Thus, anxiety and sorrow do the servant no good at all; rather, their harm exceeds their benefit. They weaken resolve, sap the heart’s strength, and prevent the servant from striving for what benefits him. They cut off his path forward, turn him back, impede him and bring him to a halt, or (1) obscure the guiding landmark whose sight always spurs him to press towards it and pursue his journey earnestly. They are a heavy burden on the traveller’s back. Yet if anxiety and sorrow restrain him from desires and pursuits that harm him in this life and the Hereafter, he benefits from them in this respect. It is part of the wisdom of the Almighty, the All-Wise, that He has set these two forces upon hearts that turn away from Him—hearts devoid of love for Him, fear of Him, hope in Him, turning back to Him, reliance upon Him, intimacy with Him, fleeing to Him, and exclusive devotion to Him—to turn them back (2), through the anxiety, distress, sorrow, and heartache with which He tries them, from many of their sins and destructive desires.

These hearts are confined in a prison of Hell in this world. If good is intended for them, this will constitute their share of the prison of Hell in the Hereafter. They remain in this prison until they escape into the open expanse of affirming Allah’s oneness, turning towards Him, finding intimacy with Him, and placing love for Him where thoughts and whisperings steal through the heart. Then remembrance of Him Most High, love for Him, fear of Him, hope in Him, joy in Him, and delight in remembering Him—these come to possess and dominate the heart. Whenever the heart loses this, it loses the sustenance without which it can neither stand nor survive. There is no way to free the heart from these pains, which are its gravest and most destructive diseases, except through this. And there is no reaching this goal except through Allah alone, for none but He can bring one to Him, and no one brings