3 – The exalted merit of this magnificent remembrance is that it is a cause of everlasting felicity. By the unanimous agreement of the scholars it is recommended to say it here, and likewise upon finishing the full bath (ghusl) or the dry ablution (tayammum), for these too are acts of purification and therefore warrant such remembrance.
4 – Performing wuḍūʾ with full thoroughness and following it with this invocation is among the strongest means of entering Paradise.
5 – The ḥadith affirms resurrection and recompense after death.
6 – It also confirms the existence of Paradise with its eight gates, and that the doer of superior deeds—one whose outward and inward selves are both purified—will be given the choice of entering through any of those gates.
7 – The opening of Paradise’s gates for such a person may be understood in two ways:
a) The paths to those gates are made easy for him: Allah prepares for him the means to perform the righteous deeds that will deliver him to those gates, as He says, “And those who strive for Us—We will surely guide them to Our ways” (Q 29:69).
b) The phrase “were opened” means “will be opened on the Day of Resurrection”; the past tense is used to express the certainty and nearness of the event, a rhetorical usage exemplified in His words, “The command of Allah has come, so do not hasten it” (Q 16:1).
8 – This invocation perfects the purification achieved by wuḍūʾ: after cleansing his outward limbs with water, the servant purifies his inner self with the creed of tawḥīd and the word of sincerity, the noblest of all utterances.
9 – The phrase of tawḥīd comprises both testimonies—“There is no god but Allah” and “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”; neither is sufficient without the other.
10 – The additional wording reported by al-Tirmidhī neither contradicts nor opposes the ḥadith. Coming from a reliable narrator, it is acceptable. Thus the supplication that asks for repentance, for the cleansing of the outward body with water, and for the purification of the inner self from vile traits and from the defilement of sins and transgressions is perfectly suited to the conclusion of purification from both minor and major ritual states.