Continuation of the benefits of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "Is he who stands in prayer during the hours of the night, prostrating and standing, fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord? Say: Are those who know equal to those who do not know? Only those of understanding will be mindful."

The student: قُلْ إِنِّي أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ مُخْلِصًا لَهُ الدِّينَ 11 وَأُمِرْتُ لِأَنْ أَكُونَ أَوَّلَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ 12 قُلْ إِنِّي أَخَافُ إِنْ عَصَيْتُ رَبِّي عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ 13 قُلِ اللَّهَ أَعْبُدُ مُخْلِصًا لَهُ دِينِي 14 فَاعْبُدُوا مَا شِئْتُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ قُلْ إِنَّ الْخَاسِرِينَ الَّذِينَ خَسِرُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ وَأَهْلِيهِمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَلَا ذَلِكَ هُوَ الْخُسْرَانُ الْمُبِينُ Say: I have been commanded to worship Allah, being sincere to Him in religion. And I have been commanded to be the first of the Muslims. Say: I fear, if I disobey my Lord, the punishment of a great day. Say: I worship Allah, being sincere to Him in my religion. So worship what you will besides Him. Say: Indeed, the losers are those who have lost themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection. Unquestionably, that is the clear loss.

The Shaykh : Well, I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. I think we have discussed
The student: ...

The Shaykh : From where?
The student: ...

The Shaykh :? Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: to the end of it. In this verse is the clarification of the difference between people in the worship of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, and that there is no equality between the one who stands in prayer during the hours of the night, prostrating and standing, to the end of it, and the one who is disobedient and far from Allah the Mighty and Majestic.
Among the benefits of the verse is that its apparent meaning is the continuity of obedience during the hours of the night in prostration and standing, meaning in prayer. However, the Sunnah clarified this, and that the best in standing in night prayer is to sleep half of it, stand for a third of it, and sleep a sixth of it. This is from restricting the Qur'an by the Sunnah.
Among the benefits of the verse is the virtue of night prayer, due to His saying: And the Sunnah indicated this, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
Among the benefits of this verse is the virtue of standing and prostration among the pillars of prayer. We have clarified the aspect of this during the exegesis, that standing is noble by its mention, and prostration is noble by its form.
Among the benefits of the verse is that it is befitting for a person to be, in his journey to Allah, combining between fear and hope, due to His saying: But should they be equal, or should the side of hope be given precedence, or the side of fear? In this, there are opinions from the people of spiritual practice: Some said: It should be that his hope and his fear are equal, like the two wings of a bird; if one of them tilts, its flight is unbalanced. Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "It should be that his fear and his hope are equal, for whichever of them prevails, its owner is destroyed", because if he gives precedence to the side of fear, it leads him to despair and hopelessness, and if he gives precedence to the side of hope, it leads him to security from the stratagem of Allah. And some of the people of spiritual practice said: It should be that the side of hope is given precedence, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted in the Holy Hadith: And on this, the side of hope is given precedence. And some scholars said: He should give precedence to the side of hope when performing acts of obedience, so if he performs an act of obedience, let him give precedence to the side of acceptance over the side of rejection. As for the commission of sin, it is better to give precedence to the side of fear, so that he does not fall into sin. And some said: In the state of illness, the side of hope is given precedence, and in the state of health, the side of fear is given precedence, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And the sick person has in him the cause of death, which is the illness, so the side of hope is given precedence, so that he dies while having a good opinion of Allah. And if someone said: It is returned to the person himself, and the person is the doctor of his own soul; if he sees in himself a tendency toward violating sins and prohibitions, let him warn himself, or rather let him threaten himself with punishment until he refrains. And if he sees in himself strength for the obedience of Allah and perseverance in it and standing by it, let him give precedence to the side of hope so that he has a good opinion of Allah. And this is returned to the person himself, and the person at some times gives precedence to this, and at some times gives precedence to that.
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Yes, meaning if it were said this way, it would be better.
Among the benefits of the verses is the affirmation of the punishment of the Hereafter, due to His saying: And a thing is not feared except by its affirmation, as for what is not affirmed, it is not feared.
Among the benefits of the verse is that in the chapter of reward and rulings, the side of Lordship is given precedence, due to His saying: , because Lordship is that by which is the disposition and authority.
Among the benefits of the noble verse is that those who know and those who do not know are not equal, due to His saying: .
And among its benefits is that this negation is a matter acknowledged, because it came in the form of a question, and we have mentioned that when the question is intended to be a negation, it becomes imbued with the meaning of challenge.
Among the benefits of the verse is the virtue of knowledge, but it must be known that knowledge is honored by the honor of its subject. And on this, the best of knowledge is knowledge of the names and attributes of Allah, because this is the most noble of the subjects of knowledge, then knowledge of His rulings , then the other sciences follow according to their ranks. And the lowest of knowledge is what diverts from the path of Allah and from the way of the righteous predecessors, such as the knowledge of philosophy, the knowledge of kalam, the knowledge of kalam, and the like of them, except if a person learns it in order to refute its people. In this case, its learning may be obligatory, because that which is not completed except by it is obligatory. And for this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered Zayd ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) to learn the language of the Jews, even though learning foreign languages is not praiseworthy nor commanded. But when it was a means to knowing what comes from the writings of the Jews and refuting them in their language, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered him to learn the language of the Jews. And he learned the language of the Jews in sixteen days, because Zayd ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) was among the intelligent ones, so he learned it. And the Hebrew language is close to the Arabic language, so its learning was easy.
Good, among the benefits of the noble verse is that the people of intellect are the people of taking a lesson, due to His saying: .
And among its benefits is that the one who does not remember is deficient in intellect, because if only the people of intellect remember, then the one who does not remember is deficient in intellect, without doubt. And the deficiency of his intellect is according to his deficiency in remembering. And the aspect of this from the theoretical intellectual side is that the sane person cannot choose for himself except what is in salvation, and there is no salvation from the punishment of Allah except by remembering and taking a lesson. Therefore, the sound intellect necessitates that the person remembers and takes a lesson in order to seek what is most beneficial for the soul and most useful .
Among the benefits of the verse is the praise of the people of intellect, where He made them the ones who remember, take a lesson, and benefit from what they hear.