23.109 The believers' supplication for mercy and forgiveness
The Quran mentions many supplications with which sincere believers call upon the Almighty Lord, believers we may well regard as a standard for ourselves. And this supplication is no exception. It clearly shows what a person asks of the Almighty when his heart is filled with faith and fear of God, and what each of us should ask Him for.
From the Book of Allah we know that such people constantly turn to the Almighty Creator with supplications like this one. It is in keeping with their nature and is an inseparable part of their everyday life in this world, for at every moment of their earthly existence they feel their connection with the Lord and their responsibility before Him, strive to earn His pleasure and seek to draw near to Him in every way they can.
“Our Lord!” they call out with faith, hope and reverent fear. Our Creator, who sustains our life, who loves us, who bestows upon us countless favours and cares for us day and night. O You to whom we shall return when our earthly life is over and before whom we shall stand on the Day of Judgment, the day on which neither wealth nor sons will benefit a person, and only the one who comes with a sound heart will be saved. Everything is in Your power, You see us everywhere and always. You know everything about us, and in Your power are the heavens, the earth and all that is between them.
“We have believed.” We have thrown open the gates of our hearts to faith and have tried to fill our hearts with it to the brim. We have accepted the truth, and we cultivate the seeds of fear of God in our hearts as diligently as we can. And this faith naturally and constantly moves us to deeds pleasing to You, to obedience to You.
Both the acknowledgement of the Lordship of the Almighty and the mention of faith in Him are beautiful expressions of courtesy towards the Creator and ways of drawing near to Him, which we should not forget. It is wonderful to preface with them the requests we make of the Lord of the worlds. For by using the various means of drawing near to Him that He Himself has pointed out to us, we increase our chances that our supplication will not go unanswered.
“So forgive us and have mercy on us.” This is the essence of the supplication, the main thing these believers wished to ask of the Almighty. And indeed, is this not what every believer so acutely needs? For each of us has sins and shortcomings, we all carry this heavy burden, and so we are in desperate need of His forgiveness. And we need His mercy no less. How can the one to whom the Lord does not grant forgiveness and whom He does not cover with His boundless mercy succeed and be saved? That is why it is so important to ask Him for mercy and forgiveness in sorrow and in joy. For we often forget to turn to the Lord with such supplications in the calm and prosperous days of our earthly life, and only when a trial comes do we begin to call upon Him, repenting of the sins we have committed and seeking His mercy.
“For You are the best of those who show mercy.” With these beautiful words these believers concluded their supplication. By mentioning His perfection and mercy, they added another, no less important way of drawing near to Him to those already mentioned.
This supplication, full of humility, courtesy and sincerity, holds many important lessons for us. How often impatience seizes us and we want to call at once upon the Almighty and mention some cherished wish. But at that moment it would be good to remember that the best of people, the prophets of God, and their followers, the sincere believers, also asked Him for what was very important to them, yet they did not hurry and tried to clothe their supplication in a beautiful form.
This supplication reminds us how important it is to use the paths to the Lord that are at our disposal. Among them a very important place is given to doing good deeds, those deeds that a believer does according to his abilities. Our Almighty Lord in His mercy does not place on us anything beyond our strength and does not demand of us anything beyond our abilities. And praise be to Him for giving each of us many opportunities to prove ourselves and to accomplish much in a short earthly life.