for the love a servant harbors (1) for himself, his parents, and his relatives often prevents him from applying the truth against them—especially when that truth (2) belongs to someone he hates and opposes more than them. In such a situation (3), no one will uphold it except the one for whom Allah and His Messenger are dearer than everything (4) else.

By this the servant tests his own faith: he discovers the station that faith occupies in his heart and the place it truly holds. The reverse of this is the servant’s fairness toward his enemies and those he detests (5); his hatred for them must not (6) drive him (7) to tilt (8) against them, just as his love for himself, his parents, and his relatives must not deter him from dealing with them justly. That hatred must not push him into falsehood, nor may that love hold him back from the truth. As some of the early Muslims (9) said: “The just man is the one who, when angry, is not driven by his anger into falsehood, and when pleased, is not led by his pleasure away from the truth.”