at night, and then, toward its close, they seek forgiveness, fearing that they may have fallen short before Allah.
“They call upon their Lord in fear and hope” means that they call upon Allah with the duʿāʾ of request and the duʿāʾ inherent in worship.
The duʿāʾ of request is to say, “Our Lord, forgive us; our Lord, enrich us; our Lord, ease our affairs; our Lord, open our hearts.” This is the supplication of petition.
The duʿāʾ of worship, on the other hand, is that they establish the prayer, give the zakah, fast Ramadan, perform the pilgrimage to the House, honor their parents, maintain the bonds of kinship, and engage in all other acts of devotion. Worship is called duʿāʾ because, were you to ask a servant, “Why do you worship Allah?” he would answer, “To gain the good pleasure of Allah.” Thus he is calling upon Him with the tongue of his condition, and that may be accompanied by a call with the tongue of speech.
Prayer, for instance, contains duʿāʾ: within it the worshipper recites a supplication that is a pillar of the prayer. Should you omit this supplication, your prayer is invalid. Where is it? In al-Fātiḥah—“Guide us to the straight path.” This is a supplication that is an essential pillar of the act of worship; leave it out and your prayer is unsound.
Accordingly, the prayer is both a duʿāʾ with the tongue of one’s state and a duʿāʾ with the tongue of words. For this reason He said, “they call upon their Lord,” that is, they worship Him and they ask of Him.
“in fear and hope”: fear of His punishment and hope for His reward. If they commit what is forbidden they are punished; if they leave the forbidden and fulfill the obligatory, they are rewarded—so they are at once fearful and hopeful. It has also been said: they are fearful on account of their sins and hopeful for Allah’s grace. When a person reflects on himself and on his sins he is afraid, for those sins are heavier than mountains and more numerous than grains of sand—may Allah Most High treat us with His pardon. Yet when he contemplates the vastness of Allah’s mercy and the breadth of His forgiveness, and that pardon is dearer to Him than