Al-Qur'an Surah Al-A'raf Verse 55

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Supplicate to your Lord humbly and secretly. Surely, He does not like those who cross the limits.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Call upon your Lord humbly and secretly. Surely He does not like the transgressors.

Ruwwad Translation Center

Call upon your Lord with humility and in private, for He does not like the transgressors.

A. J. Arberry

Call on your Lord, humbly and secretly; He loves not transgressors.

Abdul Haleem

Call on your Lord humbly and privately- He does not like those who transgress His bounds:

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Call on Your Lord in humility and in secrecy; verily He approveth not the trespassers.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Call on your Lord with humility and in private; for Allah loveth not those who trespass beyond bounds.

Abul Ala Maududi

Call upon your Lord with humility and in secret. Surely He does not love transgressors.

Ahmed Ali

Pray to your Lord in humility and unseen. He does not love the iniquitous.

Ahmed Raza Khan

Pray to your Lord crying humbly, and softly; indeed He does not love the transgressors.

Ali Quli Qarai

Supplicate your Lord, beseechingly and secretly. Indeed, He does not like the transgressors.

Ali Ünal

Call upon your Lord (O humankind) with humility and in the secrecy of your hearts. Indeed your Lord does not love those who exceed the bounds.

Amatul Rahman Omar

Call upon your Lord with humility and open supplication. In fact He does not love the transgressors.

English Literal

Call your Lord humbly and humiliated and hiddenly/secretly, that He does not love/like the transgressors/violators .

Faridul Haque

Pray to your Lord crying humbly, and softly; indeed He does not love the transgressors.

Hamid S. Aziz

Call on your Lord humbly and secretly, verily, He loves not the aggressors (the arrogant, the transgressors).

Hilali & Khan

Invoke your Lord with humility and in secret. He likes not the aggressors.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

Surely your Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six periods, and He is established on the Throne of Power. He makes the night cover the day, which it pursues incessantly. And (He created) the sun and the moon and the stars, made subservient by His command. Surely His is the creation and the command. Blessed is Allah, the Lord of the worlds!

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Call on your Lord humbly and secretly; surely He does not love those who exceed the limits.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

(O mankind!) Call upon your Lord humbly and in secret. Lo! He loveth not aggressors.

Muhammad Sarwar

Pray to your Lord humbly and privately. God does not love the transgressors.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Supplicate to your Lord with humility and in secret. He does not love the transgressors.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Invoke your Lord Tadarru`an and Khufyah. He likes not the aggressors.

Wahiduddin Khan

Call on your Lord with humility and in secret, He does not love the transgressors:

Talal Itani

Call upon your Lord humbly and privately. He does not love the aggressors.

Tafsir jalalayn

Call upon your Lord humbly (tadarru`an is a circumstantial qualifier), in subservience, and quietly, in secret. Truly, He loves not the aggressors, who are braggarts and loud-mouthed in [their] supplications.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Encouraging supplicating to Allah

Allah commands His servants to supplicate to Him, for this will ensure their welfare in this life and the Hereafter.

Allah said,

ادْعُواْ رَبَّكُمْ تَضَرُّعًا وَخُفْيَةً

Invoke your Lord Tadarru`an and Khufyah,

meaning, in humbleness and humility.

Allah said in a similar Ayah,

وَاذْكُر رَّبَّكَ فِي نَفْسِكَ

And remember your Lord within yourself. (7;205)

It is recorded in the Two Sahihs that Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari said,

"The people raised their voices with supplications but the Messenger of Allah said,

أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ ارْبَعُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِكُمْ فَإِنَّكُمْ لَا تَدْعُونَ أَصَمَّ وَلَا غَايِبًا إِنَّ الَّذِي تَدْعُونَ سَمِيعٌ قَرِيب

O people! Take it easy on yourselves. Verily, you are not calling one who is deaf or absent, rather, the One you are calling is All-Hearer, Near (to His servants by His knowledge).

Ibn Jarir said that,

تَضَرُّعًا
(Tadarru`an),

means obeying Him in humility and humbleness,

وَخُفْيَةً
(and Khufyah),

with the humbleness in your hearts and certainty of His Oneness and Lordship not supplicating loudly to show off.
Forbidding Aggression in Supplications

Allah's statement,

إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ



He likes not the aggressors.

Ata Al-Khurasani narrated from Ibn Abbas, who said about Allah's statement,

"In the Du`a and otherwise."

Abu Mijlaz commented on,
إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ
(He likes not the aggressors),

"Such (aggression) as asking to reach the grade of the Prophets."

Imam Ahmad narrated that Abu Ni`amah said that Abdullah bin Mughaffal heard his son supplicating,

"O Allah! I ask you for the white castle on the right side of Paradise, if I enter it."

So Abdullah said, "O my son! Ask Allah for Paradise and seek refuge with Him from the Fire, for I heard the Messenger of Allah saying,

يَكُونُ قَوْمٌ يَعْتَدُونَ فِي الدُّعَاءِ وَالطَّهُور

There will come some people who transgress in supplication and purification."

Ibn Majah and Abu Dawud recorded this Hadith with a good chain that there is no harm in, and Allah knows best.
The Prohibition of causing Mischief in the Land

Allah said next