Sometimes when those effects and characteristics are found...

Sometimes when those effects and characteristics are found, we say that one remembers, although there is no actual remembrance; or that one has forgotten, although there is no actual forgetfulness. For example, if you do not come to the aid of your friend - when you know that he needs your help - then people say that: “You have forgotten him”, although in fact you remember him very well. The word “remembrance” is also used in the same way.

Apparently, the use of this word for “verbal remembrance” (e.g., reciting or repeating the names of Allah) comes in this category, because you cannot express something in words unless you remem‑ ber it in mind. Allah says: Say; “I will recite to you an account (a remembrance) of him” (18:83). There are many other examples like it. But if verbal remembrance is counted as a real meaning of the word 'remembrance' then it will be one of its (lower) degrees. However, remembrance is of many degrees.

Allah says: now surely by Allah's remembrance are the hearts set at rest (13:28); And remember your Lord within yourself humbly and fearing and in a voice not loud in the morning and the evening, and be not of the heedless ones (7:205); then remember Allah as you remember your fathers, rather a more intense remembrance (2:200). Now, it is the thought or feeling which becomes intense, not the words.

Also, we have quoted the above verse: and remember your Lord when you forget and say: “May be my Lord will guide me to a nearer course to the right than this” (18:24) . The last sentence, beginning with Say: “May be...” , tells the servant to hope for a rank higher than his present one.

Its connotation will be as follows: If you slip down to a lower rank, that is, if you forget what you knew before, then remember your Lord and then you may hope for a higher rank that is nearer to the right course than the present one. It shows that the remembrance of the heart, per se, is of many degrees. It also proves the validity of the saying, ”Remembrance is the presence of an idea in the mind”; because even ”presence” has various degrees and ranks.