Direct address to the Lord: “My/Our Lord, indeed I/we …”
يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَآ إِنَّنَآ
yaqūlūna rabbanā innanā — they say, “Our Lord, indeed we …”
Across the verses given, speech addressed to the Lord opens with a vocative (rabbi/rabbanā) followed by the particle inna bearing a first-person suffix or followed by a noun that bears one, and the clause that follows states the speaker's situation — fear, need, confession, complaint, or belief — sometimes before a request. The frame turns a report about oneself into speech directed at God.
The frame consists of a verb of saying, a vocative built on the root r-b-b with a first-person pronoun (rabbi “my Lord” or rabbanā “our Lord”), and the particle inna, either bearing a first-person suffix (innī, innanā/innā) or followed by a noun that bears one (inna ibnī, inna qawmī), after which the speaker states something about himself, herself, or themselves. In the verses given three of the fillers are verbs of fear: “indeed we fear that he may rush against us” (20:45), “indeed I fear that they will deny me” (26:12), “indeed I have killed a living soul… so I fear” (28:33). It also carries statements of need and weakness: “indeed I am… in need” (28:24), “indeed the bone has weakened from me” (19:4). Several fillers are confessions: “I have indeed wronged my self” (27:44), “indeed we obeyed our chiefs… so they led us astray” (33:67). Others state a condition or complaint: “indeed my son is from my household” (11:45), “indeed my people have denied me” (26:117), “indeed I do not control [anyone] except myself and my brother” (5:25), “indeed I have delivered her as a female” (3:36), and one affirmation: “indeed we have believed” (3:16). In some cases the inna-clause precedes a request (covering and shielding in 3:16, separation in 5:25, the conditional plea for forgiveness and mercy in 11:47); in others, such as 26:117, no petition follows within the verse given. The frame thus marks speech to God as first-person self-disclosure, at times before petition. Note that (51:30) is not an instance: there rabbuki (“your Lord”) is the subject of the saying verb — “your Lord said” — not a vocative, and inna takes a third-person pronoun.
Where it occurs
- 3:16 Plural form of the frame: “Our Lord, indeed we have believed,” followed by a request for covering and shielding.
- 3:36 A woman opens speech to her Lord with “indeed I have delivered her as a female,” a report of her own situation.
- 5:25 The speaker states his limited control before asking for separation from the people.
- 11:45 The frame opens with “My Lord, indeed my son is from my household,” a complaint presented before an appeal to God's promise.
- 11:47 “My Lord, indeed I seek refuge in You” — the filler is itself an act of seeking protection, followed by a conditional plea.
- 19:4 The filler states bodily weakness, “indeed the bone has weakened from me,” grounding an unspoken request.
- 20:45 Dual speakers use the plural form: “Our Lord, indeed we fear that he may rush against us.”
- 26:12 The filler is fear of being denied: “indeed I fear that they will deny me.”
- 26:117 The filler reports what others did to the speaker: “indeed my people have denied me.”
- 27:44 A woman confesses through the frame: “My Lord, I have indeed wronged my self.”
- 28:24 The filler states need: “indeed I am… in need” with respect to good sent down.
- 28:33 The filler confesses a killing and states the fear that follows from it.
- 33:67 Plural confession of obedience to chiefs who led the speakers astray.
All Qur'anic expressions