whose bearer does not uphold the outward prescriptions of Islam is likewise of no benefit, whatever its nature may be. If a person’s heart were to be torn apart by love and fear yet he failed to worship in compliance with the divine command and the outward Sacred Law, that would not save him from the Fire; just as performing the outward forms of Islam without possessing the inner reality of faith would not save him from the Fire either.

Once this is understood, the truthful travellers to Allah and the Abode of the Hereafter fall into two categories:

1. A group that invests the time left over after the obligatory acts in bodily supererogatory devotions, making these their constant occupation. They do not exert themselves to cultivate the works, stations, and rulings of the heart—though they are not altogether devoid of them—because their aspirations are directed toward multiplying outward deeds.

2. A group that devotes whatever remains beyond the obligations and confirmed sunnas to rectifying their hearts: keeping them exclusively fixed on Allah, maintaining collectedness in His presence, and guarding their thoughts and intentions for His sake. They pour the strength of their worship into the works of the heart—refining love, fear, hope, reliance, and turning back to Him. They regard even the slightest share of the spiritual influxes that Allah sends into their hearts as dearer than a large amount of bodily supererogatory acts. Therefore, when one of them attains collectedness and an influx of intimacy, love, yearning, brokenness, or humility, he will never trade it for anything else—unless a command from Allah arrives. In that case, he hastens to fulfill the command while keeping the influx if he can; otherwise he hastens to the command even though the influx may vanish.

When optional deeds present themselves, this is the arena of hesitation. If he can perform them while preserving the influx, he does so; otherwise he weighs which is weightier and more beloved to Allah: to carry out that optional deed even though the influx fades—such as rescuing the distressed, guiding someone astray, mending a broken heart, imparting faith, and the like. In such cases the superior optional act should be preferred. Whenever he chooses that weightier optional act solely for Allah’s sake, seeking nearness to Him, the influx he lost will return to him stronger than it was at the earlier time