“A servant stands before Allah twice: once in prayer, and once on the Day he meets Him. Whoever gives the first standing its due will find the second made easy.”

Ibn al-Qayyim heads this “a principle” in al-Fawa’id, and the sentence ends with its mirror image: whoever takes the first standing lightly and does not give it its due will find the second made hard. He follows it with the verses that set a long night of prostration beside the Day to come: “And during the night prostrate to Him and exalt Him a long part of the night. Indeed, these love the immediate and leave behind them a grave Day” (76:26–27).