A surprising amount of the Qurʾān is in quotation marks. Not God addressing humanity, but humanity addressing God, quoted back — and the quotations are startlingly specific. A woman vows the child in her womb before knowing it is a girl. A man swallowed by a fish says eleven words. A prophet asks for a brother. Read together these form something no single sūrah shows: a register of what the Qurʾān considers a well-formed thing to ask for. Notice what almost none of them request — wealth, victory over enemies by name, a specific outcome. Notice what recurs — capacity, forgiveness, offspring, and a good end. Each stop names its speaker, because who is speaking is half of what the prayer teaches.
Interpretation · Qurʾān explaining Qurʾān
Curated by Tartīl editorial. The selection and the grouping are the curator's. Attributions of speaker follow the plain sense of the passage and its immediate context; where the tradition disputes a speaker the note says so. No claim is made that these are the only duʿās in the Qurʾān — there are many more.
- 01
Ibrāhīm, laying foundations
Building the House with his son, and the prayer is not that the building stand. 'Our Lord, accept from us.' Then: make us submissive to You, show us our rites, turn to us. A builder asking that the work be received rather than that it last.
وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمُ ٱلْقَوَاعِدَ مِنَ ٱلْبَيْتِ وَإِسْمَٰعِيلُ رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّآ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ
And [mention] when Abraham was raising the foundations of the House and [with him] Ishmael, [saying], "Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed You are the Hearing, the Knowing.
Al-Baqara 2:127 — read in context →
رَبَّنَا وَٱجْعَلْنَا مُسْلِمَيْنِ لَكَ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِنَآ أُمَّةً مُّسْلِمَةً لَّكَ وَأَرِنَا مَنَاسِكَنَا وَتُبْ عَلَيْنَآ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
Our Lord, and make us Muslims [in submission] to You and from our descendants a Muslim nation [in submission] to You. And show us our rites and accept our repentance. Indeed, You are the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.
Al-Baqara 2:128 — read in context →
- 02
A mother who vowed the wrong child
The wife of ʿImrān dedicates what is in her womb to the sanctuary — then delivers a girl, who by the custom of the vow could not serve. 'And I have named her Maryam, and I commend her and her offspring to You.' She does not withdraw the vow. Read what her disappointment turns into.
إِذْ قَالَتِ ٱمْرَأَتُ عِمْرَٰنَ رَبِّ إِنِّى نَذَرْتُ لَكَ مَا فِى بَطْنِى مُحَرَّرًا فَتَقَبَّلْ مِنِّىٓ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ
[Mention, O Muhammad], when the wife of 'Imran said, "My Lord, indeed I have pledged to You what is in my womb, consecrated [for Your service], so accept this from me. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing."
Aal-i-Imraan 3:35 — read in context →
فَلَمَّا وَضَعَتْهَا قَالَتْ رَبِّ إِنِّى وَضَعْتُهَآ أُنثَىٰ وَٱللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا وَضَعَتْ وَلَيْسَ ٱلذَّكَرُ كَٱلْأُنثَىٰ وَإِنِّى سَمَّيْتُهَا مَرْيَمَ وَإِنِّىٓ أُعِيذُهَا بِكَ وَذُرِّيَّتَهَا مِنَ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ ٱلرَّجِيمِ
But when she delivered her, she said, "My Lord, I have delivered a female." And Allah was most knowing of what she delivered, "And the male is not like the female. And I have named her Mary, and I seek refuge for her in You and [for] her descendants from Satan, the expelled [from the mercy of Allah]."
Aal-i-Imraan 3:36 — read in context →
- 03
Zakariyyā, quietly, in old age
'My bones have weakened and my head is aflame with grey.' He states his condition before his request — and the request itself is hedged: a successor, because he fears what comes after him. 3:38 gives the shorter version: 'grant me from Yourself a good offspring; You are the Hearer of prayer.'
قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّى وَهَنَ ٱلْعَظْمُ مِنِّى وَٱشْتَعَلَ ٱلرَّأْسُ شَيْبًا وَلَمْ أَكُنۢ بِدُعَآئِكَ رَبِّ شَقِيًّا
He said, "My Lord, indeed my bones have weakened, and my head has filled with white, and never have I been in my supplication to You, my Lord, unhappy.
Maryam 19:4 — read in context →
وَإِنِّى خِفْتُ ٱلْمَوَٰلِىَ مِن وَرَآءِى وَكَانَتِ ٱمْرَأَتِى عَاقِرًا فَهَبْ لِى مِن لَّدُنكَ وَلِيًّا
And indeed, I fear the successors after me, and my wife has been barren, so give me from Yourself an heir
Maryam 19:5 — read in context →
هُنَالِكَ دَعَا زَكَرِيَّا رَبَّهُۥ قَالَ رَبِّ هَبْ لِى مِن لَّدُنكَ ذُرِّيَّةً طَيِّبَةً إِنَّكَ سَمِيعُ ٱلدُّعَآءِ
At that, Zechariah called upon his Lord, saying, "My Lord, grant me from Yourself a good offspring. Indeed, You are the Hearer of supplication."
Aal-i-Imraan 3:38 — read in context →
- 04
Eleven words from inside the fish
The most quoted duʿā of distress in the Qurʾān, and it asks for nothing. 'There is no god but You; glory be to You; I have been among the wrongdoers.' Affirmation, glorification, confession — and then 21:88 says he was answered. The pattern is worth noticing: no request was made.
وَذَا ٱلنُّونِ إِذ ذَّهَبَ مُغَٰضِبًا فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن نَّقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ فَنَادَىٰ فِى ٱلظُّلُمَٰتِ أَن لَّآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنتَ سُبْحَٰنَكَ إِنِّى كُنتُ مِنَ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ
And [mention] the man of the fish, when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree [anything] upon him. And he called out within the darknesses, "There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers."
Al-Anbiyaa 21:87 — read in context →
فَٱسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُۥ وَنَجَّيْنَٰهُ مِنَ ٱلْغَمِّ وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُـۨجِى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
So We responded to him and saved him from the distress. And thus do We save the believers.
Al-Anbiyaa 21:88 — read in context →
- 05
Ayyūb, who would not overstate it
'Affliction has touched me, and You are the most merciful of the merciful.' The verb is *massaniya* — touched. A man in proverbial suffering describes it as a touch, and then names God's mercy rather than his own need.
وَأَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُۥٓ أَنِّى مَسَّنِىَ ٱلضُّرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرْحَمُ ٱلرَّٰحِمِينَ
And [mention] Job, when he called to his Lord, "Indeed, adversity has touched me, and you are the Most Merciful of the merciful."
Al-Anbiyaa 21:83 — read in context →
فَٱسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُۥ فَكَشَفْنَا مَا بِهِۦ مِن ضُرٍّ وَءَاتَيْنَٰهُ أَهْلَهُۥ وَمِثْلَهُم مَّعَهُمْ رَحْمَةً مِّنْ عِندِنَا وَذِكْرَىٰ لِلْعَٰبِدِينَ
So We responded to him and removed what afflicted him of adversity. And We gave him [back] his family and the like thereof with them as mercy from Us and a reminder for the worshippers [of Allah].
Al-Anbiyaa 21:84 — read in context →
- 06
Mūsā, asking to be made able
Sent to Pharaoh, he asks for four things and not one of them is protection: expand my chest, ease my task, untie my tongue, let them understand me. A request for capacity, not for rescue. See [[musa]] for where this sits in his life.
قَالَ رَبِّ ٱشْرَحْ لِى صَدْرِى
[Moses] said, "My Lord, expand for me my breast [with assurance]
Taa-Haa 20:25 — read in context →
وَيَسِّرْ لِىٓ أَمْرِى
And ease for me my task
Taa-Haa 20:26 — read in context →
وَٱحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِّن لِّسَانِى
And untie the knot from my tongue
Taa-Haa 20:27 — read in context →
يَفْقَهُوا۟ قَوْلِى
That they may understand my speech.
Taa-Haa 20:28 — read in context →
- 07
The same man, homeless, asking for anything
Years earlier — a fugitive, exhausted, having just watered someone else's flock for nothing. 'My Lord, I am in need of whatever good You send down to me.' One line, and it names no object at all. Read it directly after the previous stop.
- 08
The only thing he was told to ask more of
'And say: my Lord, increase me in knowledge.' The single duʿā in the Qurʾān where the Prophet is instructed to ask for an increase — and the object is ʿilm. Set beside 96:1–5, the first revelation, this is a consistent emphasis.
- 09
The youths in the cave
Fleeing a persecution, they ask for mercy and for rushd — right direction — 'in our affair'. Young people who have already made the hard decision, praying not for the decision to be reversed but for their handling of it to be sound.
- 10
The prayer that refuses to choose
The Qurʾān first describes people who ask only for this world, then quotes the better prayer: good in this world, good in the hereafter, and protect us from the Fire. Notice it does not renounce the dunyā; it declines to stop there.
فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُم مَّنَٰسِكَكُمْ فَٱذْكُرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ كَذِكْرِكُمْ ءَابَآءَكُمْ أَوْ أَشَدَّ ذِكْرًا فَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يَقُولُ رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا وَمَا لَهُۥ فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلَٰقٍ
And when you have completed your rites, remember Allah like your [previous] remembrance of your fathers or with [much] greater remembrance. And among the people is he who says, "Our Lord, give us in this world," and he will have in the Hereafter no share.
Al-Baqara 2:200 — read in context →
وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَقُولُ رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ
But among them is he who says, "Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire."
Al-Baqara 2:201 — read in context →
أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ لَهُمْ نَصِيبٌ مِّمَّا كَسَبُوا۟ وَٱللَّهُ سَرِيعُ ٱلْحِسَابِ
Those will have a share of what they have earned, and Allah is swift in account.
Al-Baqara 2:202 — read in context →
- 11
Two words for the people who raised you
'My Lord, have mercy on them as they raised me when I was small.' And in 46:15 the fuller version — gratitude for the favour to me and to my parents, and a request that my offspring be set right. Three generations in one sentence.
وَٱخْفِضْ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ ٱلذُّلِّ مِنَ ٱلرَّحْمَةِ وَقُل رَّبِّ ٱرْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرًا
And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say, "My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small."
Al-Israa 17:24 — read in context →
وَوَصَّيْنَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ بِوَٰلِدَيْهِ إِحْسَٰنًا حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُۥ كُرْهًا وَوَضَعَتْهُ كُرْهًا وَحَمْلُهُۥ وَفِصَٰلُهُۥ ثَلَٰثُونَ شَهْرًا حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُۥ وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً قَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِىٓ أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَىَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَٰلِدَىَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَٰلِحًا تَرْضَىٰهُ وَأَصْلِحْ لِى فِى ذُرِّيَّتِىٓ إِنِّى تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّى مِنَ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ
And We have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment. His mother carried him with hardship and gave birth to him with hardship, and his gestation and weaning [period] is thirty months. [He grows] until, when he reaches maturity and reaches [the age of] forty years, he says, "My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to work righteousness of which You will approve and make righteous for me my offspring. Indeed, I have repented to You, and indeed, I am of the Muslims."
Al-Ahqaf 46:15 — read in context →
- 12
Pour patience upon us
Three different groups facing three different defeats — Ṭālūt's small army, an earlier band of believers, and the sorcerers under threat of crucifixion. All three ask in nearly the same words: pour upon us patience, and let us die submitted. The formula is shared across centuries.
وَلَمَّا بَرَزُوا۟ لِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِۦ قَالُوا۟ رَبَّنَآ أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَٱنصُرْنَا عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ
And when they went forth to [face] Goliath and his soldiers, they said, "Our Lord, pour upon us patience and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people."
Al-Baqara 2:250 — read in context →
وَمَا كَانَ قَوْلَهُمْ إِلَّآ أَن قَالُوا۟ رَبَّنَا ٱغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَإِسْرَافَنَا فِىٓ أَمْرِنَا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَٱنصُرْنَا عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ
And their words were not but that they said, "Our Lord, forgive us our sins and the excess [committed] in our affairs and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people."
Aal-i-Imraan 3:147 — read in context →
وَمَا تَنقِمُ مِنَّآ إِلَّآ أَنْ ءَامَنَّا بِـَٔايَٰتِ رَبِّنَا لَمَّا جَآءَتْنَا رَبَّنَآ أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا وَتَوَفَّنَا مُسْلِمِينَ
And you do not resent us except because we believed in the signs of our Lord when they came to us. Our Lord, pour upon us patience and let us die as Muslims [in submission to You]."
Al-A'raaf 7:126 — read in context →
- 13
Perfect our light
On the Day their light runs before them, the believers pray: 'our Lord, perfect for us our light and forgive us.' A prayer made after the outcome is already visible — and still it asks for completion. The lamp of 24:35 is the same image.
- 14
And put no rancour in our hearts
Those who came later praying for those who came before — 'forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith, and put not in our hearts resentment toward those who believed.' A prayer about how to hold the people you disagree with.
- 15
Make us an example
The servants of the Merciful ask for 'coolness of the eyes' from spouses and offspring — and then something larger: make us an imām for the God-conscious. Not to follow a good example but to be one.
- 16
The prayer al-Baqara ends on
The longest sūrah closes with the fullest duʿā: do not take us to task if we forget or err; do not burden us as You burdened those before us; do not load us beyond our capacity. Pardon us, forgive us, have mercy on us. It ends the path where the Book itself ends its longest chapter.