to each person according to his own vigor.
The second kind of dhikr is restricted—either by a set number of repetitions or by being linked to a particular circumstance—and these formulas are many. They include the invocations of the prayer in bowing, in prostration, and after the salutation (taslīm); the supplications for entering and leaving one’s home; the invocations for entering and exiting the mosque; the remembrances recited at bedtime and upon waking; the prayer said when mounting one’s riding-beast; and many other expressions that Allah, Exalted is He, has legislated for His servants so that they may remain constantly mindful of Him. In short, Allah has prescribed for His servants forms of remembrance which, if they are diligent in observing them, will keep them remembering Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on their sides.
Be aware as well that dhikr itself comes in two modes:
- Complete dhikr: when the heart and the tongue are in accord.
- Deficient dhikr: when the tongue utters while the heart is heedless. Most people—may Allah treat us all with His pardon—fall into this latter state; you see someone mentioning Allah while his heart wanders right and left, occupied with his shop, his car, his buying and selling.
He is, in any case, rewarded, yet the perfect remembrance is that which engages both tongue and heart. At times, a silent remembrance confined to the heart benefits the servant more than a bare verbal utterance; whenever a person turns inward and reflects, as best he can, upon Allah’s universal and revealed signs, he attains abundant good.
He—Exalted is He—says, “and they reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth,” and they say, “Our Lord, You have not…"