Where He says He is
Four statements, each one answering a movement.
أَنَا عِنْدَ ظَنِّ عَبْدِي بِي وَأَنَا مَعَهُ حِينَ يَذْكُرُنِي فَإِنْ ذَكَرَنِي فِي نَفْسِهِ ذَكَرْتُهُ فِي نَفْسِي وَإِنْ ذَكَرَنِي فِي مَلإٍ ذَكَرْتُهُ فِي مَلإٍ خَيْرٍ مِنْهُمْ وَإِنِ اقْتَرَبَ إِلَىَّ شِبْرًا اقْتَرَبْتُ إِلَيْهِ ذِرَاعًا
Anā ʿinda ẓanni ʿabdī bī, wa anā maʿahu ḥīna yadhkurunī. Fa-in dhakaranī fī nafsihi dhakartuhu fī nafsī, wa in dhakaranī fī malaʾin dhakartuhu fī malaʾin khayrin minhum. Wa ini-qtaraba ilayya shibran-iqtarabtu ilayhi dhirāʿā
“I am as My servant thinks of Me, and I am with him when he remembers Me. If he remembers Me to himself, I remember him to Myself. If he remembers Me in a gathering, I remember him in a better gathering. If he comes a hand's span nearer, I come a forearm nearer.”
Where this comes from
It closes: and if he comes to Me walking, I come to him at speed. The whole thing is built as a set of answers, and every answer is larger than what prompted it.
The full narration
It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that :the Messenger of Allah (saas) said: "Allah says, 'I am as My slave thinks I am, and I am with him when he mentions Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than it. And if he draws to Me a hand-span length, I draw near to him a forearm's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him in a hurry
Source
Sunan Ibn Mājah · 3822
- Al-Albani: Sahih
- Muhammad Fouad Abd al-Baqi: Sahih
- Shuaib Al Arnaut: Sahih
- Zubair Ali Zai: Sahih Muslim