the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Among the ways in which you proclaim Allah’s majesty are saying ‘Glory be to Allah,’ ‘Allah is the Greatest,’ ‘There is no deity but Allah,’ and ‘All praise belongs to Allah.’ These phrases circle the Throne, making a sound like the buzzing of bees and mentioning the one who uttered them. Would not one of you like to have—or always to have—someone who mentions him?” Al-Būsīrī said in Zawā’id Sunan Ibn Mājah: “Its chain of transmission is sound, and its narrators are trustworthy.” Al-Hākim also declared it sound.1

Thus, this hadith shows this tremendous virtue: these four phrases circle the Throne—that is, they move around it—and make a sound like the buzzing of bees; in other words, a sound resembling that of bees, while mentioning those who uttered them. This provides the strongest possible encouragement to remember Allah with these words. Hence the hadith states: “Would not one of you like to have—or always to have—someone who mentions him?”

10 — Another of their virtues is that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stated that they weigh heavily in the Balance. Al-Nasā’ī narrated in Practices of the Day and Night, as did Ibn Hibbān in his Sahīh, al-Hākim, and others, from Abū Salmā, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say: “Excellent! Excellent!”—and he indicated five with his hand—“How heavy they are in the Balance: ‘Glory be to Allah,’ ‘All praise belongs to Allah,’ ‘There is no deity but Allah,’ ‘Allah is the Greatest,’ and a righteous child who is taken in death from a Muslim, whose loss he bears in hope of reward.” Al-Hākim declared it sound, and al-Dhahabī concurred with him.2 The hadith is also corroborated by a narration from Thawbān, may Allah be pleased with him, which al-Bazzār cited in his Musnad. He said: “Its chain of transmission is good.”3