upon Him to the exclusion of all else, by seeking refuge in Him—Glorious is He—from Satan’s promptings, the evils of the soul, the evil of every creature possessed of evil, and the evil of every punishment, affliction, or calamity.
They also affirm Allah’s oneness, complete freedom and purity from associating partners with Him, and acknowledgment of and submission to His Lordship and His sole right to worship. Anyone who carefully attends to the supplications transmitted from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—will repeatedly avow and acknowledge that Allah alone—Glorious and Exalted is He—causes death and gives life, feeds and gives drink, brings poverty and grants wealth, clothes and provides clothing, and leads astray and guides; and that He alone is worthy of adoration and worship, that submission and humility are due to Him, and that every form of worship must be devoted to Him.
Remembrance, as the eminent scholar Ibn al-Qayyim—may Allah have mercy on him—says, “is a tree that bears the knowledge and spiritual states for which the wayfarers have girded themselves. Its fruits can be obtained only from the tree of remembrance. The greater that tree becomes and the more firmly rooted it is, the greater its fruit will be. Remembrance yields every spiritual station, from wakefulness to the affirmation of Allah’s oneness. It is the foundation of every station and the base upon which that station is built, just as a wall is built upon its foundation and a roof rests upon its walls”1.
Moreover, these remembrances encompass the loftiest sound aims and the highest noble objectives. They contain such goodness, benefit, blessing, praiseworthy advantages, and tremendous results that no human being can fully comprehend them and no tongue can adequately express them.
It therefore behooves the believer to observe these magnificent remembrances with the utmost care, each at its appropriate time by day and night, as transmitted in the sunnah, so that he may attain those immense favors and noble meanings and be among those whom