Crying in Remembrance of God
Self-prostration (sajdah) is a moment of nearness between God and man. This experience of nearness to God is the greatest spiritual experience a man can have.
It happened once that the parents had to send their son to a distant place, where he had to stay for about 10 years without any further contact between them. Finally, a friend of the son came to meet the mother. He had a photograph of her son. When the mother saw this photograph, her eyes were full of tears. Why did this happen? The reason was that on seeing the photograph the mother remembered her son. After seeing the photograph an invisible contact was established between the mother and the son as so many memories were associated with it.
This example tells us what it is to weep in God’s remembrance. Such remembrance is the result of a contact at a psychological level between the Lord and His servant. When a human soul undergoes this experience of contact with God, then it is reflected in the form of tears.
This same reality has been expressed thus in chapter 19 of the Quran: “For when the revelations of the Merciful were recited to them, they fell down, prostrating themselves and weeping.” (19:58) At another place in chapter 96, the Quran has this to say: “Prostrate yourself and come closer to God.” (96:19) A true act of self-prostration is a moment of nearness between God and man. At that moment a spiritual contact is formed at an invisible level between God and man. This experience of contact is so intense that tears fall from the eyes of the servant.
In the life of this world this experience of nearness to God is the greatest spiritual experience a man can have. This state of nearness is not between two equals but rather is between two who are unequal. This is why at the time of contact, man undergoes the same experience as that of the mountain during the time of Prophet Moses, because in this kind of unequal contact, “When God manifested Himself on the mountain, He broke it into pieces.” (7:143). For a servant this experience is like the coming together of two extreme states, in one sense intense anguish, and in another sense, ultimate comfort.
