of goodness.
– “And You are capable of all things”: a general statement following a particular one, lest anyone imagine limitation or enumeration.
– “O Allah, set right for me my religion, which is the safeguard of my affairs”: he describes the religion as the protection of one’s entire matter—and this is the exact truth, for the soundness of a person’s religion is his principal capital and the highest object of his quest.
– “Set right for me my worldly life in which is my livelihood”: the rectification of worldly life—because it is the place and arena of his living—is an undeniable necessity. Whoever’s livelihood is not orderly will never perfect his Hereafter.
– “Set right for me my Hereafter, to which I shall return”: the rectification of the Hereafter, which is the final place of return and settlement, is what the servants strive for by performing acts of obedience and avoiding prohibitions. Indeed, asking for the soundness of one’s religion implicitly includes this, for when Allah sets a man’s religion right, He has thereby set right his Hereafter, the abode of return.
– “Make death a relief for me from every evil”: if death removes and cuts off all evils, then it is a great boon for the servant.
The hadith does not indicate the permissibility of praying for death itself; rather, it shows that one may ask that, when death is decreed and arrives, it be a relief from the evils of this world and the evils of the grave, for the supplication is comprehensive regarding all harm. What a Muslim who fears trials and tribulations should say is: “O Allah, keep me alive so long as life is better for me, and take me when death is better for me.” [Al-Bukhari 5671; Muslim 2680].
– “O Allah, teach me what will benefit me and grant me beneficial knowledge”: a request that Allah bestow beneficial knowledge. Beneficial knowledge is the revealed sciences, both their fundamentals and their branches, for they are among the most exalted favors and the finest portions. The Exalted said, “Whoever is granted wisdom has truly been given abundant good” (2:269); and He said, “Say, ‘Are those who know equal to those who do not know?’” (39:9); and He said, “Allah will raise in rank those of you who believe and those who have been given knowledge” (58:11).