سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَذَا، وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ، وَإِنَّا إِلَى رَبِّنَا لَمُنْقَلِبُون

“Glory be to the One Who has subjected this [transport], for we could never have accomplished this (by ourselves)], and indeed to Our Lord we will surely return” [Al-Zukhruf: 43:13-14].

This is a Du’a from the blessed Qur’an we say when we are about to undertake a journey.  It’s a simple supplication that I am sure all of us have memorised and say on a routine basis. I want to spend a few paragraphs exploring the depths and richness of this supplication.

Glory be to the One – سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي

The Du’a starts with Subhan Allah (Glory be to Allah). Have you ever wondered why Allah started with Subhan Allah? Would it not have been more fitting to start with Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah) – for indeed the blessing of having the ability to travel is something to be grateful about?

A key quality of wisdom is to put things in its proper place. Allah is Al-Hakim (the All-Wise), He chose Subhan Allah over Alhamdulillah for a reason. So what could that reason be to begin with Subhan Allah over Alhamdulillah?

Subhan Allah: It means, Glory be to Allah or Limitless in His Glory, He Who transcends the attributes of creation. And what are the attributes of creation? The attributes of creation is inherently imperfect: they are limited, dependent, bound by space-time, and subject to change whereas the attributes of the Creator is perfect. Allah is Al-Qawi (All-Capable), As-Samad (Self-Sufficient) and is not subject to change. He is not bound or limited by time and space rather He is the Al-Khaliq (The Creator) of space and time and everything else.

Travelling as a concept

What does these attributes have to do with travel?

Quite a lot, Allah is atemporal and aspatial, He does not have any need for Him to travel, the notion of travelling is not befitting His attributes for verily He transcends space and time. To fully appreciate what this signifies, let us look at what travelling is from the point of creation. We can ask the following questions which are all pertaining to every creation.

1. What does it mean to travel?
2. Why do people travel?
3. How do they travel?
4.  What is their means of travel?
5. Where are they travelling to?
6. Where are they coming from?

What does it mean to travel?

Travelling is the process of undergoing change; it is either physical or emotional or intellectual or spiritual.

• Physical – change in location.
• Emotional – change in one emotional state to another.
• Intellectual – change in ideas, concepts, reasoning or understanding.
• Spiritual – change in state of farness to nearness or vice versa.

Anything that changes, it undergoes from a state of more to less, or less to more. If it undergoes a process of change from less to more, it goes from a state of imperfection to greater perfection. If it undergoes a process of change from more to less, it goes from a state of more perfection to greater imperfection. Change therefore by its inherent quality is a sign of imperfection. In other words, anything that travels, goes through a process of change, and by its very nature is imperfect. And God cannot be imperfect; He does not undergo a process of change and therefore He does not travel.

When someone travels, there is always an inherent need embedded within the intention to travel. When we travel, we do so for a particular need; whether it is to satisfy one’s curiosity (tourism), for self-discovery, for greater knowledge (discovery) or meet someone, or for business or pleasure. There is an inherent need. Anything that has a need is dependent, and anything that is dependent is weak, anything that is weak is imperfect, and anything that is imperfect is not worthy of being God.

In terms of the means of travel, we all need a vehicle of transportation which takes us from one destination to another. If it’s physical, it’s either the use of our body or an external means of transportation. If it’s mental, emotional or spiritual, it is via our faculties of thinking, feeling and making meaning. In all of them, there is modality or medium associated that facilitates the travelling. And in a similar line of reasoning, it highlights dependency, and we mentioned that dependency is an inherent quality of imperfect beings. There can be no modality attributed in respect to Allah. He is entirely independent, Self-Sufficient and perfect.

Finally, travelling means to travel from a point of origin and going to a destination. This is only applicable to creation, He created space. Allah is Allah; He is as He was, and He will be as He is, without indwelling in space and independent of place. To say ‘He is everywhere’ is too un-befitting His Majesty, for ‘everywhere’ is still space. Allah is beyond comprehension, as Divine Speech thus says:

“They have not estimated Allah with the estimation due to Him, verily Allah is All-Powerful, All-Mighty” [Al-Hajj: 22:74].

So Allah is transcending the notion of space-time and travel. He is perfect in Himself, free of all limitations. Subhan Allah is used here for the purpose of Tawhid; establishing the absolute Uniqueness and Oneness of Allah. So we immediately recognise who we are and then we come to know Who Allah is. So there is a purpose to our journey is both inward and outward. Ata’illah Al-Iskandaria has summed this beautifully in his book of Hikam:

Realise your attributes and He will help you with His Attributes; realize your lowliness and He will help you with His Sublimity; realize your impotence and He will help you with His Power; realize your weakness and He will help you with His Might and Force![Hikam:178]

This leads us nicely to the second part of the supplication.

Recognising Allah’s favours – سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَذَا، وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ

Recognising the favours of Allah here means to recognise that Allah has subjugated for us our means of transportation. These means of transportation are either a riding beast which has been subjected for our purpose of travel or a car, boat, coach, train or plane – the fruits of labour of other people; their inventions or accomplishment that we are utilising. Perhaps, if we had an entire lifetime, we may never be able to make a car from scratch. In fact it has taken all of human history bar the last century for us to enjoy the technological breakthrough we currently enjoy and often take for granted (in terms of computers, cars, planes, trains etc). These ‘other people’ are in our service, should we not pause for a moment and recognise that this was not our doing but His? Just like ‘others’ have been subjected to His will whether they know or not, should we not also feel we are being subjected to His will? Should we not voluntarily serve Him?

When we recognise the favours of Allah, we are in fact seeking Allah’s enrichment for the bounties to remain and increase. For Allah has promised:  “If you are grateful, I will give you more” [Ibrahim: 14:7].

Having Allah with you

By invoking the Name of Allah, we are seeking Allah to bless the journey, and this serves to protect and honour us. When we recognise Allah at the beginning, we are more likely to be conscious of Allah in the middle of the journey and in the end. This is Taqwa – to recognise, to be conscious and obedient of Allah. Divine Speech says: “He is with you wherever you may be, for Allah is aware of all that you do” [Al-Hadid: 57:4]. And “Know that Allah is with the Muthaqeen” [At-Tauba: 9:36].

Be with Allah and He will be with you on your journey. For verily the end affair is with the Muthaqeen. Seriously, if Allah is with you, what else do you need? If Allah is your companion, who else do you need? “Is Allah not all-sufficient for His servants?” [Az-Zumar: 39:36].

So you recognise from the onset that He is the Facilitator of the journey, the helper, supporter and protector in your affairs, and your Companion on the journey. When the Prophet (r) was in the cave with no one but Abu Bakr (t) whilst the enemies from the Quraysh were outside the foot of the cave, “he [Prophet] said to his companion “have no fear for Allah is with us”[At-Tauba:9:40]. Was Allah not enough for them?

And indeed to Our Lord we will surely return  وَإِنَّا إِلَى رَبِّنَا لَمُنْقَلِبُون

We are always on a journey: Our point of origin was from non-existence to existence, from the world of the spirits to this earthly life, from this earthly life we are heading towards death, then from the grave we are crossing over to the eternal afterlife. The final destination is to return back to Allah. So we travel from Allah to Allah.

This then is our path and our journey regardless whether we are conscious of it or not. It is the journey of returning to our homeland – to Allah. So there was a point of departure and there is a destination. With every step we make and with every passing moment, we are getting closer toward the destination’s end.

The only choice is, do we return in earning His Pleasure or earning His Displeasure. So this physical travel is supposed to remind us that we are supposed to progress towards the end goal – Allah, that we are one step closer than before and progressing in our nearness to Him by become an ever more obedient servant, knowing who we are and knowing Him.

“Travel through the earth and see how Allah originates the creation, then creates the later creation. Surely Allah has power over everything” [Al-Ankabut: 29:20].

“Glory be to the One Who has subjected this [transport], for we could never have accomplished this (by ourselves)], and indeed to Our Lord we will surely return” [Al-Zukhruf: 43:13-14].