The Coolness of the Eye

May Allah (swt) grant an understanding of the true importance of ṣalāh, and count every believer among those of whom Allah says that they establish it. Ṣalāh is the greatest honour, the greatest niʿmah, that Allah bestows upon a person after īmān itself. To stand before Him five times a day is not an achievement of one's own; it is Allah who has chosen a person to stand before Him. Rising for Fajr in the morning is likewise not achieved by one's own effort alone — it is Allah who chooses a servant to stand before Him and worship Him. Whatever is felt in prostration, whatever stirs within the heart there, is a gift from Allah. Ṣalāh is the connection; ṣalāh is ʿimād al-dīn, the pillar of the religion, its very backbone; ṣalāh is the head, ṣalāh is the heart, ṣalāh is everything. As the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says, qurrata ʿaynī fī al-ṣalāh — the coolness of my eye is found in prayer — tranquillity and peace found nowhere else in this life but there. May every believer come, even once, to experience the beauty of ṣalāh as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) prayed it, as the Ṣiddīqīn, the Sāliḥīn and the Awliyāʾ prayed it, and may Allah (swt) grant the establishing of that ṣalāh in life.