Understanding Salat — Page 214
Understanding S al A t 214 temptations rush to dissipate his heart’s concentra- tion. These thoughts lead a person to a far off place, causing him distress, but he goes on fighting to the death in order to acquire this concentration and con- tentment in Prayer. With great anguish, such a per- son forever remains concerned about keeping erect his falling Prayer. ( Malf ūzā t (English), vol. 1, pp. 28) There are some who in the Prayer desire to rid them- selves of evil distractions immediately, although َ ُقِيمُون ی َ لَوة َّ ٱلص [He establishes the Prayer], indicates something quite the opposite. ( Malf ūzā t (English), vol. 1, pp. 29) When we say ِ لَوة َّ رَب ِّ ٱجۡعَلۡنِي مُقِيم َ ٱلص [My Lord, make me observe Prayer], we reflect on how fallen our S alāt is, and we beg Allah Almighty to set it upright. Praying that Allah Almighty improve our S alāt right at the end of our S alāt carries a spe- cial meaning. If our S alāt went by in distraction, then we sometimes wait until after S alāt is finished to think about how poorly it went. When we do that, those negative feel- ings of regret are not channelled into a positive effort, and we are left with an overall bad experience of S alāt. Instead, we should do an analysis of the S alāt we just observed when we say these words. If it went poorly, then now is the time to allow ourselves to feel regret over the opportunity we lost.