Surah Az-Zukhruf: Verse 13 - لتستووا على ظهوره ثم تذكروا... - English

In order that ye may sit firm and square on their backs, and when so seated, ye may celebrate the (kind) favour of your Lord, and say, "Glory to Him Who has subjected these to our (use), for we could never have accomplished this (by ourselves), (13)

ثُمَّ تَذْكُرُ‌وا نِعْمَةَ رَ‌بِّكُمْ (then recall the favour of your Lord - 13). This tells us that a sensible and alert person should not display negligence, carelessness or his need-free of the divine help while enjoying the blessings of the Actual Benefactor, rather he should acknowledge that it is a reward from Allah Almighty, obliging him to be grateful and to display his impotence and humility. Actually this is the difference between an infidel and a Mu'min that an infidel uses the good things of this world carelessly and negligently, while the Mu'min congnizant of the blessings of Allah bows his head to Allah Almighty in humility. It is for this reason that the Qur'an and hadith have taught supplications for patience, steadfastness and gratefulness, and if anyone makes a habit of supplicating those prayers in his daily life while getting up, sitting down, walking about, etc., then all his (or hers) permissible activities turn into acts of worship. These supplications are collected by ` Allamah Ibn-ul-Jazri in his book Al-Hisn-ul-Hasin, and Maulana Thanawi in Munajat-e-Maqbul.

Supplications of a traveler

سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ‌ لَنَا هَـٰذَا (Pure is the One who has subjugated this for us - 13). These words of supplication are to be said when mounting a transport. This was the practice of the Holy Prophet ﷺ according to many narrations. The mustahab (preferable) way to ride a transport, as stated by Sayyidna ` Ali ؓ ، is to say بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ :'Bismillah' (With the name of Allah) when one is putting the first foot on the animal or the vehicle, and after one has set himself or herself on the transport, one should say الْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ Alhamdulillah' (All praise belongs to Allah), and then one should say the words mentioned in this verse from سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ‌ لَنَا هَـٰذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِ‌نِينَ وَإِنَّا إِلَىٰ رَ‌بِّنَا لَمُنقَلِبُونَ (Qurtubi). Moreover according to some reports, the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، after saying these words, used to supplicate in the following words also:

اَللَّھُمَّ اَنتَ الصَّاحِبُ فِی السَّفَرِ وَ الخلِیفَۃُ فِی الاَھلِ وَالمالِ اَللَّھُمَّ اِنِّی اَعُوذُبِکَ مَن وَّعثَآءِ السَّفَرِ وَ کَآا ؓ بَۃِ المُنقَلَبِ ، وَالحَورِ بعدَ الکَورِ وَ سُوءِ المَنظَر فِی الاَھلِ وَالمَالِ ۔

"0 Allah, you are my companion in the journey, and my substitute for my family. 0 Allah, I seek your refuge from the sufferings of the journey, and from coming back in a sad situation, and from a bad state of being after a good one, and from a bad scenario appearing to me about my family and my belongings."

According to one narration, the following words are added to the above supplication,

اللَّھُمَّ لَٓا اِلٰہَ اِلَّا اَنتِ ، ظَلَمتُ نَفسِی فاغفِر لِی اِنَّہُ لَا یَغفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ اِلَّا اَنتَ

0 Allah, there is no god but You. I have done wrong to myself; so forgive me. Surely, no one can forgive the sins, but You alone. (Qurtubi)

وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِ‌نِينَ (and we were not able to have control over it - 13). This statement is as true for mechanical means of transport as for cattle and animals, because if Allah Ta’ ala had not created their raw materials, or had not endowed them with their particular properties, or had not endowed the human intellect with capability to discover those properties, even the whole universe, acting together in unison, could not have produced these vehicles.

(13)