The merit of dhikr (remembrance)

Allah the All-Mighty has said: "Therefore remember Me. I will remember you. Be grateful to Me and never show Me ingratitude" 1 And He said: "O you who believe, remember Allah with much remembrance." 2 And He said: "And the men and women who remember Allah frequently, Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and great reward." 3 And He said: "And remember your Lord by your tongue and within yourself, humbly and in awe, without loudness, by words in the morning and in the afternoon, and be not among those who are neglectful." 4 And he said, "Shall I not inform you of the best of your works, the purest of them with your Master (Allah), the loftiest of them in your stations, the thing that is better for you than spending gold and silver (in charity), and better for you than meeting your enemies and slaying them and being slain by them?" They (the Companions) said, "Of course!" He said, "Remembrance of Allah, the Most High." 6 And he said, "Allah the Most High says, 'I am with My slave when he thinks of Me and I am with him when he mentions Me. For if he mentions Me to himself, I mention him to Myself; and if he mentions Me in a gathering, I mention him in superior gathering. If he approaches Me by a hand's width, I approach him by an arm's length, I approach him by two arms length. And if he comes to me walking, I hasten to him swiftly.'" 7 Abdullah bin Busr (raa) said that a man asked the Prophet (pbuh), "O Messenger of Allah! Verily, the sanctions of Islam have become too numerous for me (to perform them all). Inform me of something (simple) that I may adhere to." The Prophet (pbuh) said, "Let your tongue always be moist with the remembrance of Allah." 8 And he said, "Whoever reads one letter from the Book of Allah, will receive one Hasanah (reward for a good deed), and one Hasanah comes with ten like it. I do not say that Alif-Lam-Mim is a letter. Indeed Alif is a letter, and Lam is a letter, and Mim is a letter." 9 Uqbah bin Amir (raa) said: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) came out (from his house) and we were of the porch (As-Suffah). So he said, "Who of you would like to go out in the morning everyday to the valley of Buthan or Al-'Aqeeq and come back with two large she-camels without committing any sin or severing any family ties?" We replied, "O Messenger of Allah! All of us would like this." So he said, "Would one of you not go to the Masjid and learn to recite two Verses from the Book of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic? That would be better than two she-camels. And three Verses would be better for him than three she-camels. And four Verses would be better than four she-camels, and whatever their number may be of camels." 10 And he said, "Whoever sits and does not mention the Name of Allah (before he rises) will find it a cause of sorrow from Allah. Whoever lies down to sleep and does not mention the name of Allah before rising, will find it a cause of sorrow from Allah." 11 And the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "No people sit in an assembly without mentioning Allah, and without asking Allah for blessings on their Prophet, except that it will be a cause of sorrow upon them. Thus if He (Allah) wishes He will punish them, and if He wishes He will forgive them." 12. And he said: "No people may rise from an assembly in which they have failed to mention the Name of Allah without it being as if they were getting off a dead donkeys rotting back, and it would be a cause of grief for them." 13 1: Al-Baqarah 2:152 2: Al-Ahzab 33:41 3: Al-Ahzab 33:35 4: Al-Araf 7:205 5: Al-Bukhari, cf., Al-Asqalani, Fathul-Bari 11/208; Muslim 1/539 with the wording "The house in which Allah is remembered and the house in which Allah is not remembered is like the living and the dead." 6: At-Tirmidhi 5/459, Ibn Majah 2/1245. See Al-Albani, Sahih Ibn Majah 2/316 and Sahih At-Tirmidhi 3/139. 7: Al-Bukhari 8/171, Muslim 4/2061; this wording is from Al-Bukhari. 8: At-Tirmidhi 5/458, Ibn Majah 2/1246. See Al-Albani, Sahih At-Tirmidhi 3/139 and Sahih Ibn Majah 2/317. 9: At-Tirmidhi 5/175. See Al-Albani, Sahih At-Tirmithi 3/9 and Sahihul-Jami' As-Saghir 5/340. 10: Muslim 1/553 11: Abu Dawud 4/264. See Al-Albani, Sahihul-Jami' As-Saghir 5/342. 12: At-Tirmidhi. See Al-Albani, Sahih At-Tirmidhi 3/140 13: Abu Dawud 4/264, Ahmad 2/389. See Al-Albani, Sahihul-Jami' 5/176.