himself. Rather, his hope for eating, drinking, and sexual relations, and his fear of punishment, may motivate him to worship. Yet once he tastes the sweetness of faith and the delight of worship, Allah becomes dearer to him than everything else, even if he loses awareness of his own state, so that his conscious hopes and fears concern only other things. Not everything one is bound to love is kept in mind at every moment, nor does it always awaken desire or fear of losing it. Rather, desire and fear may arise from lesser objects of love and fear, thereby leading him towards the highest object of love.

This occurs even in someone who has tasted the delight of the highest object of love. A desire for something less worthy of love may arise within him, and its immediate presence, together with the impulses drawing him towards it, may cause him to give it priority, despite knowing that he thereby forfeits something dearer to him. It is like someone who craves something and consumes it, knowing that it harms him and deprives him of something he loves more—indeed, knowing that it brings him harm. If a warning then deters him, or a desire for something his soul longs for leads him to abandon it, this becomes a beneficial remedy that rekindles his longing for the highest object of love.

Allah has sent down His Book as a healing for what is within the hearts, a guidance for creation, and a mercy for them; and He has sent His Messenger with wisdom.

As for the embellished speech this man has put forward, concerning which Allah says:

“Thus We have appointed for every prophet enemies—devils from among mankind and jinn—who inspire one another with embellished speech to deceive. Had your Lord willed, they would not have done so; therefore leave them and what they fabricate. * And so that the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter may incline towards it, be pleased with it, and commit whatever they commit.”

[al-An‘ām: 112–113].