Rabbana Taqabbal Minna — Meaning, Arabic, and When to Say It

“Rabbana Taqabbal Minna” (رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا) is a short Quranic supplication that means “Our Lord, accept this from us.” It was first uttered by Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Isma’il (Ishmael) as they raised the foundations of the Kaaba — the very heart of Islam’s most sacred site.

This dua is the believer’s way of asking Allah to accept their worship — the prayer, the fast, the charity, the pilgrimage — because in Islam, an act of worship is only as valuable as Allah’s acceptance of it. On this page you’ll find the Arabic text, transliteration, full meaning, the exact ayah from the Quran, and how to use this supplication after good deeds.

Rabbana Taqabbal Minna in Arabic, Transliteration, and Meaning

Arabic: رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ

Transliteration: Rabbana taqabbal minna innaka antas-Sami’ul-‘Alim.

Translation: “Our Lord, accept this from us. Indeed You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.”

The dua has three parts: a humble request (accept from us), an admission that we cannot vouch for our own deeds, and an affirmation of two of Allah’s names — As-Sami’ (the All-Hearing) and Al-‘Alim (the All-Knowing). The names matter: we ask the One who hears every whispered intention and knows every deed’s true weight.

Word-by-word breakdown: Rabbana (رَبَّنَا) = “Our Lord”; Taqabbal (تَقَبَّلْ) = “accept” (an imperative addressed to Allah); Minna (مِنَّا) = “from us” — the suffix “-na” makes the request a collective plea on behalf of the whole community of believers, not the individual alone. That is why the dua is so commonly recited after congregational acts of worship.

The Quranic Origin: Ibrahim and Isma’il at the Kaaba

This dua appears in Surah Al-Baqarah, ayah 127, in one of the most powerful scenes in the Quran — Ibrahim and his son Isma’il building the Kaaba’s foundations stone by stone:

“And [mention] when Ibrahim was raising the foundations of the House and [with him] Isma’il, [saying], ‘Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.’” (Quran 2:127)

Pause on what’s happening here. Two prophets — chosen by Allah, working on the most sacred construction in human history — and their first concern is not “Are we doing this right?” but “Will You accept it from us?” That single shift in concern is the entire spiritual logic of this dua. If they needed to ask, so do we.

The Kaaba they were building still stands today as the qiblah every Muslim faces in prayer. What’s inside the Kaaba today traces directly back to that foundation moment.

When to Say Rabbana Taqabbal Minna

This dua is most commonly recited after completing any act of worship. The principle is simple: never assume your deed has been accepted. Instead, follow it with this request.

• After salah — many scholars recommend saying it quietly after the closing salam.
• After completing the fast — at iftar or at the end of Ramadan.
• After zakat or sadaqah — once you’ve given charity, return the deed to Allah for acceptance.
• After Hajj or Umrah — especially after tawaf around the Kaaba, mirroring Ibrahim’s original dua.
• After reciting Quran — at the end of a session.
• After any good deed — visiting the sick, helping a parent, teaching a child Islam.

The companions of the Prophet ﷺ are reported to have spent the six months after Ramadan asking Allah to accept their fasts, then the next six months praying to reach another Ramadan. That is the rhythm this dua belongs to.

Why Acceptance Matters More Than Effort

One of the core lessons of Islamic worship is that the quantity of a deed is not what determines its weight — the acceptance of it is. Allah says in the Quran: “Indeed, Allah only accepts from the righteous” (Quran 5:27). A long prayer with a distracted heart can weigh less with Allah than a short, sincere one.

The Prophet ﷺ said: “Actions are judged by intentions, and every person will get what they intended” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1, Sahih Muslim 1907). The dua of Rabbana Taqabbal Minna is the believer’s quiet acknowledgment that they cannot judge their own intentions — only Allah can. So we ask Him to accept regardless.

Related Duas of Acceptance from the Quran

Rabbana Taqabbal Minna does not stand alone — the Quran is rich with similar supplications from the prophets:

• Ibrahim’s continuation (Quran 2:128): “Our Lord, and make us submissive to You and from our descendants a Muslim nation submissive to You.”
• Zakariyya’s dua (Quran 3:38): “My Lord, grant me from Yourself a good offspring. Indeed, You are the Hearer of supplication.”
• Musa’s dua (Quran 20:25–28): “My Lord, expand for me my breast and ease for me my task…”

What unites them is the same pattern Ibrahim used: address Allah by His attributes, state the request, and trust the answer. Rabbana Taqabbal Minna is the cleanest, shortest version of that pattern — which is exactly why it has remained on the tongues of Muslims for fourteen centuries.

Conditions for a Deed to Be Accepted

Classical scholars list two essential conditions for any act of worship to be accepted by Allah:

1. Sincerity (ikhlas) — the deed is done purely for the sake of Allah, not for praise, status, or reputation.
2. Conformity to the Sunnah — the deed is performed in the manner the Prophet ﷺ taught, not invented from personal preference.

Even with both conditions met, the believer still asks Rabbana taqabbal minna — because acceptance is Allah’s gift, not a guaranteed exchange. This is the humility the dua trains in us.

Frequently Asked Questions

Make this dua a habit. Pair it with every prayer, every Ramadan, every act of charity. The believer who asks for acceptance is the believer who never takes their own worship for granted — and that humility is itself a form of worship.

Related: Taqabbal Allahu Minna Wa Minkum — the companion-to-companion greeting on Eid days, lexically related to the dua of Ibrahim and Isma’il at the Kaaba.