Ibnul-Qayyim [d.751H] - رحمه الله تعالى - said:
“And in short, there is nothing is
more beneficial to the heart than reciting the Qur’aan with contemplation &
reflection.…..
If the people only knew what is
(contained) in reciting the Qur’aan with contemplation, they would have
preoccupied (themselves) with it over everything else. So if he were to read it
thoughtfully (with contemplation) until he came across an aayah that he is
in need of in curing his heart, he would repeat it, even if it was a hundred
times, even for an entire night!
So reciting one aayah with
contemplation & understanding is better than reciting (the whole Qur’aan)
to completion without contemplation & understanding, & that is more
beneficial to the heart, & more conducive to obtaining Eemaan &
tasting the sweetness of the Qur’aan.
And this was the custom of the Salaf (our pious predecessors). One of them would repeat the aayah until the morning. And it is established (authentically) from the Prophet - صلى الله عليه وسلم - that he stood (in the night in Salaah) reciting a single aayah, repeating it until the morning [1].”
[Miftaah Daar As-Sa’aadah (1/535)]
[1] Related by Aboo Dharr in the hadeeth collected by Ibn Maajah (1350), An-Nasaa’ee (1010), Al-Haakim in Al-Mustaddrak (879), & others. Declared hasan by Shaykh Al-Albaanee.
Translated by:
Aboo Sufyaan ‘Uthmaan Beecher
