fully aware that none can lift his affliction but Allah. That is the supplication of worship.
His words, “Call upon your Lord humbly and privately” (al-Aʿraf 7:55), comprise both categories. Just as the supplication of entreaty is perfected by frequent humble pleading, persistent insistence, openly displaying one’s poverty and need while nonetheless keeping the plea hidden and sincere, so too the supplication of worship is not complete unless one perseveres in the act, couples it with humility and submission, conceals it from others, and dedicates it solely to Allah.
Similarly, regarding the élite of the messengers He says, “Indeed, they used to hasten to good deeds and call upon Us in hope and in fear” (al-Anbiyāʾ 21:90). Hope and fear characterized them whenever they asked and petitioned, and the same qualities marked them whenever they worshipped and drew near through righteous works and acts of devotion.
His statements, “Whoever invokes, along with Allah, another deity for which he has no proof—his reckoning rests with his Lord” (al-Muʾminūn 23:117), “So do not call upon anyone along with Allah” (al-Jinn 72:18), and “Do not invoke with Allah another deity” (al-Qaṣaṣ 28:88) all include both the supplication of entreaty and the supplication of worship.
Just as one who asks anyone besides Allah for a need that only Allah can fulfill is a polytheist and unbeliever, so too is the person who worships another alongside Allah.
The same applies to His saying, “Do not call upon, instead of Allah, that which can neither benefit you nor harm you; for if you do, you will surely be among the wrongdoers” (Yūnus 10:106). All of these verses embrace both kinds of supplication.
His words, “To Allah belong the Most Beautiful Names, so invoke Him by them” (al-Aʿraf 7:180), likewise include both forms.
The supplication of entreaty means asking Allah for every need by the Name that best fits and entails that request: whoever seeks mercy and forgiveness calls upon Him as al-Ghafūr al-Rahīm (the All-Forgiving, the Especially Merciful); whoever seeks provision calls upon Him as al-Razzāq (the Provider); and so forth.
The supplication of worship consists in worshipping Allah through His Most Beautiful Names. One first understands the meaning of the specific noble Name, then keeps it continually present in the heart until the heart is filled with it.
Thus the Names that signify majesty, greatness, and grandeur fill the heart with awe