and supplication—namely, the words:

“Guide us to the straight path.”

“The path of those You have blessed, not those who have incurred Your anger, nor those who have gone astray.”

—constitute the finest, most binding, and most beneficial supplication a servant can address to his Lord. It encompasses all that benefits him in his religion, his worldly life, and the Hereafter. The servant constantly needs it, and nothing else can take its place. Even if he received the reward for reciting nine-tenths of the Quran—let alone one-third—but did not attain what this supplication seeks, that reward would neither replace it nor fulfil its purpose.

This is like a man who, hypothetically, gives immense sums in charity and undertakes great efforts in jihad, surpassing in merit repeated recitations of the Quran, yet has not performed the five prayers that day. The reward for these deeds would not take the place of those prayers. Likewise, a man might possess immense wealth in gold, silver, slaves, livestock, and real estate, yet have no food for his morning and evening meals. He would remain hungry, suffering, and in distress; all that immense wealth would not take the place of the food he needs. Hence Shaykh Abū Madyan, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

“The noblest knowledge is knowledge of Allah’s oneness;
the most beneficial knowledge is knowledge of the rulings governing His servants.”

Thus, what is superior and nobler is not necessarily what benefits a person at a particular time. Rather, what is most beneficial at any given time is what the servant needs then: doing what Allah has commanded and refraining from what He has forbidden. Hence it is said:

“What is generally less meritorious is, in its proper place and time, better than what is generally more meritorious.”

For the revealed law indicates that prayer is superior to Quran recitation, Quran recitation is superior to remembrance of Allah, and remembrance of Allah is superior to