Understanding Salat — Page 133
Qaumah 133 has taught us that true praise has Barkat and is always increasing, and new aspects of praise continue com- ing to mind. The truth is that there is no being other than God whose praise has never-ending Barkat. ( Dhauqe ‘Ib ā dat , pp. 496) When our praise of God has quantity, it is like many seeds scattered across the ground. When our praise has quality, it is those seeds that grow into plants. When our praise produces results, it is those plants that produce fruits; they multiply the number of seeds we had. If we find ourselves growing bored and tired of praising Allah, then we can know that our praise is not blessed ( ِ مُبَارَكًا فِيْه ) because our praise will even- tually decrease in quantity and quality. However, if we see that our pleasure in praising Allah is growing, our praise is becoming more meaningful, and our desire to do so more frequently is increasing, then we can know that our praise ( حَمْد ) is blessed ( مُبَارَكًا فِيْهِ ). Then we can know that our efforts are bearing fruit and our seeds are multiplying. The meaning of Barakah , as mentioned above, is, ‘A blessing; any good that is bestowed by God. ’ We are power- less to attain this. There is nothing we can do to force Allah to bestow blessings on us. When we say ‘blessed’ ( ِ مُبَارَكًا فِيْه ), we reach the point at which we have no choice but to adopt humility because we have lost control here. We do have a degree of control over making our praise numerous ( كَثِيْر ). If we discipline ourselves, we can increase the quantity of our