As we have seen so far, every station in Salah has a special meaning and a unique significance, so that with every position we move to, we are transported into a new and different scene. These transitions help our minds to stay aware of and internalize the words we utter. These transitions help our hearts to stay alive throughout our Salah… alive with alternating feelings and emotions before Allah: Those of love, hope, fear, and humility.
The station we arrive at now is one which should inspire immense humility and fear. It is a time to ask for much forgiveness as we sit this position of full servitude and helplessness. The Prophet sallallahu alaihe wassallam used to sit in this position a length equal to that of his sujood (prostration), seeking Allah’s forgiveness and making the following duaa:
“Allahumma ighfirli wa-rhamni, wa ihdini wa-jburni, wa aafini wa-rzuqni wa-rfa’ni.”
(O Allah forgive me and have mercy on me, guide me and enrich me, give me health and provide for me and raise me in rank.). The provision we ask of Allah, implies a provision in this life, and more importantly, in the next.
As we beg for Allah’s forgiveness, we proceed to make another sujood, for we need to draw closer still, to Our Lord. One sujood is not enough. And as the first Sura of the Quran, Sura Al Alaq, starts out with a recitation (“Read!”) and ends with a prostration, so is the case with the Rak’a (unit) of Salah- It starts with recitation and ends with prostration..
Every act of worship has a special beauty to it, a unique flavour. The more we learn the more we can taste that flavour and feel that beauty, after all:
“Are they equal- Those who know and those who do not know?” (39:9)
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