For the supplication of petition is, by definition, a form of supplication. In the sacred ḥadīth Allah says: “Whoever calls upon Me, I will answer him.” And He, Most High, says: “Your Lord has said: ‘Call upon Me and I will respond to you’” (Ghāfir 40:60).

There is also the supplication of worship, whereby a person devotes himself to his Lord through the rites He has ordained; the worshipper thus supplicates both with the tongue of speech and with the tongue of his very state.

Take the ritual prayer (ṣalāh) as an example: it is an act of worship that combines Qur’an recitation, the remembrance and glorification of Allah, and explicit supplication. Fasting (ṣawm) is likewise worship; although nothing is verbally requested during the fast, one abstains only in hope of Allah’s reward and fear of His punishment, and that hope and fear are themselves a silent supplication. Indeed, an act of worship may consist solely of pure supplication: a servant implores his Lord, and by that very act is engaged in worship, for supplication is the language of need, of good expectation of Allah, of hope in Him, and of dread of His chastisement.

Hence His words: “And keep yourself patient with those who call upon their Lord”—that is, they ask Him for their needs and worship Him, for every worshipper is a supplicant through the tongue of his state—“morning” meaning the beginning of the day and “evening” its end. The point is that they invoke their Lord constantly, though they single out the morning and evening for a special kind of supplication. “Seeking His Face” means they desire no worldly gain; they seek only the Face of Allah, Majestic and Exalted.