42
O Lord, I have turned to You in repentance
and submission, holding onto Your rope.
I do not need any powerful person, for You, my Lord,
are the Most Great, the All-Powerful.
I have tried every refuge in my life but found no refuge
more mighty and honorable than Your refuge.
Let us talk about our Almighty Lord, Who says: {Indeed, it is Allah Who is the All-Provider, Lord of Power, the Mighty.} [Surat adh-Dhāriyāt: 58] And Who says: {Allah has repelled the disbelievers in their rage without gaining any good. And Allah spared the believers from fighting, and Allah is All-Powerful, All-Mighty.} [Surat al-Ahzāb: 25] He also says: {...Indeed, Allah is All-Powerful, All-Mighty.} [Surat al-Hadīd: 25]
Our All-Powerful Lord never suffers any weakness, laxity, or fatigue.
Our Lord is the One Who is never overcome, defeated, or resisted, and Whose decree is never repelled. To Him belong the absolute power and the perfect will.
Verily, He possesses unlimited and boundless power.
Our Lord has complete power and is omnipotent. Never does He experience any inability or fatigue. His will is sure to pass at any time He wishes in His heavens or earth - Exalted be He.
He is All-Powerful in His strike and punishment.
All power belongs to Him alone. {...All power belongs to Allah...} [Surat al-Baqarah: 165]
He is the All-Powerful and power is one of His attributes; and He has complete power over those who are in power.
How can we not be totally devoted to Him and rely upon Him for the fulfillment of our desires and needs when we are in utmost need for His power and giving?!
We cannot have any power save through His power and help, and we cannot have the strength to avoid sins and evils except through Him.
Allah Almighty grants such power to whom He wills, just like sustenance in general.
Man is weak. He is created weak, born weak, and will die weak. Allah Almighty says: {...And mankind was created weak.} [Surat an-Nisā’: 28] He also says: {It is Allah Who created you in a state of weakness, then after weakness He gave you strength, then after strength He made you weak and old. He creates what He wills, and He is the All-Knowing, the Most Capable.} [Surat ar-Rūm: 54]
As many people tend to forget this truth - that humans are created weak and have no power or strength except through Allah - the devil has allured them into self-conceit and the belief that they are powerful, leading them to forget the power of Allah. Hence, they persist in their misguidance and deviation.
Take ‘Ād as an example, Allah Almighty says about them: {As for ‘Ād, they were arrogant in the land without right, and said, “Who is more powerful than us?” Did they not see that Allah, Who created them, is more powerful than them? Yet they continued to reject Our signs.} [Surat Fussilat: 15]
When Hūd (Heber) (peace be upon him) asked them to fear Allah and worship Him alone, they said: {...Who is greater than us in strength?...} [Surat Fussilat: 15] We have vanquished other people and can defend ourselves against any punishment, thanks to our great power. They were conceited by their tall statures. Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said: “The tallest among them was hundred cubits long and the shortest was sixty cubits.”
When their defiance and disobedience reached their peak, Allah Almighty sent upon them one of His soldiers: a ferocious wind. He says: {So We sent against them a roaring wind for several inauspicious days to make them taste a disgracing punishment in the life of this world; but the punishment of the Hereafter is far more disgracing, and they will not be helped.} [Surat Fussilat: 16]
This is one of the immutable laws of Allah, which continues throughout the ages: Those who act arrogantly and are conceited due to their power will meet the same fate as ‘Ād, i.e. they will be seized by the All-Powerful Lord.
Hence, Allah Almighty says: {Say, “Travel through the land, then see how was the end of the deniers.”} [Surat al-An‘ām: 11] Perhaps they will learn a lesson from the terrible and deadly fates of the past nations. Scores of nations denied Allah and His messengers and acted arrogantly due to their power and advance on earth, thus, Allah seized them so powerfully. {Each of them We seized for their sin: against some of them We sent a storm of stones; some were seized by a blast; some We caused the earth to swallow; and some We drowned. It was not Allah Who wronged them, but it was they who wronged themselves.} [Surat al-‘Ankabūt: 40]
In the battle of the Ahzāb (allies), The polytheists besieged the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) with the intention to wipe them off the face of the earth. However, Allah Almighty sent down one of His soldiers - a wind - which made them flee from around Madinah. {Allah has repelled the disbelievers in their rage without gaining any good. And Allah spared the believers from fighting, and Allah is All-Powerful, All-Mighty.} [Surat al-Ahzāb: 25]
A boy destroyed a king; water drowned a community; a sea stamped out an army; a mosquito humiliated the tyrant Namrūd; a land swallowed Qārūn; and birds crushed the army of Abrahah.
He is the All-Powerful, Whose power amazes all.
The matter and decision entirely belong to Allah Almighty, not to His creation.
The more one knows the meaning of Allah’s name “Al-Qawiyy”, the more he will rely upon his Lord and derive all power from Him, disowning his own power and strength. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) is authentically reported to have said to one of his Companions: “Shall I inform you of a phrase which is one of the treasures of Paradise? La hawla wa la quwwata illa billāh (There is no power nor strength except through Allah).” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri - this is his wording - and Muslim] It means: You cannot move from one state to another, or have the capacity to effect any change unless Allah helps, supports, and guides you.
‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “There is no power nor strength except through Allah means you cannot turn away from disobeying Allah except through His protection, and you do not have the ability to obey Him except with His help.”
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: “This phrase has an amazing effect when it comes to dealing with difficult matters, enduring hardships, meeting kings and those who are feared, and facing horrible events. It also helps in getting rid of poverty.”
Allah Almighty loves to see His servants humble to Him and remembering His power. {If only you had said, when you entered your garden, ‘This is by Allah’s Will; there is no power except with Allah.’ Even though you see me inferior to you in wealth and children,} [Surat al-Kahf: 39]
Although Allah loves the humble, He also loves the strong believers. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) is authentically reported to have said: “The strong believer is better and dearer to Allah than the weak one, yet there is goodness in both of them.” [Narrated by Muslim]
These two attributes occur in this verse: {...Humble towards the believers, mighty against the disbelievers...} [Surat al-Mā’idah: 54] Nations can only be strong by knowledge and work. Allah Almighty says: {Prepare against them whatever force you can and cavalry, to deter Allah’s enemies and your enemies, and others besides them whom you do not know, but Allah knows them...} [Surat al-Anfāl: 60]
Do what Allah wants from you, and He will give you more than what you want.
O Allah, the All-Powerful, the All-Mighty, support us against the oppressors.