in full, without shortening. This is why He said, “morning and evening” [al-Ahzab 33:42], meaning the morning and evening prayers. Likewise He said, “Glory be to God when you enter the evening and when you enter the morning” [al-Rum 30:17], “and in the late afternoon and when you enter noon” [al-Rum 30:18]. He brought the five prayers together in this verse. “His is the praise,” meaning unrestricted commendation, “in the heavens and the earth” [al-Rum 30:18].
(The Servant’s Prayer between Two Blessings from God)
The purport of the words is that, when He said this and commanded us to remember and pray, He said, “He is the One who blesses you,” informing us that He blesses us. Two things are understood from this.
The first is that He blesses us, so we should remember Him with praise and commendation and pray to Him morning and evening. This nourishes intellects and spirits, just as the body is nourished at these times, in His words “They have their provision there morning and evening” [Maryam 19:62]. The provision of each creature accords with what its reality requires. Spirits are nourished through glorification, so they are told, “Glorify Him,” meaning pray to Him at these times and remember Him in every state. He restricted glorification, while leaving remembrance free of any specified time. We thus know that glorification is a particular remembrance tied to these times.
The other is that when you pray and remember God, He blesses you. Our prayer to Him and remembrance of Him, glory be to Him, are thus between two blessings from God Most High. He blessed us, so we prayed to Him, then He blessed us. Through His first blessing upon us, we prayed to Him. Through His second blessing upon us, felicity became ours as we reaped the fruit of our prayer to Him and our remembrance.
