being occupied with its opposite comes only as a matter of logical entailment; nothing has been forbidden except what conflicts with the commanded act, as already noted. Consequently, in both instances the commanded deed itself is the primary object of intention.
The crux of the matter is this: requesting something is, in essence, a direct request for that very thing—and, by necessary implication, for whatever is indispensable to it. Likewise, forbidding something is essentially a request that it be left alone, and—by that same implication—that whatever abstention requires be performed. In each case there is both an act to be done and an act to be withheld, and both are positive realities.
Fourteenth approach: Within the realm of requests, command and prohibition stand to one another as affirmation and negation do within the realm of statements. Praise and commendation are never earned by sheer negation unless that negation implies a positive perfection, for negation, by its very nature, is non-existence, containing neither virtue nor praise. Only when it carries an implicit affirmation does praise become fitting: the negation of forgetfulness, for example, entails perfect knowledge and clarity; the negation of fatigue, weariness, and exhaustion entails perfect strength and power; the negation of drowsiness and sleep entails perfect life and self-subsistence; the negation of offspring and consort entails absolute self-sufficiency, sovereignty, and lordship; the negation of any partner, protector, or intercessor without His permission entails perfect monotheism and exclusive possession of all perfection, divinity, and dominion; the negation of injustice entails perfect justice; the negation of vision comprehending Him entails His majesty, indicating that He is too exalted to be encompassed even though eyes may behold Him. Otherwise, there is no praise in the mere fact that He is not seen, for pure non-existence is the same.
Once this is understood, if the prohibited matter carries no positive, affirmative content, one is not praised for abandoning it, nor does one earn reward or commendation merely for refraining from it—just as no praise or commendation is warranted for a purely negative attribute.
Fifteenth approach: Allah, exalted be He, has set the reward for the commanded deeds at ten—