5 – Chapter on Vigilance (murāqaba)
Allah the Exalted says: “He who sees you when you stand to pray, and your movements among those who prostrate” (al-Shuʿarāʾ 218–219). He, the Exalted, also says: “He is with you wherever you are” (al-Ḥadīd 4). And He says: “Nothing on earth or in the heaven is hidden from Allah” (Āl ʿImrān 5). And He says: “Indeed, your Lord lies in wait” (al-Fajr 14). And He says: “He knows the furtive glance of the eyes and what the hearts conceal” (Ghāfir 19). There are many other well-known verses on this subject.
[Commentary]
After the author—may Allah have mercy on him—completed the chapter on truthfulness, citing the related verses and hadiths, he followed it with the chapter on vigilance. Vigilance has two dimensions:
- That you keep watch over Allah.
- That Allah, Exalted is He, keeps watch over you, as He says: “Allah is Ever Watchful over all things” (al-Aḥzāb 52).
Your keeping watch over Allah means realizing that Allah, Exalted is He, knows everything you say, do, and believe, as He, the Exalted, says: “Put your trust in the Almighty, the Most Merciful … He sees you when you stand, and your movements among those who prostrate” (al-Shuʿarāʾ 217–219). He sees you when you rise—that is, at night, when a person gets up in a secluded place where no one else can see him—yet Allah, Glorified and Exalted, sees him. Even in the deepest, most impenetrable darkness, Allah still sees him.
His words, “and your movements among those who prostrate” (al-Shuʿarāʾ 219), mean: while you move among those who