"An invoker is made joyful by his invocation and makes those around him joyful, for he is blessed wherever he may be. But someone who is heedless of God's mention, someone who just chatters, is made sorrowful by his heedlessness and empty talk, and makes those around him sorrowful as well." --- Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, The Invocation of God
"It is we who change, not the conditions which define the possibilities of human living, and those who choose to look the other way when decisions are to be made and who obey the laws of men as though they were the laws of God have no real grounds for complaint. It could be said that they have lost the animals alert and watchful cunning without having achieved the vigilance of man's estate. If their worldly business occupies them to the exclusion of the 'remembrance of God', it diverts them also from paying attention to dangers which surround them on the earthly level; they are, in Muslim terms, ghafilun twice over, careless not only of their ultimate good but also of their present safety." --- Gai Eaton, King of the Castle (Cambridge, The Islamic Texts Society, 1990, pp86-87)
"Oh Allah, on this day, help me with its fasts and prayers. And keep me away from mistakes and sins of the day, grant me continuous remembrance of you throughout the day by Your Assistance, oh guider of those who stray."
O thou folded in garments! Stand (to prayer) by night, but not all night,- Half of it,- or a little less, Or a little more; and recite the Qur'an in slow, measured rhythmic tones. Soon shall We send down to thee a weighty Message. Truly the rising by night is most potent for governing (the soul), and most suitable for (framing) the Word (of Prayer and Praise). True, there is for thee by day prolonged occupation with ordinary duties: But keep in remembrance the name of thy Lord and devote thyself to Him whole-heartedly. (He is) Lord of the East and the West: there is no god but He: take Him therefore for (thy) Disposer of Affairs. And have patience with what they say, and leave them with noble (dignity). And leave Me (alone to deal with) those in possession of the good things of life, who (yet) deny the Truth; and bear with them for a little while.
