Call on Me and I Will Answer You
Ghafir 40:60. Also known as Ud'uni astajib lakum, Pray to Me and I will respond to you, Dua is worship verse
وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ٱدۡعُونِيٓ أَسۡتَجِبۡ لَكُمۡۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَسۡتَكۡبِرُونَ عَنۡ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدۡخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ ﴿٦٠﴾
Waqala rabbukumu odAAoonee astajib lakum inna allatheena yastakbiroona AAan AAibadatee sayadkhuloona jahannama dakhireena
Your Lord has said, “Pray to Me, and I will respond to you. But those who are too proud to worship Me will enter Hell forcibly.”
Verse 60 of Surah Ghafir, the 40th surah, is Allah's direct invitation to make dua. Your Lord has said: call on Me, and I will answer you. The same verse then warns those who are too proud to worship Him.
Surah Ghafir, also known as Surah Al-Mu'min, is a Meccan surah of 85 verses. Its name means The Forgiver, after one of the names of Allah in its third verse.
What it means
Your Lord has said
The verse begins by presenting what follows as the word of your Lord. It is not general advice but a statement from Allah about how He relates to His servants.
Call on Me
The instruction is to call on Him, to ask Him directly. No special status is required. Anyone can ask, about anything, at any time.
I will answer you
Allah promises to respond. As with 2:186, scholars explain that the answer may come as the thing asked for, as a harm turned away, or as reward kept for the Hereafter.
Pride that refuses to ask
The verse ends by warning that those who are too arrogant to worship Him will enter Hell humbled. Placed right after the command to call on Him, this treats asking Allah as an act of worship, and refusing to ask as a form of pride.
Where it sits in Surah Ghafir
Verse 55 tells the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to be patient, since Allah's promise is true, and to glorify his Lord evening and morning. Verse 56 speaks of those who argue about Allah's signs out of nothing but pride. Verse 57 says the creation of the heavens and earth is greater than the creation of people, and verse 59 says the Hour is certainly coming. Verse 60 then gives the invitation to call on Him. Verses 61 to 65 describe the night made for rest and the day for seeing, the earth as a place to live, the sky as a canopy, and people shaped in the best form, and they end by telling people to call on Him, the Living, with sincere devotion.
How it is used
Sunan Abu Dawud and Sunan at-Tirmidhi report, from an-Nu'man ibn Bashir, that the Prophet ﷺ said supplication is worship, and then recited this verse. At-Tirmidhi graded the narration hasan sahih. Muslims cite this verse to encourage making dua for every need, small or large.
Questions
Where in the Quran does Allah say 'call on Me and I will answer you'?
In Surah Ghafir, the 40th surah, verse 60.
Why does the verse connect dua with worship?
The verse follows the invitation to call on Allah with a warning to those too proud to worship Him. The Prophet ﷺ recited this verse after saying that supplication is worship, as reported in Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi.
What is the difference between 40:60 and 2:186?
Both promise that Allah answers the one who calls. 2:186 emphasizes His nearness and comes within the verses on fasting, while 40:60 is a direct command to ask, with a warning against pride.