and thus he abandons that love.
So when Allah is dearer to a servant than anything else, and more feared by him than anything else, no infatuation or competing attachment can arise—except during a moment of heedlessness or when that love and fear are weakened by neglecting certain obligations or committing some prohibitions. Faith (iman) grows through obedience and diminishes through sin. Each time the servant performs an act of obedience out of love for Allah and fear of Him, and refrains from sin for the same reasons, his love and fear of Allah are reinforced; this drives from the heart any love or fear directed toward something other than Him.
The same principle applies to bodily ailments: health is preserved by what is compatible with it, while illness is repelled by its opposite. The heart’s soundness is maintained by faith through things of its own kind—whatever bequeaths faith to the heart, such as beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds. These are its nourishment, as stated in the hadith of Ibn Masʿūd, traced back to the Prophet and also reported as a companion-statement: “Every host loves his banquet to be attended, and the banquet of Allah is the Quran.” The Generous Host offers this hospitality to His servants in the last part of the night, at the times of the adhan and the iqamah, in their prostrations, and after the obligatory prayers.
Add to that seeking forgiveness, for whoever asks Allah for forgiveness and then repents to Him, “He will grant him a goodly enjoyment for an appointed term” (Hud 11:3). Let him keep a daily litany of remembrance during the day and at bedtime, and let him persevere through whatever obstacles and distractions arise; before long Allah will support him with a spirit from Himself and will inscribe faith upon his heart. He should be keen to perfect the five obligatory prayers, inwardly and outwardly, for they are the pillar of the religion. Let his constant utterance be: la ḥawla wa la quwwata illa billah (“There is no might nor power except with Allah”), for by it heavy loads are borne, terrors are withstood, and lofty states are attained.
Let him never tire of supplication and request, for a servant’s prayers are answered so long as he is not hasty, saying, “I have prayed and prayed, but no answer has come.” He must know that victory comes with patience, relief with distress, and that with hardship comes ease. No one—Prophet or anyone below him—has ever attained any portion of the seal of goodness except through patience.
All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds. To Him are praise and grace for Islam and the sunnah—praise commensurate with His outward and inward favors and befitting the generosity of His Face and the majesty of His glory. May Allah bless our master Muhammad, his family, his companions, and his wives—the Mothers of the Believers—and all who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment, and grant them abundant peace.