a benefactor, and he never sees himself except as a wrongdoer, negligent, or falling short. He therefore traces everything that pleases him to his Lord’s bounty and kindness toward him, and everything that distresses him to his own sins and to Allah’s justice.

When lovers find that the dwellings of their beloveds have collapsed, they say longingly, “May refreshing rain reach those who once lived there!” Likewise, when years have passed over the lover beneath the earth, he will then remember the beauty of his obedience to Him in this life, his tender courting of His favor, and the renewed mercy and refreshment He grants to the one who once inhabited those worn-out bodies.

Benefit

Ghayrah (protective jealousy) is of two kinds: jealousy over something and jealousy against something.

Jealousy over the beloved—your vigilant concern for him (1)—and jealousy against what is disliked, namely that anyone should compete with you for him. Jealousy over the beloved is not complete unless it is joined to jealousy against the rival.

This jealousy is praiseworthy when the beloved is someone whose love is marred by sharing, such as a created being.

But for one whose love is enhanced when others share in it—like the Messenger, the scholar, and above all the Beloved who is ever-near, exalted is He—jealousy that seeks to exclude others from Him is inconceivable; that would be nothing but envy. The commendable jealousy in His regard is that the lover be jealous over his own love for Him lest he direct it to anyone else; or jealous lest others learn of it and spoil it; or jealous over his deeds lest anything in them be for other than his Beloved; or jealous lest they be tainted by what his Beloved dislikes, such as ostentation, self-admiration, the wish that others look upon them, or his failure to witness the divine favor.