“And for whoever fears standing before his Lord there shall be two gardens” (al-Raḥmān 55:46). He (Mujāhid) said: it is the person who remembers Allah the moment he is tempted by sin.
Al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ reported from Manṣūr, from Mujāhid, regarding the verse, “Their mark is on their faces” (al-Fatḥ 48:29): it is khushūʿ—reverential humility.
Concerning His words, “And stand before Allah devoutly obedient” (al-Baqarah 2:238), he said: qunūt is stillness, humility, lowering the gaze, and softening one’s stance out of awe of Allah (1).
The early scholars, whenever one of them stood for prayer, were too overawed by the Most Merciful to fix their gaze, turn their heads, flip pebbles, fidget with anything, or let their minds wander to worldly matters; rather, they remained humble for as long as they stood in prayer.
ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said: Abū Maʿmar (2) narrated to us, Ibn Idrīs narrated to us, ʿUqbah ibn Isḥāq—about whom he spoke well—narrated to us, Layth narrated to us from Mujāhid, who said: “Whenever I observed the Arabs I found them rough-hewn (3) and, upon closer inspection, lagging behind their religion; yet when they entered the prayer, it was as though their bodies were devoid of souls (4).”
Al-Aʿmash narrated from him that he said: “The heart is like the palm of a hand; when a man commits a sin it contracts like this”—and he bent his little finger until he had closed all his fingers, one after another—“then it is sealed. They used to regard that as the rān (rust): Allah, the Exalted, says, ‘No indeed; but on their hearts is a rust because of what they used to earn’ (al-Muṭaffifīn 83:14).”
Qabīṣah narrated from Sufyān al-Thawrī, from Manṣūr, from Mujāhid, concerning His words, “But yes; whoever earns a sin and his sin encompasses him” (al-Baqarah 2:81): he said, “Sins surround the heart like a wall built all the way around something; every time he commits another sin the wall rises, until it covers the heart completely—” and he closed his hand—“that is the rān (5).”
Regarding the verse, “for what he sent ahead and what he left behind” (al-Qiyāmah 75:13), he said: it is the servant’s first deed and his last. And about His words, “And toward your Lord, direct your longing” (al-Sharḥ 94:8), he said: when you have finished with the affairs of this world and stand for prayer, make your aspiration for Him alone and your intention solely for Him (6).
And Manṣūr reported from Mujāhid concerning “the tranquil soul” (al-Fajr 89:27): it is the soul that is certain that Allah is its Lord and that has steeled itself for His command and obedience (7).