Understanding Salat — Page 220
Understanding S al A t 220 ِ ل ۡ دُعَآء َّ نَا وَتَقَب َّ رَب Our Lord! Do accept my prayer (The meaning of the expression نَا َّ رَب (Our Lord), when followed by َ و (and), has been covered under the chapter on ُ رَبَّنَا وَلَك َ الْحَمْد (Our Lord! and Yours is the Praise). Please refer to that chap- ter for commentary on these words. ) The word ۡ ل َّ تَقَب (accept) carries an expression of humility. With this word, we acknowledge that our prayers and sacrifices are not worthy of being accepted in and of themselves. Rather, if they are accepted, it is by the grace of Allah Almighty. Hadrat Mu s le h Mau' ū d ra said, Taqabbal is from the verbal form of Tafa‘‘al, and Tafa‘‘al carries the meaning of forced effort. Thus, they say, ( ا َّ ل ۡ مِن َّ تَقَب ) ‘Do have mercy on us Yourself by accepting this sacrifice. ’ ( Tafs ī r-e-Kab ī r, vol. 2, pp. 180) We sometimes comfort ourselves with the assumption that our prayers are accomplishing something in and of them- selves. We imagine that each time we say, ‘my Lord forgive me,’ a few of our sins are forgiven. We imagine that the more prayers we offer for forgiveness, the more of our sins are forgiven, as if prayer is a system of action and reaction.