Dhikr, an Arabic word usually translated as remembrance, began as a simple discipline among early Muslim ascetics and mystics: reciting the Quran and other devotional texts, softly or aloud, as a way of keeping God constantly in mind. Over time it crystallized into short, repeatable formulas, phrases such as there is no god but God, God is greatest, or praise be to God, recited many times in sequence, often on a string of prayer beads. As Sufi orders, known as tariqas, took shape from roughly the twelfth century onward, each order adopted its own particular wording, rhythm, and manner of dhikr, to be practiced alone in private devotion or together as a community exercise led by a teacher. Some orders favor a quiet, inward dhikr matched to the breath; others favor a loud, communal dhikr accompanied by swaying, drumming, or, among the Mevlevi order, the turning dance popularly known as whirling. The practice is grounded in specific Quranic language commanding believers to remember God often, and to remember Him standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, verses Sufi commentators have long cited as scriptural warrant for making remembrance a continuous rather than an occasional devotional act. What unites the many forms is the same underlying aim, holding the divine names in continuous attention until ordinary awareness of the self recedes and the worshiper's whole attention rests on God.