your obedience and Your command, not departing from it, nor fleeing from You. This, or what resembles it. They doubled and repeated it because they intended a stay after a stay, as they said: "Hananayk," meaning mercy after mercy, or mercy with mercy, or something similar. A group of scholars said: The meaning of the Talbiyah is the answering of the call of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, when he called out for the Hajj. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: When Ibrahim, peace be upon him, finished building the House, it was said to him: "Proclaim the Hajj to the people." He said: "O Lord, how will my voice reach them?" He said: "Proclaim, and it is upon Me to convey it." So Ibrahim called out: "O people, the Hajj has been prescribed for you." He said: "And those between the heaven and the earth heard it. Do you not see people coming from every corner of the earth saying the Talbiyah (3)." He says (4): "Labbayka, inna al-hamda" with a kasra on the alif. Ahmad explicitly stated this, and the fatha is permissible, although the kasra is better. Tha'lab said: Whoever says "anna" with a fatha, has specified, and whoever says "inna" with a kasra on the alif, has generalized. He means that whoever used the kasra made the praise belong to Allah in every situation, and whoever used the fatha, its meaning is "Labbayka" because the praise is Yours, i.e., for this reason.
Section: It is not recommended to add to the Talbiyah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), nor is it disliked. Al-Shafi'i and Ibn al-Mundhir said something similar. This is due to the statement of Jabir: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) began the ihlal with Tawhid: 'Labbayka Allahumma Labbayk, Labbayka la sharika laka Labbayk, inna al-hamda wa al-ni'mata laka, wa al-mulk, la sharika lak.' And the people performed the ihlal with that which they were performing, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) adhered to his own Talbiyah. Ibn Umar would perform the Talbiyah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and would add to this: 'Labbayka, Labbayka, Labbayka wa sa'dayk, wa al-khayru bi-yadayk, wa al-raghba' (6) ilayka wa al-'amal.'" Agreed upon (7). Umar added: "Labbayka dhu al-na'ma'i wa al-fadl, Labbayka Labbayka marhuban wa marghuban ilayk."
(3) Reported by al-Hakim, in: Chapter on mentioning Ibrahim, peace be upon him, from the Book of History. Al-Mustadrak 2/552. (4) In A, B, and M: "And they say." (5) In A, B, and M: "with the Talbiyah." (6) Its meaning is: The seeking and the petition to the One in Whose hand is all goodness. (7) Its verification was provided in the previous page.
