[27].Surah Al-Naml [The Ants]: Ayat 19

১৯. তার কথা শুনে সুলায়মান মুচকি হাসলেন এবং বললেন,  হে আমার পালনকর্তা, তুমি আমাকে সামর্থ দাও যাতে আমি তোমার সেই নিয়ামতের কৃতজ্ঞতা প্রকাশ করতে পারি, যা তুমি আমাকে ও আমার পিতা-মাতাকে দান করেছ এবং যাতে আমি তোমার পছন্দনীয় সৎকর্ম করতে পারি এবং আমাকে নিজ অনুগ্রহে তোমার সৎকর্মপরায়ন বান্দাদের অন্তর্ভুক্ত কর।

Ayat 19. So he [Sulaiman PBUH (Solomon)] smiled, amused at Ants speech and said: "My Lord! Inspire and bestow upon me the power and ability that I may be grateful for Your Favors which You have bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds that will please You, and admit me by Your Mercy among Your righteous slaves." 

Tafseer of Surah Al Naml (The Ants) Ayat 19. So Sulaiman PBUH smiled, amused at Ants speech; and he said: "O my Lord! so order me that I may be grateful for Thy favors, which thou hast bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may work the righteousness that will please Thee: And admit me, by Thy Grace, to the ranks of Thy righteous Servants." The counterpart to the position of the humble ant is the position of a great king like Solomon, He prays that his power and wisdom and other gifts may be used for righteousness and for the benefit of all around him. The ant being in his thoughts, we may suppose that he means particularly in his prayer that he may not even unwittingly tread on humble beings in his preoccupation with the great things of the world. The righteousness which pleases the world is often very different from the righteousness which pleases Allah. Solomon prays that he may always take Allah's Will as his standard, rather than the standards of men. In the Kingdom of Allah,  righteousness is the badge of citizenship. And although there are great and noble grades, the base of that citizenship is the universal brotherhood of righteousness. The greatest in that Kingdom are glad and proud to pray for that essential badge.

Hazrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah  [SAWW](PBUH) said, "Follow the Right Path of Faith strictly, and be steadfast; and keep in mind that none of you can achieve salvation through his (good) actions.'' Someone asked, "Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?'' He [SAWW](PBUH) said, "Not even me, unless Allah grants me His Mercy and Grace".

[Muslim Book 39, Chapter 15, Hadith # 6762].  

Lesson : as mentioned above in Surah Al-Naml Ayat 19 " and admit me by Your Mercy among Your righteous slaves." This Hadith tells us that although the importance of Faith and its practice is beyond any shadow of doubt, because this is the only way to attain His Favors and Blessings, but one should not entirely depend upon practice only because any shortcoming (which one does not even know) can ruin a good deed. It is, therefore, essential that we also pray that our good deeds are accepted by Allah and that He grants us His Infinite Mercy and sincerity because even the greatest noble deed is invalid without it.