THE FOURTH WORD

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحٖيمِIn the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

اَلصَّلَاةُ عِمَادُ الدّٖينِPrayer is the pillar of the religion [Islam]. — Tirmidhi, īmān 8

If you wish to understand with the certainty that two times two equals four how valuable and important the prayer is, how little time and effort it requires, and how foolish and deprived the one who neglects it is, then look at the following parable and see:

Once, a great ruler gave each of two of his servants twenty-four gold coins and sent them to reside in one of his exceptionally beautiful estates situated two months away. He instructed them as follows:

“Spend this money on travel and transportation expenses, and purchase whatever you need for your residence there. At a distance of one day there is a station. There you will find various means of transport, such as a car, a ship, a train, and an aeroplane. According to your capital, you may make use of them.”

After receiving these instructions, the two servants set out on their journey. One of them was wise. On the way to the station, he spent part of his capital. Within that expenditure, however, he engaged in such profitable trade that his capital increased a thousandfold, greatly pleasing his master.

The other servant was foolish and reckless. By the time he reached the station, he had squandered twenty-three of his gold coins on worthless pursuits such as gambling and amusements, leaving himself with only one coin. His companion said to him:

“Be sensible and spend that single coin on a ticket, so that you will not have to travel that long road on foot and without provisions. Moreover, our master is most generous. Perhaps he will show you mercy, forgive your mistakes, and allow you onto the aeroplane as well. Then we shall reach our destination within a single day. Otherwise, you will be forced to travel alone, on foot, and without provisions through the desert for two months.”

Now, if out of sheer stubbornness this man were to spend that last coin on unlawful pleasures instead of using it for a ticket—which serves as the key to a treasure—would even the most foolish person not understand how senseless and harmful his behaviour is?

Now then, O you who do not perform the prayer, and O my nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits. that finds no pleasure in prayer! Know that the ruler represents our Creator. One of those two servants represents the devout people who eagerly perform the prayer, while the other symbolizes the heedless people who neglect it. Those twenty-four gold coins represent the twenty-four hours of a day. That beautiful estate symbolizes Paradise. That station is the grave. The journey to that estate is the journey of the human being who proceeds through the grave and resurrection towards eternity. According to their deeds and the degree of their taqwāGod-consciousness; avoiding sins and fulfilling the obligations prescribed by Allah., people travel that long road in different ways. Some of the pious traverse a distance of a thousand years in a single day like lightning. Others cover a distance of fifty thousand years in a single day with the speed of imagination. The Glorious Qur’an alludes to this reality in two verses.