Rabbanaa walaa tahmil ‘alaynaa isran kamaa hamaltahu ‘alal-latheena min qablinaa
It can be recited for
Protection from afflictions and calamities
Word-by-word Meanings:-
Transliteration
Arabic
Translation
Rabbanaa
رَبَّنَا
Our Lord
walaa
وَلَا
and (do) not
tahmil
تَحْمِلْ
lay
‘alaynaa
عَلَيْنَا
upon us
isran
إِصْرًا
a burden
kamaa
كَمَا
like that
hamaltahu
حَمَلْتَهُ
(which) You laid
‘ala
عَلَى
upon
al-latheena
الَّذِينَ
those who
min
مِن
(were) from
qablinaa
قَبْلِنَا
before us
Our Lord, and lay not on us a burden greater than we have the strength to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so Help us against the disbelieving people.”
Allah said, (mentioning what the believers said) while directing His servants to supplicate to Him, all the while promising them that He will answer their supplication:
“Our Lord! Push us not if we forget or fall into error,” meaning, “If we forgot an obligation or fell into a prohibition, or made an error while ignorant of its ruling.”
Muslim collected, wherein Allah said, “I shall (accept your supplication).” There is also the Hadith by Ibn `Abbas that Allah said, “I did (accept your supplication).”
“Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us (Jews and Christians)” means, “Even if we were able to perform them, do not require us to perform the difficult deeds as You required the previous nations before us, such as the burdens that were placed on them. You sent Your Prophet Muhammad Sallal laahoo alaihi wassallam , the Prophet of mercy, to abrogate these burdens through the Law that You revealed to him, the Hanifi (Islamic Monotheism), easy religion.”
There is the Hadith recorded through various chains of narration that the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said,
“Our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear” of obligations, hardships and afflictions, do not make us bear what we cannot bear of this.
“Pardon us and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Mawla (Supporter and Protector) and give us victory over the disbelieving people.”
Allah said, `I shall.”’
“Pardon us” meaning, between us and You regarding what You know of our shortcomings and errors.
“And grant us forgiveness” concerning what is between us and Your servants. So do not expose our errors and evil deeds to them.
“Have mercy on us” in what will come thereafter. Therefore, do not allow us to fall into another error.
They say that those who commit error need three things: Allah’s forgiveness for what is between Him and them, that He conceals these errors from His other servants, and thus does not expose them before the servants, and that He grants them immunity from further error.” We mentioned before that Allah answered these pleas, “I shall,” in one narration and, “I did,” in another narration.
“You are our Mawla” meaning, You are our supporter and helper, our trust is in You, You are sought for each and every type of help and our total reliance is on You. There is no power or strength except from You.
“And give us victory over the disbelieving people” those who rejected Your religion, denied Your Oneness, refused the Message of Your Prophet , worshiped other than You and associated others in Your worship. Give us victory and make us prevail above them in this and the Hereafter. Allah said, “I shall,” in one narration, and, “I did,” in the Hadith that Muslim collected from Ibn `Abbas.
Further, Ibn Jarir recorded that Abu Ishaq said that whenever Mu`adh would finish reciting this Surah (Al-Baqarah),
(And give us victory over the disbelieving people), he would say “Amin.”
The Hadiths on the virtue of these last two ayats of surah Al-Baqarah:
Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Mas`ud said that the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said,
“Whoever recites the last two Ayat in Surat Al-Baqarah at night, they will suffice for him.”
The rest of the six also recorded similar wording for this Hadith. The Two Sahihs recorded this Hadith using various chains of narration, and Imam Ahmad also recorded it.
Muslim recorded that `Abdullah said, “When the Messenger of Allah went on the Isra journey, he ascended to the Sidrat Al-Muntaha in the sixth heaven, where whatever ascends from the earth ends at, and whatever descends from above it ends at.
The Messenger of Allah was then given three things: the five prayers, the last Ayat in Surat Al-Baqarah and forgiveness for whoever did not associate anything or anyone with Allah from his Ummah.”
Ibn `Abbas stated ‘’While the Messenger of Allah was with Jibil Alaihissalaam, he heard a noise from above. Jibil Alaihissalaam lifted his sight to the sky and said, `This is a door that was opened just now in heaven, and it was never opened before.’ An angel came down through the door to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and said, `Receive the good news of two lights that you have been given and which no Prophet before you was given: the Opener of the Book (Al-Fatihah) and the last Ayat in Surat Al-Baqarah. You will not read a letter of them, but you will be granted its benefit.”
This Hadith was collected by Muslim and An-Nasa’i, and this is the wording collected by An-Nasa’i.
(83. And (remember) Ayyub, when he cried to his Lord: “Verily, distress has seized me, and You are the Most Merciful of all those who show mercy.”) (84. So We answered his call, and We removed the distress that was on him, and We restored his family to him, and the like thereof along with them as a mercy from Ourselves and a Reminder for all those who worship Us.)
Allah tells us about Ayyub Alaihissalaam and the trials that struck him
He had plenty of livestock, cattle and crops, many children and beautiful houses, and he was tested in these things, losing every thing he had. Then he was tested with regard to his body, and he was left alone on the edge of the city and there was no one who treated him with compassion apart from his wife, who took care of him. It was said that it reached the stage where she was in need, so she started to serve people (to earn money) for his sake.
The Prophet (Sallal laahoo alaihi wassallam) said:
(The people who are tested the most severely are the Prophets, then the righteous, then the next best and the next best).
According to another Hadith:
(A man will be tested according to his level of religious commitment; the stronger his religious commitment, the more severe will be his test.)
The Prophet of Allah, Ayyub, upon him be peace, had the utmost patience, and he is the best example of that. Yazid bin Maysarah said: “When Allah tested Ayyub, upon him be peace, with the loss of his family, wealth and children, and he had nothing left, he started to focus upon the remembrance of Allah, and he said: `I praise You, the Lord of lords, Who bestowed His kindness upon me and gave me wealth and children, and there was no corner of my heart that was not filled with attachment to these worldly things, then You took all of that away from me and You emptied my heart, and there is nothing to stand between me and You. If my enemy Iblis knew of this, he would be jealous of me. ‘ When Iblis heard of this, he became upset.
And Ayyub, upon him be peace, said: `O Lord, You gave me wealth and children, and there was no one standing at my door complaining of some wrong I had done to him. You know that. I used to have a bed prepared for me, but I forsook it and said to myself: You were not created to lie on a comfortable bed. I only forsook that for Your sake.”’ This was recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim.
Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from Abu Hurayrah (Radi Allahu anhu) that the Prophet (Sallal laahoo alaihi wassallam) said:
(When Allah healed Ayyub Alaihissalaam, He sent upon him a shower of golden locusts, and he started to pick them up and gather them in his garment. It was said to him, “O Ayyub, have you not had enough” He said, “O Lord, who can ever have enough of Your mercy)
Mujahid said: “It was said to him, `O Ayyub, your family will be with you in Paradise; if you want, We will bring them back to you, or if you want, We will leave them for you in Paradise and will compensate you with others like them.’ He said, `No, leave them for me in Paradise.’ So they were left for him in Paradise, and he was compensated with others like them in this world.”
Allah did that to him as a mercy from Allah towards him and made him an example lest those who are beset by trials think that Allah does that to them because He do not care for them, so that they may take him as an example of patience in accepting the decrees of Allah and bearing the trials with which He tests His servants as He wills.’ And Allah has the utmost wisdom with regard to that.
O Allah, I seek refuge in you from grief and sadness, from weakness and from laziness, from miserliness and from cowardice, from being overcome by debt and overpowered by men (i.e. others).
