A Green Tree Among the Withered

A further set of hadith on the remembrance of Allah is worth setting out in full, each describing the same figure from a different angle: the one who remembers Allah among those who forget Him. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, first, that such a person is like a green tree standing in the midst of dry, withered ones. He said that this person is shown his seat in Paradise during his own lifetime, before death reaches him. He said that he is like a fighter, a mujāhid, standing his ground behind those who have fled the battle. He said that Allah looks upon him with a look after which He will never punish him — one look, among the looks of Allah's mercy and raḥmah. He said that such a person is like a light inside a dark house. And he said that Allah forgives him sins equal in number to every speaking creature and every creature without speech combined — reckoned, according to the ʿulamāʾ, by the whole number of animals and human beings together, since man has been defined in certain quarters as a speaking animal, and Allah's protection is sought from ever forgetting the fact. The one who makes dhikr of Allah in the marketplace, amid every distraction the marketplace offers, will carry a light in every hair of his body on the Day of Resurrection.