gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever, purified spouses, and approval from Allah. And Allah sees His servants.”

“Those who say, ‘Our Lord, we have believed, so forgive us our sins and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.’”

Ibn Mas‘ūd used to say in the hours before dawn: “O Allah, You called me, and I answered; You commanded me, and I obeyed. This is the hour before dawn, so forgive me.”

The fundamental principle governing this matter may be stated as follows: adjuring Allah by any created thing, or petitioning Him by it, must fall into one of these categories: commanded as obligatory or recommended; prohibited as unlawful or disliked; or permissible, being neither commanded nor prohibited.

If it is said that this is commanded or permissible, then either a distinction must be drawn between one created thing and another, or it must be said that this practice is prescribed with revered created things, or with some of them.

Whoever says that this is commanded or permissible with all created things must consequently allow Allah Most High to be petitioned by the devils among humans and jinn. No Muslim would say this.

If, instead, someone says that He may be petitioned by revered created things, such as those by which He swears in His Book, it follows that He may be petitioned by the night as it envelops, the day as it shines forth, the male and the female, the sun and its brightness, the moon as it follows it, the day as it reveals it, the night as it conceals it, the sky and He who built it, the earth and He who spread it, and the soul and He who proportioned it. It also follows that Allah Most High may be petitioned and adjured by the retreating stars that run their courses and disappear, the night as it recedes, and the dawn as it breathes; that He may be petitioned by those that scatter far and wide, those that bear heavy loads, those that sail with ease, and those that apportion commands; and that He may be petitioned by the Mount, a Book inscribed on unrolled parchment, the much-frequented House, and the raised canopy