there adds that if they were sent back, they would return to what they were forbidden (6:28).

The Prophet ﷺ gave a simple remedy for this pattern. A narration in Jami' al-Tirmidhi, graded ḥasan, records it. Whoever would be glad for Allah to answer him in hardship and distress, he said, should pray much in times of ease.

That turns the lift into a lesson. The prayer in the lift is not worthless. Allah hears every call, and often answers it. But a person who only finds Rabbanā under the smoke has to find it from nothing, in panic. A person who has said it a thousand times in calm can say it in the lift as a familiar word to a familiar Lord.

The practical step is almost embarrassingly small. Make one du'a today, when nothing is wrong. Thank Him for the lift that works.

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.