to whom he flees is the very One who decreed, ordained, and willed what he is running from, no trace of attention remains in the heart for anyone else whatsoever (1).

So take note of this (2) remarkable secret in the words: “aʿūdhu bika [minka]” (I seek refuge in You [from You]) (3) and “lā maljaʾa wa lā manjā minka illā ilayk” (There is no refuge and no escape from You except to You). Many people have offered explanations of this (4), yet few have addressed (5) the subtlety that is the very core and purpose of the statement. With Allah lies all success.

Observe how complete security returns to fleeing from Allah to Allah; that is the essence of migrating to Allah, exalted be He. For this reason the Prophet ﷺ said, “The emigrant is the one who abandons what Allah has forbidden” (6).

Accordingly, the Sublime Lord couples faith with migration in the Quran (7) in many passages, because the two are inseparable and each demands the other.

The point is that migration to Allah entails forsaking what He hates and adopting what He loves and approves. Its foundation is love and aversion, for the one who migrates away from something