the desire to do likewise. For if someone observes the effect of a bugle call on soldiers dispersed and lost among the people, how it arouses them, summoning them to gather together and take up pleasing, orderly positions, he himself will feel inclined to join them. Just the same is the call to prayer of Muhammad (UWBP) among the people in this bleak world. "And God's is the highest similitude."
The use here, the place for conciseness, of the prolix "are steadfast in prayer (yuqïmüna al-şalai)" in place of 'yuşallün,' indicates the importance of complying with the meaning of 'performing' (al-iqama) the salāt, such as performing them correctly, and regularly, and seriously, and preserving oneself [from distractions etc.], and increasing demand for them in the market of the world. Ponder over this, and understand too that the salāt are an elevated link, a lofty relationship between the bondsman and the Pre-Eternal Monarch, and an honourable act of service. It is characteristic of this relationship that it captivates the spirit. The 'pillars' of the salāt comprise numerous mysteries which have been expounded in works like al-Futūhāt al-Makkiya. One of these is that the conscience loves them. They are a summons of the Pre-Eternal Maker to the pavilion of His presence five times a day and night to commune with Him, as a sort of Ascension. This is such that everyone's heart should yearn for it. The salāt perpetuates in the heart the idea of the Maker's sublimity and makes the mind conscious of it so as to induce obedience to the divine laws of justice and compliance with the dominical order of things. Man is in need of this because he is human and because he is by nature civilized. So alas for those who give up the salāt! What a loss the lazy suffer! And O, the ignorance of those who do not know their value! And those who do not deem them worthwhile, they should go elsewhere, the targets of general disgust!