Exegesis of the verse: “Our Lord, do not let our hearts deviate after You have guided us, and bestow upon us from Yourself mercy. Indeed, You are the Bestower.”

Then Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said, and this is the beginning of our lesson now: It appears that this is part of the statement of those firmly grounded in knowledge, and they also say: Supplication generally begins with “Lord” because supplication requires a response, and response is among the actions, and actions are more related to lordship than to worship. Therefore, most supplications begin with “Lord,” “Our Lord.” And His saying: This is in the accusative case due to the deleted yā of the vocative, and the original phrase is: “O Our Lord,” but the yā was deleted for ease and to seek blessing in beginning with the name of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). This is a supplicatory sentence, even though it is in the form of a prohibition, because a prohibition cannot come from the created to the Creator, since a prohibition is a request to refrain in a manner of superiority, and it is not possible for the created to request of his Lord to refrain in a manner of superiority, ever. We have passed through previously that when a request is directed from the lower to the higher, it is called supplication. Therefore, we say: “Lā” is supplicatory, and we do not say: “Lā” is prohibitive, because there is no prohibition from the created to the Creator. “Tazigh” means to incline or deviate, and from this is “the sun deviated,” meaning it inclined from the zenith of the sky. “Tazigh” means to incline. To incline it from what? What follows clarifies that: meaning do not let them deviate from guidance, but rather guide them with guidance of indication and guidance of success. And His saying: The verb is applied to the heart, because the heart is the pivot of action, by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): And the heart is this stable part in the chest, by the saying of Allah the Exalted: And with these hearts is the intellect, by His saying the Exalted: And based on these proofs, it becomes clear that the intellect is in the heart and not in the brain.