Bismillah

Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says in surah Al-e-Imran,

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ ۗ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ۖ فَمَن زُحْزِحَ عَنِ النَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ ۗ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ

Everyone shall taste death. And only on the Day of Resurrection shall you be paid your wages in full. And whoever is removed away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, he indeed is successful. The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception (a deceiving thing). (3:185)

Allah describes the successful person as the one who is saved from the Fire and enters Jannah; our true sucess lies in the hereafter.

This duaa asks Allah azza wa jal for the best in our aakhirah and to save us from the worst end.

In a Saheeh (authentic) hadeeth in Sunan Ibn Maajah, A’ishah radi Allahu anha narrated that the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam taught her this duaa:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَا قَرَّبَ إِلَيْهَا مِنْ قَوْلٍ أَوْ عَمَلٍ وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ النَّارِ وَمَا قَرَّبَ إِلَيْهَا مِنْ قَوْلٍ

أَوْعَمَلٍ وَأَسْأَلُكَ أَنْ تَجْعَلَ كُلَّ قَضَاءٍ قَضَيْتَهُ لِي خَيْرًا

Allāhumma Innī As’alukal-Jannaħ Wa Mā Qarraba Ilayhā Min Qawlin Aw cAmalin Wa Acūdhu Bika Min-Nāri Wa Mā Qarraba Ilayhā Min Qawlin Aw cAmalin Wa As’aluka An Tajcala Kulla Qaḍā’in Qaḍaytahu Lī Khayran

O Allah, I ask You of Paradise and every deed or speech that will be a means of drawing near to it; and I seek refuge in You from the Fire and from every deed or speech that will be a means of drawing near to it; and I ask You that You make whatever You have decreed for me a means of good.

Word for Word Translation and Analysis

Allāhumma: O Allah

Innī: Indeed I

As’aluka: I ask You

Al-Jannaħ: The Paradise.

Wa: And

Mā: Whatever

Qarraba: It brought closer/nearer

Ilayhā: to it

Min: from

Qawlin: speech

Aw: or

cAmalin: deeds/actions

Wa: and

Acūdhu: I seek refuge/protection

Bika: with You

Min: from

An-nāri: the Fire.

Wa: and

Mā: whatever

Qarraba: it brought closer

Ilayhā: to it

Min: from

Qawlin: speech

Aw: or

cAmalin: deeds/action

Wa: and

As’aluka: I ask You

An: that

Tajcala: You make

Kulla: every

Qaḍā’in: decree

Qaḍaytahu: You decree it

Lī: for me

Khayran: good

Memorize this duaa by downloading it here.

Points of Benefit

• We need the help of Allah to enter Jannah and to be saved from the Fire. It should be a regular habit that we ask Allah ta’ala for good in our hereafter. We learn from another hadeeth that, Whoever asks Allah for Paradise three times [Allahumma innee as'aluk al-Jannah], then Paradise will say: “O Allah! Enter him into Paradise!” And whoever seeks protection with Allah from the Fire three times [Allahumma najjinee min an-Naar], the Fire will say: “O Allah! Protect him from the Fire!”" [Reported by at-Tirmidhi, and it is authentic]
• Paradise and Hell-Fire can be an arm’s length away: “I swear by Allah - there is no God but He - one of you may perform the deeds of the people of Paradise till there is naught but an arm’s length between him and it, when that which has been written will outstrip him so that he performs the deeds of the people of the Hell Fire; one of you may perform the deeds of the people of the Hell Fire, till there is naught but an arm’s length between him and it, when that which has been written will overtake him so that he performs the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters therein.”‘ [Bukhari]
• Allah only wills good for the believer. The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, “I am amazed at the believer, how Allah – the Exalted – does not Will for him something except that it is best for him.” [Saheeh al Jami']
• Every situation is good for the believer. “The affair of the believer is amazing! The whole of his life is beneficial, and that is only in the case of the believer. When good times come to him, he is thankful and it is good for him, and when bad times befall him, he is patient and it is also good for him.” [Saheeh Muslim]
• Only Allah knows what is good for us. He azza wa jal says, “And it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know.” (2:216)
• We should not belittle any good deed or any sin. In this duaa, we ask Allah to bring us closer to speech that will take us to Jannah and to protect us from speech that will take us to the Fire. The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, “Do not belittle any good deed, even if it is meeting your brother with a cheerful face.” [Bukhari] The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam also said, “I saw a man going about in Jannah (and enjoying himself) as a reward for cutting from the middle of the road, a tree which was causing inconvenience to the Muslims.” [Muslim] Share in the comments some deeds that are SUPER EASY to do and have a lot of reward that we can do for the remaining days of this month inshaAllah.

Remember when making duaa these last nights to call upon Allah with yaqeen (certainty), the Prophet sal Allahu alahyi wa sallam advised us, “Supplicate to Allah while you are certain that He will answer you, and know that Allah does not answer supplication from a heart that is heedless of Him.” [Saheeh al Jaami']

We ask Allah to grant us Jannah, to save us from Hell-Fire and to make good for us whatever He decrees. Ameen.