Allah mentioned in Surat al-Acraf, 205, "And remember thy Lord in thy self with humility and fear, and without loudness of speech, in the mornings and evenings; and be not of the neglectful." [7:205]
Imam Ahmad narrated, "Abu Huraira reported that the Prophet (s) said that Allah says, 'I am with my servant when he remembers Me and by his remembrance of Me his lips move." Commenting on this hadith, Imam Nawawi said, "Allah is with the one who remembers Him and calls Him in his heart, and calls Him on his tongue, but we must realize that the dhikr of the heart is more perfect. The rememberer made dhikr of the tongue in order to reflect the occurrence of the dhikr in his heart. When the love of Allah and His Remembrance overwhelms the heart and the spirit, the tongue is moved and the seeker brought near."
Sheikh Amin al-Kurdi said in The Enlightenment of Hearts (Tanwir al-Qulub) p. 522: "The dhikr by tongue, which combines sounds and letters, is not easy to perform at all times, because buying and selling and other such activities altogether divert one's attention from such dhikr. The contrary is true of the dhikr by heart, which is named that way in order to signify its freedom from letters and sounds. In that way nothing distracts one from his dhikr, as the poet says:
With the heart remember Allah, secretly from creation, wordlessly and speechlessly.
That remembrance is best of all: out of it flowed the sayings of the saints.
"That is why our Naqshbandi masters have chosen the dhikr of the heart. Moreover, the heart is the place where the Forgiver casts his gaze, and the seat of belief, and the receptacle of secrets, and the source of lights. If it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is unsound, the whole body is unsound, as was made clear for us by the chosen Prophet (s).
"Something that confirms this was narrated on the authority of cA'isha (r): 'Allah favors dhikr above dhikr seventyfold (meaning, silent dhikr over loud dhikr). On the Day of Resurrection, God will bring back human beings to His account, and the Recording Angels will bring what they have recorded and written, and Allah Almighty will say: See if something that belongs to my servant was left out? The angels will say: We left nothing out concerning what we have learnt and recorded, except that we have assessed it and written it. Allah will say: O my servant, I have something good of yours for which I alone will reward you, it is your hidden remembrance of Me.' Bayhaqi narrated it.
"Also on the authority of cA'isha: 'The dhikr not heard by the Recording Angels equals seventy times the one they hear.' Bayhaqi narrates it."
On Reflection
(Fikr)
Chapter 9 from
The Book of Assistance
By Imam 'Abdallah Ibn 'Alawi al-Haddad
(Allah be pleased with him)
(tr. Dr. Mostafa al-Badawi, Madina)
You should have a wird of reflection in every twenty-four hours, for which you should set aside one or more hours. The best time for reflection is the one in which are the least pre-occupations, worries, and more potential for the heart to be present, such as the depths of the night. Know that the state of one's religious and worldly affairs depend upon soundness of one's reflection. Anyone who has a share of it has an abundant share of everything good. It has been said : 'An hour's reflection is better than a year's worship.' 'Ali, may God ennoble his face, has said: 'There is no worship like reflection.' And one of the gnostics; may God have mercy on them all, said: 'Reflection is the lamp of the heart; if it departs the heart will have no light.'
The ways of reflection are many. One, which is the most noble of them, is to reflect on the wonders of God's dazzling creation, the inward and outward signs of His Ability, and the signs He has scattered abroad in the Realm of the earth and the heavens. This kind of reflection increases your knowledge of the Essence, Attributes, and Names of God. He has encouraged it by saying: Say: Look at what is in the heavens and the earth! (10:101)
Reflect on the wondrous creations He has made, and on yourself. He has said: In the earth are signs for those who have certainty, and in yourselves; can you not see? (51:20-21)
Know that you must reflect on the favors of God, and His bounties which He caused to reach you.
Remember the favors of God, that you may succeed. (7:69)
Should you (attempt to) number the favors of God, you would not be able to do so. (16:18)
All good things that you possess are from God. (16:53)
This kind of reflection results in the heart filling with the love of God, and continuously rendering thanks to Him, inwardly and outwardly, in a manner that pleases and satisfies Him.
Know that you should reflect on God's complete awareness of you, and His seeing and knowing all about you.
We have created man, and We know what his soul whispers to him; and We are nearer to him than his jugular vein. (50:16)
And He is with you wherever you are, and God sees what you do. (57:4)