of both the agent and the commanded act.

Reflect on this subtle point. When you say, “Remember your Lord with humility,” you mean: remember Him while humbly entreating Him, and remember Him with a remembrance marked by humility. You intend both meanings together. Likewise, when you say, “Call upon Him with hope,” you mean: offer a supplication of hope, and call upon Him while hoping for His bounty. The same applies when you say, “Call upon Him with desire and fear,” as in the words of the Most High:

“Indeed, they used to hasten to good deeds and call upon Us in hope and fear.” [21:90]

Likewise, His words, “They call upon Us in hope and fear,” convey the command to call upon Him with a supplication of desire and fear.

Examine this construction and you will find it to be so. The verbal noun is used here to indicate that the commanded act possesses this quality, while also qualifying the agent with it, just as an expression of state qualifies the person whose state it describes.

Further evidence for this is that such an expression can serve as an answer to “How?” If someone asks, “How should I call upon Him?” the answer is, “With humility and in secret.” You will find that “How?” calls for this answer more naturally than “Why?” If it were an accusative of purpose, it would answer “Why?”, but that question is not appropriate here.

Do you not see that this is not what the meaning conveys? For it is valid to ask, “Why should I call upon Him?” and answer, “With humility and in secret.” This is clear. Nor is it an accusative verbal noun specifying the type of action without qualifying the agent, since, as we have noted, it can answer “How?”

In short, the use of a verbal noun in this construction does not preclude its expressing a state. Rather, expressing the state here through a verbal noun conveys the meaning of the verbal noun together with the additional meaning conveyed by the expression of state. It is therefore fuller in meaning, and there is no incompatibility between the two. And Allah knows best.

Section

The words of Allah Most High:

“Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to those who do good.” [7:56]

This clearly indicates that carrying out this command is the good required of you. What you seek from Allah is His mercy, which is near to those who do good by fulfilling His command to call upon Him in fear and hope. Thus, the nearness to you of what you seek—mercy—is in proportion to