for he does not even notice it.

Furthermore, when the force of faith and tawḥīd is exceptionally strong, it transforms the corrupt materials and subdues them, something a weaker force is unable to do.

Likewise, a person whose many virtues flood over his sins is pardoned for matters for which another—who commits the very same sins but lacks such virtues—would not be pardoned, as the poet said:
Should the beloved incur a single fault,
A thousand of his merits hasten to intercede. (1)

In the same way, the sincerity of one’s quest, the strength of one’s resolve, and the completeness of one’s submission convert those stray, intrusive veils into what the quest itself demands; while lying, a corrupt intention, and feeble submission turn praiseworthy words and deeds into what their own nature requires—just as an overpowering bodily humour converts wholesome food into something of its own disposition.

Benefit

Abandoning one’s appetites for the sake of Allah does indeed rescue a person from His punishment and secure success through His mercy. Yet Allah’s treasures, the stores of righteousness, and the sweetness of intimacy, longing, joy, and elation in Him will never lodge in a heart that harbours anything besides Him, even if its owner is devoted to worship, asceticism, and knowledge. Allah—glorified be He—has refused to place His treasures in a heart that contains another object of concern and whose aspiration is attached elsewhere. He deposits those treasures only in a heart that regards poverty, when it is from Allah, as wealth, and sees wealth apart from Allah as poverty; that views honour without Him as humiliation and humiliation with Him as honour; that judges bliss without Him to be torment and torment with Him to be bliss.