I wasn’t sure how to word this ḥāshiyah. I don’t intend it to be a lecture, nor something you passively read and move on from. I want you to feel it with me.
Imagine yourself in sujūd. Your forehead rests against the ground. You feel its firmness. And, Allah ﷻ forgive our haste, you are ready to rise again.
But instead, you remain.
One extra tasbīḥ.
Maybe two.
Your mind quietens, just for a moment, and you begin to think about what you are actually saying:
سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الأَعْلَى
“Glory be to my Lord, the Most High.”
A brief grammar pause.
The word الأعلى (al-Aʿlā) comes from علا (ʿalā), meaning to be elevated or high. When placed in the superlative form, it does not mean merely high, or even higher. It means the Highest. A height none can reach. A rank none can rival. A station none can surpass.
In the lowest physical position your body can take, praising the One who is the Most High.
Isn’t that astonishing?
We deliberately lower ourselves, and from that position declare His absolute elevation. The distance between servant and Lord becomes vast. The lowest point meets the Highest Name.
And yet, the Prophet ﷺ said:
“The closest a servant is to his Lord is while he is in prostration, so increase in supplication.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 482)
So while we are saying, “You are the Most High, and I am here, low and submitting,” Allah ﷻ is nearer to us than we can comprehend.
Allah ﷻ says:
وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإِنسَانَ وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِ نَفْسُهُ ۖ وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ
“And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than his jugular vein.”
(Sūrat Qāf 50:16)
Can you feel that closeness?
The heart tightens slightly. Not out of fear alone, but because it has tasted something it perhaps neglected. A recognition of love from Allah ﷻ, despite our rebellion.
Hold onto that feeling.
Notice how it is intertwined with guilt. A quiet, suppressed guilt. Two emotions pressing against each other. An innate love for our Creator, and a discomfort at how casually we fall short.
For now, let us sit with the love. We will return to the guilt in another ḥāshiyah.
It is said in poetry:
أَغَارُ عَلَيْكَ مِنْ خَلَوَاتِ غَيْرِي ◌◌◌ كَمَا يغَارُ الْمُحِبُّ عَلَى الْحَبِيب
“I grow jealous over your private moments with others, as a lover is jealous over the beloved.”
Now that you have tasted even a sip of this love you did not realise was there, let us deepen it.
Because when the heart becomes heavy, when the chest tightens, when words hurt and burdens settle, Allah ﷻ has already given us the remedy.
Allah ﷻ says:
◌ وَلَقَدْ نَعْلَمُ أَنَّكَ يَضِيقُ صَدْرُكَ بِمَا يَقُولُونَ ◌ فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَكُن مِّنَ السَّاجِدِينَ
“And We certainly know that your chest tightens because of what they say. So glorify the praise of your Lord and be among those who prostrate.”
(Sūrat al-Ḥijr 15:97–98)
When the heart feels constricted, the instruction is not escape.
The first step is sujūd.
- Bint al-Qalm (عفي عنها )