The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 305
The Pillars of Islām 305 What is the Şalāt? It is the supplication made humbly in the form of glorification and praise of God, proclaiming His holiness, seeking His forgiveness and calling down His blessings on the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). When you are occupied with the Şalāt do not confine yourselves only to the prescribed prayers like heedless people whose Şalāt is all formality and has no reality behind it. When you observe the Șalāt, then besides the prescribed prayers taught by the Holy Qur'an and by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him), you should set forth your supplications in your respective vernaculars so that your hearts may be moved by your humility and your earnestness. [Kashtī Nūḥ, Rūķānī Khazā'in, vol. 19, pp. 68-69] Supplications may be Offered in One's Own Vernacular Make your supplications during your five daily prayer services. You are not forbidden to supplicate in your own vernaculars. The Şalāt is not properly observed except with concentration, and concentration cannot be achieved without humility, and humility is generated by a compre- hension of that which is said. Therefore, eagerness and travail of the soul are generated more easily by supplica- tion in one's vernacular. But this does not mean that you should dispense with the prescribed prayers and offer the Şalāt in your own language. That is not what I mean. What I have in mind is that after the prescribed prayers you should also supplicate in your own language. There is a special blessing in the prescribed prayers. Şalāt means prayer. Therefore during the Salāt pray for deliv- erance from the calamities of the here and the hereafter, and that your end may be good. Pray also for your wives