The Holy Quran 17:11 — Surah Al-Isra

Arabic text

وَيَدْعُ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ بِٱلشَّرِّ دُعَآءَهُۥ بِٱلْخَيْرِ ۖ وَكَانَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ عَجُولًا

Translation

(When experiencing hardship,) Man prays for evil (death) just as (fervently as) he prays for good (when he wants something good). Man (in general) was always hasty (he is prone to do things without thinking about the consequences).

Tafsir (excerpt) — Tafsir Usmani

Man's lack of foresight: that is, the Quran calls people to the greatest good, gives glad tidings of a great reward and warns of the deadly consequences of evil. But the state of “noble” man is such that, even after hearing all this, he asks for evil for himself with the same eagerness and insistence with which someone might ask for good, or with which good…

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.