How the Prophet Would Complain

It is related that when Abu Talib died, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) went out on foot to Ta’if to call its people to Islam. They rejected his call, and he walked away until he got to the shade of a tree. So, he prayed two rak’at and said:

اللهم إني أشكو إليك ضعف قوتي وهواني على الناس أنت أرحم الراحمين إلى من تكلني إلى عدو يتجهمني أم إلى قريب ملكته أمري إن لم تكن غضبان علي فلا أبالي غير أن عافيتك أوسع لي أعوذ بوجهك الذي أشرقت له الظلمات وصلح عليه أمر الدنيا والآخرة أن ينزل بي غضبك أو يحل بي سخطك لك العتبى حتى ترضى ولا قوة إلا بالله

“O Allah, I complain to You of my weakness and my insignificance in the eyes of the people. You are the most Merciful. No matter who You have put me at the mercy of – an enemy who will be stern with me, or a friend to look after my affairs – as long as You are not Angry with me, then I don’t care. However, the relief You bring would be more comfortable for me. I seek refuge with Your Face – for which the darkness has lit up, and the affairs of this world and the next are organized – from being afflicted with Your Wrath or deserving of Your Anger. You have the right to admonish as You please, and there is no might nor power except by Allah.”

This was related by al-Haythami in ‘Majma’ az-Zawa’id’ (6/35), and he mentioned in it that at-Tabarani related it in ‘al-Mu’jam al-Kabir’ on the authority of ‘Abdullah bin Ja’far bin Abi Talib, and that its chain of narration contains Ibn Ishaq, who is a trustworthy mudallis, with the rest of the narrators in its chain being trustworthy.

‘Alawi as-Saqqaf said in his checking of ‘Fi Dhilal al-Qur’an’ that it is hasan, and Ibrahim al-’Ali included it in ‘Sahih as-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah’ (p. 136).