But those of them who are firmly rooted in knowledge and the believ- ers believing in what has been revealed to you and what was revealed before you and those who observe the prayer; and pay the alms and those who believe in God and the Last Day-to them We shall surely give a great wage. The one who is firmly rooted in knowledge ʿilm is not a blind follower in matters of proof dalīl just as he is not a blind follower in matters of judg- ment ḥukm. Rather he replaces [blind following] with reflective thought naẓar to the point that there is no possibility of doubt in his intellectual understanding ʿaql. It is said that the one who is firmly rooted in knowledge ascends from the limit of the study of demonstrative proof burhān and reaches the realities of clear evidence bayān. It is said that the one who is firmly rooted in knowledge is one whose knowledge is practiced to the degree that he benefits from knowledge that is hidden from others as in the tradition “Whoever practices what he knows-God grants knowledge of what he does not know.” [The phrase] those who observe prayer is in the accusative to indi- cate the laudative. Prayer is given distinction among the other acts of worship because it follows [the mention of] faith in most passages in the QurÌān and because God سبحانه gave the command for prayer directly to the Messenger ﷺ on the night of the miʿrāj without the intermediary of Gabriel عليه السلام and because of other reasons. A great wage: The great wage is that which is over and above what the work deserves
