رَبِّ قَدْ ءَاتَيْتَنِى مِنَ ٱلْمُلْكِ وَعَلَّمْتَنِى مِن تَأْوِيلِ ٱلْأَحَادِيثِ فَاطِرَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ أَنتَ وَلِىِّۦ فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْءَاخِرَةِ تَوَفَّنِى مُسْلِمًا وَأَلْحِقْنِى بِٱلصَّٰلِحِينَ
Rabbi qad ātaytanī mina'l-mulki wa-ʿallamtanī min taʾwīli'l-aḥādīth · Fāṭira's-samāwāti wa'l-arḍi anta waliyyī fi'd-dunyā wa'l-ākhira · Tawaffanī musliman wa-alḥiqnī bi'ṣ-ṣāliḥīn
"'My Lord! You have given me something of dominion, and taught me something of the interpretation of events. Originator of the heavens and the earth! You are my guardian in this world and the hereafter. Take me in full submission, and join me to the righteous.'"
And this is one of the most noteworthy points of the sūra. I record it as my own reading, and its ground is the place of the prayer in the sūra:
This prayer comes at the end of the story. The dream has been fulfilled, the family reunited, the position at its highest point. And at exactly this point a request is uttered.
| Part | Expression | What |
|---|---|---|
| The first | Qad ātaytanī … wa-ʿallamtanī | The counting of what has been given — past tense |
| The second | Tawaffanī … wa-alḥiqnī | What is asked for — imperative |
| What is in hand | What is asked for |
|---|---|
| Mina'l-mulk — dominion | Musliman — to die in submission |
| Min taʾwīli'l-aḥādīth — knowledge | Bi'ṣ-ṣāliḥīn — to be joined to the righteous |
That is, the two things in hand (power and knowledge) are counted; the two things asked for are neither of them. And this is the most concrete conclusion of the sūra.
I treated this particle at the sixth verse: min is explained by the lexicographers as partitive (tabʿīḍ). And here it is used twice.
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the repetition of the particles: the man names what is in his hand not as the whole but as a share. And the promise in the sixth verse had been given with the same particle (wa-yuʿallimuka min taʾwīli'l-aḥādīth). That is, the measure of the promise and the measure of the thanks are conveyed with the same particle.
And this request comes from the same place as the sentence treated at al-ʿAnkabūt 29/9:
"Those who believe and do righteous deeds We shall surely admit among the righteous" (29/9). The verse does not say "We shall put them in the Garden" — it says fi'ṣ-ṣāliḥīn, that is, We shall admit them into a company. The reward is given not as a place but as a belonging.
| Al-ʿAnkabūt 29/9 | Yūsuf 12/101 | |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | La-nudkhilannahum — We shall admit | Alḥiqnī — join me |
| Who does it | God — a promise | The servant — a request |
| Pattern | A statement | Imperative (prayer) |
| Common | Fi'ṣ-ṣāliḥīn / bi'ṣ-ṣāliḥīn — joining a company |
The two verses give the same idea from two directions: one a promise, the other a request. This is an overlap verifiable between the two sūras.
The root ل-ح-ق: to catch up from behind, to reach, to join. And the image of the word is worth noting: the man places himself behind that company — ilḥāq is to catch up with those who go ahead.
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the concrete sense of the root: the prayer comes from the mouth of a man who holds dominion and he sees himself on the side that has to catch up.
The root و-ف-ي: to take in full, to receive complete. Tawaffā — to take a due in full; from this comes death. The root was treated at al-Zumar 39/42 (Allāhu yatawaffa'l-anfusa).
And the choice of the word is worth recording: death is named not as a diminishing but as a taking in full.
فَاطِرَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ — the root ف-ط-ر: to split, to open for the first time. The root was treated in detail at Fāṭir 35/1 on the occasion of that sūra's name. I do not repeat it here.
And this construction was cited at al-Infiṭār 82/1:
"Originator of the heavens and the earth! You are my guardian in this world and the hereafter." (Yūsuf 12/101)
And that this name should have been chosen in this prayer is worth noting; I give this as my own reading: the prayer addresses the one who makes the beginning — and what is asked for concerns the end. That is, the sentence binds the first opening to the last closing.