20/ Remembering Allah through His Names and Attributes

Among the loftiest and best forms of remembrance is to remember the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, through His Most Beautiful Names and sublime Attributes, and to praise Him as He deserves—with the praise by which He has praised Himself and by which His servant and Messenger Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, praised Him—including attributes of majesty, qualities of perfection, every form of praise, and the like.

Remembrance is of two kinds:

The first is to mention the Lord’s Most Beautiful Names and sublime Attributes, praise Him by them, and declare Him—Glorified is He—holy and far above everything unbefitting Him, Mighty and Majestic. This, too, is of two kinds:

The first is for the person engaged in remembrance to praise Him by them. This is the kind mentioned in the hadiths that encourage praising Allah, proclaiming His greatness and glory, and extolling Him in the finest manner. Among these is the Prophet’s statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “The words most beloved to Allah after the Quran are: ‘Glory be to Allah; praise be to Allah; there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah; and Allah is the Greatest.’” 1 He also said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “Whoever says, ‘Glory and praise be to Allah,’ one hundred times in a day will have his sins erased, even if they are like the foam of the sea.”2 Likewise, he said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “Two phrases are light upon the tongue, heavy in the Balance, and beloved to the Most Merciful: ‘Glory and praise be to Allah; glory be to Allah, the Magnificent.’” 3 There are many similar hadiths.