On the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Moses said, ‘My Lord, teach me something with which I may remember You and call upon You.’ He said, ‘Say, O Moses: lā ilāha illā Allah (there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah).’ Moses replied, ‘My Lord, all of Your servants say this.’ He said, ‘O Moses, if the seven heavens and all who inhabit them apart from Me, together with the seven earths, were placed on one side of the scale, and lā ilāha illā Allah were placed on the other, lā ilāha illā Allah would outweigh them.’ ” Reported by Ibn Ḥibbān and al-Ḥākim, who declared it authentic (1).

— Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī: He is Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī Saʿd ibn Mālik ibn Sinān al-Khazrajī al-Anṣārī al-Khudrī, affiliated to Banū Khudra; an eminent Companion and the son of a Companion. He narrated many hadith from the Prophet ﷺ and died in 74 AH.

— Moses: Moses son of ʿImrān, the Messenger of Allah to the Children of Israel and the one to whom the Most Merciful spoke.

— “I may remember You”: that is, I praise and commend You with it.

— “I may call upon You by it”: I seek nearness to You by means of it when I supplicate.

— “All of Your servants say this”: i.e., this very phrase.

— “Those who inhabit them apart from Me”: all who dwell in the heavens besides Allah.

— “On one side of the scale”: meaning, if these created beings were placed in one pan of the balance and this phrase in the other.