for He withholds only in order to give; He afflicts only in order to grant well-being; He tests only to refine; He causes death only to bestow true life; and He has brought the servant into this transient abode only that he might ready himself to meet Him and take the road that leads to Him.

Thus, “He is the One who has made the night and the day succeed one another for anyone who wishes to take heed or wishes to be thankful” (Qur’an 25:62), yet “the wrongdoers refuse anything but disbelief” (Qur’an 17:99).

Allah alone is the One whose help is sought.

• Whoever knows his own soul busies himself with putting it right instead of picking at the faults of others; and whoever knows his Lord busies himself with Him instead of following the cravings of his soul.

• The most beneficial deed is one in which you are hidden from people through sincerity and hidden from yourself by witnessing the divine favor—you see neither yourself in it nor the creation.

• People have entered the Fire through three gates: the gate of doubtful speculation that breeds misgivings about Allah’s religion; the gate of appetite that leads to preferring desire over His obedience and good pleasure; and the gate of anger that leads to aggression against His creatures.

• The roots of every sin are three: arrogance, which cast Iblis where it cast him; greed, which drove Adam out of Paradise; and envy, which emboldened one of Adam’s sons against his brother. Whoever is shielded from the evil of these three is shielded from evil itself: disbelief arises from arrogance, acts of disobedience from greed, and oppression and injustice from envy.

• In His wisdom Allah has appointed every part of the human being—outward and inward—as an instrument for a specific task, and its perfection lies in being used for that purpose: the eye for seeing, the ear for hearing, the nose for smelling, the tongue for speech, the private part for lawful intimacy, the hand