and it becomes the very cause of his torment. For that reason, those who amass gold and silver yet fail to spend them in the path of Allah will see their hoarded wealth on the Day of Resurrection embodied as a bald-headed serpent that clamps onto their jaws, proclaiming, “I am your treasure, I am your wealth.”

Numerous reports carry the same meaning, among them the divine declaration: “On the Day of Resurrection Allah will say, ‘Son of Adam, is it not justice on My part to hand each of you over to whatever he used to take as his guardian in the world?’”

The root of such guardianship is love; therefore, whoever loves something other than Allah will, on the Day of Resurrection, be consigned to that very object of his devotion, then cast into Hell—an evil destination—so whoever loves