The Holy Prophet Muhammad’s (sa) salat was the embodiment of thankfulness to God. It started with, ‘All praise belongs to Allah,’ in the middle was سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ [Allah hears him to praises Him] more praise for Allah, and its latter part التَّحِيّـاتُ للهِ [all verbal worship is due to Allah] was comprehensive praise for Allah. His ruku‘ [bowing] and sajdah [prostrations] were full of praise for Allah, when he would proclaim, ‘O Allah! Holy are You with all Your attributes’.
On standing up this praise would be like a surging sea. He would say, ‘O Allah! All praise belongs to You.’ In his endeavour to offer more praise he would say, ‘So much praise that it would fill the heavens and the earth and everything else that You wish would fill with this praise (meaning Your praise is limitless). Oh the Being, worthy of greatness and praise, however much praise we offer You, You are worthy of it and we all are Your servants.’
Besides the obligatory prayers, his nafl [voluntary] prayers had such fervour for thankfulness that he would spend the whole of the night in prayer. His feet would swell due to standing up for such a long time. Hazrat A’ishah (ra) said to him, ‘Why do you strive so hard?’ His beautiful reply was أَفَلاَ أَكُونُ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا ‘Should I not be an extremely grateful servant of God?’
After his salat, which was full of love of Allah, he would still pray اللّهُـمَّ أَعِـنِّي عَلـى ذِكْـرِكَ وَشُكْـرِك ، وَحُسْـنِ عِبـادَتِـك ‘O Allah! Bestow upon me the capacity to remember You, be grateful to You and offer exquisite worship.’
Every moment of his life bears testimony of the acceptance of this prayer. At night after resting for a short while, he would get up and the first words on his tongue were of praise and gratitude. He would affirm that all praise belongs to Him alone, who gave life after sleep – which is a kind of death – and to Him is the return.
Muhammad (sa) – The Perfect Man (Qadian, India: Nazarat Isha’at, 2015), 109-110.
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