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On the General
Merit and Profit of Invocation, with an Illustration from the Qur’an,
the Traditions and the Narratives
From the Qur’an:
The general merit of invocation is testified to by the Word of
God: Remember Me, and I will remember you. Thabit al-Bunani
said, ‘Verily I know when my Lord remembers me’. So
the people became alarmed at him and asked, ‘How do you know
that?’ He said, ‘When I remember God, He remembers me’.
God has said, Remember God often, and When you rush together
from Arafat in a crowd, remember God at the Holy Monument [al-mash’ar
al-haram]; and remember Him as He has guided you and When
you have completed your holy rites, remember God, as you remernber
your fathers, or more devoutly and ... those who remember
God, standing, sitting, or lying down on their sides and When
you have performed the ritual prayer [salat], remember God,
standing, sitting, or lying down on your sides [on which] Ibn
‘Abbas (may God be pleased with him) commented, ‘That
is: [remember God] whether at night or during the day whether travelling
or remaining at home, whether in poverty or in riches, in sickness
or in health, in private or in public’.
Denouncing the hypocrites, God (Exalted is He!) has said, They
remember God but seldom. And He has said, Remember your Lord,
in your soul, with humility and fear, not with a loud voice, morning
and evening. Be not among the heedless. Truly the remembrance of
God is greater. Ibn ‘Abbas (may God show him His mercy)
said, ‘This has two interpretations: one is that God’s
remembrance of you is greater than your remembrance of Him, and
the other is that the remembrance of God is greater than any other
act of worship’, etc.
From the Traditions:
The Emissary of God (may God bless him and grant him peace) said,
‘An invoker of God among the heedless is like a green tree
in the midst of dry stalk’. He said (may God bless him an
grant him peace), ‘An invoker of God among the heedless is
like a fighter [for the sake of God] among deserters’.
He said (may God bless him and grant him peace), ‘God says,
“I am with My servant so long as he invokes Me and his lips
move for invoking Me”.
He said, ‘No act of a human being is so efficacious for deliverance
from God’s punishment as the invocation of God (Great
and Glorious is He!)’. The people asked, ‘O Emissary
of God. Nor is the jihad for the sake of God so efficacious
[as the invocation of God]?’ He said, ‘No, no jihad
for the sake of God is so efficacious, except that you hit with
your sword until it is intercepted and then you hit with it again
until it is intercepted, and then you hit with it until it is intercepted,
[while remembering God]’.
He said (may God bless him and grant him peace), ‘Let him
who wishes to graze in the pastures of the Garden invoke God constantly’.
On being asked, ‘Which act is most meritorious?’ the
Emissary of God (may God bless him and grant him peace) said, ‘[It
is] that you die while your tongue is moistened with the invocation
of God (Great and Glorious is He!)’.
He said, ‘Let your tongue be moistened with the invocation
of God morning and evening, and then no fault will fall upon you’.
He said (may God bless him and grant him peace), ‘Truly the
invocation of God (Great and Glorious is He!) morning and evening
is more meritorious than breaking swords for the sake of God and
giving wealth lavishly’.
He said (may God bless him and grant him peace), ‘God (Blessed
and Exalted is He!) says, “When My servant remembers Me in
his heart, I remember him in My heart. When he remembers Me in company
[with others], I remember him in an even better company. When he
draws near to Me a hand’s breadth, I draw near to him an arm’s
length. When he draws near to Me an arm’s length, I draw near
to him a fathom. When he draws near to Me walking, I draw near to
him running—meaning by ‘running’ one’s quickness
of response.
He said (may God bless him and grant him peace), ‘ God (Great
and Glorious is He!) spreads His shade upon seven people on the
day when there is no shade but His. Among them is a man who invoked
God privately and whose eyes overflowed [with tears] from the fear
of God’.
Abu’l-Darda said, ‘The Emissary of God (may God bless
him and grant him peace) said, “Shall I not tell you about
the best and purest of your works for your Lord, and the most exalted
of them in your ranks, and the work which is better for you than
encountering your enemy, with you striking their necks and them
striking your necks?” Thereupon the people said, “What
is that, O Emissary of God?” He said, “The constant
remembrance of God”’.
The Emissary of God said, ‘God (Great and Glorious is He!)
says, “He who is so occupied with the remembrance of me that
does not make petition to Me, I will give him the best of what I
give to suppliants”’.
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