the envied person, not the abject envy that yearns for the blessing to be taken away from him.

Desire has a proper boundary: it is the measure of relief the heart and mind receive after the toil of obedience and the acquisition of virtues, together with the use of its fulfillment to aid in that pursuit. When it exceeds this boundary it becomes voracious craving and lust, and its owner sinks to the level of the beasts. If it falls short and the resulting spare time is not spent seeking perfection and merit, it turns into weakness, incapacity, and humiliation.

Rest likewise has a limit: it is the refreshing of the soul and of the perceptive and active faculties so that they may be ready for worship and the acquisition of virtues, their energy thus preserved from being drained by fatigue and exertion. When rest goes beyond this point, it becomes procrastination, indolence, and waste, and most of the servant’s interests slip away. If it is insufficient, it harms the faculties, enfeebles them, and may cause total collapse—like the exhausted rider who neither covered any ground nor spared his mount. (1)

Generosity, too, lies between two extremes: if it surpasses its proper measure, it becomes extravagance and squandering; if it falls short, it is miserliness and parsimony.

Courage has its own limit: when it exceeds that limit it turns into recklessness, and when it falls short it becomes cowardice and feebleness. Its proper scope is to advance when advance is required and to hold back when restraint is called for. As Mu‘āwiya said to ‘Amr ibn al-‘Āṣ: “I am baffled as to whether you are brave or cowardly—you charge forward until I say, ‘He is the bravest of men,’ and you shrink back until—” (2)