in every season, by the permission of its Lord (Ibrāhīm 14:25): the fruits of love, turning back to Him, reverent fear, joy in Him, and delight at being near to Him. He directed toward that tree the channels that water it—reflection on His speech, understanding it, and acting on His commands. Within that house He suspended a lantern whose flame He kindled with the light of knowing Him, believing in Him, and affirming His oneness; it draws its oil from “a blessed tree, an olive neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is almost luminous even though fire has not touched it” (al-Nūr 24:35). Then He erected around it a wall that bars all pests, corrupters, and whoever might harm the orchard, so that their mischief can never reach it. He stationed over it sentries from among the angels who guard him in his waking hours and his sleep. After that He informed the owner of the house and the orchard about the One who dwells there, so that the owner’s constant concern becomes to repair the dwelling, gather its scattered parts, and make it pleasing to the Tenant. Whenever he senses the slightest disarray in the lodging, he hastens to mend and tidy it for fear that the Dweller might depart—how excellent, then, are both the Dweller and the dwelling!

Glory be to Allah, Lord of all worlds! How vast the difference between this house and another that ruin has seized, turning it into a refuge for insects and vermin and a dumping-ground for foul refuse. Whoever seeks a place to relieve himself finds only a desolate ruin—no inhabitant, no guardian—expressly prepared for defecation: dark in every corner, reeking with stench; desolation has overtaken it and filth has filled it. None feels at ease there or lodges within except creatures suited to such a habitat—bugs, worms, and crawling things. Satan sits upon its throne, and spread across that throne is a carpet of ignorance; desires beat their wings within, and to its right and left stand the armrests of lust and caprice. A door opens from it onto the field of abandonment, estrangement, attachment to the world, contentment with it, and indifference toward the Hereafter. Upon it has poured a torrent of ignorance, whim, polytheism, and innovation, giving rise to every kind of thorn and colocynth, and to trees bearing the various fruits of sin and disobedience: excesses, lamentations, trifles, jests, farces, and buffooneries.