لَآ إِلٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّيْ كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِيْنَ
There is no god but You; glory be to You. Truly, I have been among the wrongdoers.
Lā ilāha illā anta subḥānaka innī kuntu mina-ẓ-ẓālimīn.
Reference
Qur'an, Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ (21:87): Dhū-n-Nūn (peace be upon him) went off angry, then called out in the darknesses with these words:
- Qur'an 21:87
Virtue & Reward
In the report of Saʿd (may Allah be pleased with him), as given in Fatḥ al-Bārī and Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said that no Muslim man ever supplicates with these words about anything except that Allah answers him. In al-Ḥākim's wording a man asked whether this was for Yūnus alone or for the believers generally, and the Messenger answered by pointing to Allah's words: “And thus We rescue the believers.”
Explanation
Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī explains Dhū-n-Nūn as the companion of the whale, that is Yūnus (peace be upon him), who called out to his Lord while in the whale's belly. It reads the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him) as telling the listener to make this same supplication, for any need. The words affirm that there is no god but Allah, glorify Him, and admit wrongdoing. Fatḥ al-Bārī cites Saʿd's report in the discussion of whether words of tahlīl and glorification, with no explicit request, already count as supplication. It brings the report as support for the view that praise can take the place of asking.
- Fatḥ al-Bārī 11/147
- Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī 9/336