As for proclaiming Allah’s greatness aloud, that practice is one of the Muslims’ public rites, for the adhan itself is their emblem. This makes plain the short-sightedness of those who explain the passage as referring only to the pilgrims’ talbiyah.

Both al-Bukhari and Muslim relate—on the authority of Anas—that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) “whenever he intended to carry out a raid, if he heard an adhan or saw a mosque he would refrain; otherwise he would proceed.”

Muslim’s version states: “He would launch an attack at daybreak and would listen for the adhan; if he heard it, he would hold back, and if not, he would advance. On one occasion he heard a man say, ‘Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great,’ whereupon the Messenger of Allah said, ‘He is upon the fitrah.’ The man then declared, ‘I bear witness that there is no god but Allah,’ and the Prophet responded, ‘You have been delivered from the Fire.’”

So too his statement, “in their hands are swords with two edges,” refers to the Arabian swords by which the Companions and their followers opened the lands to Islam.

And his saying, “they glorify Him upon their beds,” is a depiction of the believers who remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on