Remembrance · a Light

The Qur'an's name for itself is a word about memory

The root dh k r means both to remember and to mention, and Arabic does not separate the two: bringing a thing to mind and saying it aloud are one act. Dhikr therefore covers remembrance and recitation at once. The Qur'an uses the word as one of its own names, calling itself al-Dhikr, the Reminder. It also uses it for the practice: remember Me and I will remember you, and the statement that in the remembrance of Allah hearts find rest. What grew out of that root includes litanies counted on the fingers, phrases repeated after prayer, and the habit of saying a short formula aloud before eating, travelling or sleeping.

Root dh k r, to remember and to mention

Source · Qur'an 13:28, 2:152