sad and dejected).

sad and dejected).”[^5] The emphasis of the Qur’an and its attention to invocation of Allah has reached the extent that prayer in the Qur’an has been introduced as invocation of Allah, with regard to the fact that in Islam prayer has a high status and has been known as a pillar of religion: ...

وَأَقِم الصَّلوةَ لِذِکْرِي “…and keep up prayer for My remembrance.” [^6] For the reason the aim is more important than the means, it can be inferred from this verse that invocation of Allah is more important than prayer and in truth prayer is a means of remembering Allah; (in reality, from the viewpoint of the Qur’an, invocation of Allah has a purport and reality for which prayer, in spite of all the value it has, is considered as nothing more than a means.) The question is that how possible is it for what embodies all the invocations and even some of the ayat s and special works and movements to be a means of remembrance of Allah?

In explanation of this point, it ought to be said that prayer is not considered as invocation of Allah because of the shape and form and movements and activities which it has but invocation is a condition of the heart and is an inward attention and is a connection between the heart of man and the divine Essence of Allah. Therefore, man prays so as to give rise to that attention of the heart and inward connection.

Therefore, prayer is itself a means and the goal is attention and connection of the heart which is doubtlessly more honorable than prayer itself. The Quantity and Quality of Invocation of Allah One of the issues mentioned in the Qur’an and the hadith s is the quality and quantity of Allah. Some verses in the Qur’an lay emphasis on the quantity and abundance of invocation of Allah; like the verse: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اذْکُرُوا اللهَ ذِکْرًا کَثِيرًا “O you who believe!