said, “Illness is an expiation; it removes a person’s sins just as a withered tree drops its leaves. And just as there are bodily ailments whose victim, if he dies of them, is counted a martyr—such as plague, abdominal disease, pleurisy, and likewise one who perishes by drowning, fire, or a collapsing building—so there are diseases of the soul: if the servant fears his Lord in them and endures them until death, he too is a martyr. A case in point is the timid man who fears Allah, stands firm in battle, and is killed.

Miserliness and cowardice are illnesses of the soul: if one obeys them, they bring him pain, and if he resists them, he still suffers pain—just like physical sickness. The same holds for passionate love. It is reported that whoever falls in love, remains chaste, conceals it, endures patiently, and then dies, dies as a martyr, for passionate love is a disease of the soul that urges it toward what harms it, just as a sick body may crave what hurts it. If he yields to his desire, his torment will be greater in the Hereafter—and in this world as well; but if he restrains his desire through chastity and concealment, his soul feels the pain and weakness of that struggle, and if he dies from that struggle, he is a martyr. This passion invites him to the Fire, yet he holds himself back—just as the coward’s own self would bar him from Paradise, yet he forces himself forward.

When such afflictions are accompanied by faith and piety, they become, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Allah decrees nothing for the believer except that it is good for him; if ease befalls him and he shows gratitude, that is good for him; and if hardship strikes him and he is patient, that is good for him.”

All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all worlds, and may Allah bless our master Muhammad, his family, and all his companions.