and the delight of the eye stands above mere love, for not every beloved thing gladdens the eye. (1) The eye finds true repose (2) only in the loftiest of beloveds, the One who is loved for His very essence; (3) that is none other than God—there is no deity but Him. (4) Everything besides Him is loved merely as a consequence of loving Him; it is loved on His account. One must not love anything alongside Him, (5) for loving another with Him is polytheism, whereas loving for His sake is pure monotheism. Thus the polytheist takes rivals apart from God and loves them as he loves God, (6) whereas the monotheist loves only those whom he loves for God’s sake, (7) hates whom he hates for God’s sake, (8) acts solely for God, (9) and refrains solely for God. (10)
The entire religion revolves around these four foundations: love and hate, and—arising from them—acting and abstaining, giving and withholding. (11) Whoever perfects all of this for God alone has perfected faith; whatever portion of it falls short of being for God’s sake reflects a shortfall in the servant’s faith. (12)