Understanding Salat — Page 137
Sajdah 137 manifestation, and come in awe of it. However, A‘l ā [Most High] has such a loftiness that you feel you cannot be on the same level despite coming close to it. He is Most High, and however close you come, your awareness of His loftiness increases. …When you stand at the foot of a skyscraper, then you feel how high it is. However, there are some heights who’s foundation does not start from where you are; they are most high. For example, the loftiness of the sky is beyond your reach. ( Dhauqe ‘Ib ā dat , pp. 497) The starting point of the ‘A z mat [Greatness] of Allah Almighty begins at our level. It is like a mountain, at the foot of which we can stand. We can move towards His ‘A z mat and see it from up close. That is why when we do Ruk ū ‘ , we incline towards the ‘A z mat of Allah. We make a symbol of moving towards Allah. However, we cannot incline towards ‘the Most High’ ( َعْلَى اَلْأ ) because His loftiness does not start at our level. If we wanted to admire a mountain from up close, we would move towards it. But if we want to admire the sky’s loftiness from up close, there is nowhere we can go. The more we try to move towards it, the more distant it feels. With ‘the Most High’ ( َعْلَى ْأ اَل ), there is nowhere for us to go to, we are completely helpless. The spontaneous reaction to ‘the Most Great’ ( ُ اَلْعَظِيْم ) is to incline towards it with Ruk ū ‘. The sponta- neous reaction to ‘the Most High’ ( َعْلَى اَلْأ ) is to fall helplessly into Sajdah.