The Ninth Word

Then, before His everlasting beauty, His unchanging sacred attributes, and His enduring perfection, he prostrates in sujūdA posture of prostration in which the forehead, nose, hands, knees, and toes all touch the ground.. Abandoning everything besides Him, he proclaims his love and servanthood with wonder and humility. In place of all that is fleeting, he finds Jamīl-i BāqīAllah, Whose beauty is boundless and Whose existence is eternal. and Rahīm-i SarmadīAllah, Whose mercy encompasses everything and Whose existence is everlasting., and by saying:

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّىَ الْاَعْلٰىGlory be to my Lord, the Most High.

he declares that his Rabb-i AʿlāAllah, the Most High Lord Whose greatness and exaltedness are boundless. is free from transience and imperfection.

Then he sits and presents to Jamīl-i Lam YazalAllah, Whose beauty is boundless and Whose existence is everlasting. and Jalīl-i Lā YazālAllah, Whose majesty is boundless and Whose existence never ceases. the blessed greetings and supplications of all creation. By sending salutations upon the Noble Messenger (saw)Sallallāhu alayhi wa sallam (Peace and blessings be upon him), he renews his pledge to him and affirms his obedience. To strengthen and renew his īmānFaith; belief in the six articles of faith: Allah, His angels, His revealed scriptures, His prophets, the Hereafter, and divine decree (qadar)., he observes the purposeful order within the universe and bears witness to the unity of Sāni-i Dhu’l-JalālAllah, Who creates with perfect artistry and Whose greatness and majesty are boundless. and to the prophethood of Muhammed the Arabian (saw)Sallallāhu alayhi wa sallam (Peace and blessings be upon him), who is the teacher of the manifestations of Allah’s Names and the herald of His rubūbiyyaAllah’s lordship over all creation and His provision for all their needs. and of those deeds that are pleasing to Him.

Indeed, how can someone still be considered a rational human being if he does not understand what a subtle and refined duty, what an honourable and delightful service, what a beautiful and pleasing act of worship, and what a profound reality it is to perform the MaghribThe sunset prayer, performed just after the sun has set. prayer, which transforms this transient guesthouse into a conversation with the Eternal One and allows one to experience lasting happiness?

The time of Isha is when even the last traces of the day disappear from the horizon and the world is enveloped in the darkness of night. It reminds man how Qadīr-i Dhul-JalālAllah, Who has power over all things and Whose greatness and majesty are boundless., Who is

مُقَلِّبُ الَّيْلِ وَ النَّهَارِThe One who alternates the night and the day. – The Quran 24:44

turns the bright page of day into the dark page of night; how Hakīm-i Dhul-KamālAllah, the All-Wise One Whose perfection is boundless. , Who is

مُسَخِّرُ الشَّمْسِ وَ الْقَمَرِThe One who has subjected the sun and the moon to His command. – The Quran 13:2

turns the green-adorned page of summer into the cold white page of winter; and how the Creator of life and death gradually severs the connection of those who have departed from this world by causing even the traces they leave behind to fade away with time.

It also calls to mind the majestic acts and beautiful manifestations of the Creator of the heavens and the earth, Who will utterly destroy this narrow, fleeting, and insignificant world and, through its mighty death throes, unfold the vast, everlasting, and majestic realm of the Hereafter.

Indeed, the true Owner of the universe, its Governor, its MabūdThe One Who is worthy of worship., and its MahbūbThe Beloved One. can only be the One Who turns night into day, winter into spring, and this world into the Hereafter as easily as turning the pages of a book—writing, erasing, and changing them at will. All this clearly testifies to the existence of an All-Powerful One Who exercises absolute dominion over all things.