and majesty of God and assumes an attitude of prayerfulness to God and of humbleness before Him, and this impression on the mind is renewed at every change of movement, and thus the contemplation of Divine glory and greatness is the one occupation of mind during the service. Take the next two expressions, Subḥāna Rabbiy-al-‘Azīm, repeated when the worshipper is bowing down, and Subḥāna Rabbiy-al-A‘lā, repeated in the state of prostration. Even if a man does not understand their meaning, he does realize, when bowing that he is bowing before the great God, and does realize when lying down prostrate that he has laid his forehead on the ground before Him Who is the Highest. Yet, even a child would not take more than half an hour to learn these phrases and their meaning. And similar is the case with the opening chapter of the Holy Qur’ān which is so often repeated in prayer. The seven short sentences of this chapter can be learnt, along with their meanings, in a short time and with very little effort. Even if one were to conduct Divine service in one’s own language, still he would have to spend some time in learning it, and the learning of the significance of the Arabic words would only require a little additional time. Keeping in view the grand object of unifying the human race through Divine service, the time thus spent would represent the most usefully spent period of one’s life.

Other advantages of maintaining Arabic in Divine service

There are two other considerations which make it necessary to maintain the Arabic language in Divine service. The Holy Qur’ān, parts of which are recited in the service, was revealed in the Arabic language, and it is a generally admitted fact that a translation can never fully express the ideas of the original. And when the original is the word of God, and the ideas expressed are those relating to God’s majesty and glory, it is still more difficult to convey the full significance in a translation.4 Again there is a music in the original which no translation can possibly render. The music of the Holy Qur’ān is not only in its rhythm but also in its diction. Now music plays an important part in producing an effect on the mind, and the recitation of the Holy Qur’ān thus serves the purpose of communicating grand and beautiful ideas to the accompaniment of music. Hence it is that the Islāmic service has never stood in need of