reinterpretation. For he said:

“Whoever shows enmity to a close servant of Mine has openly declared war on Me. Nothing by which My servant draws near to Me compares to fulfilling what I have made obligatory upon him. My servant continues to draw near to Me through voluntary acts of worship until I love him. When I love him, I become his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. Through Me he hears, through Me he sees, through Me he strikes, and through Me he walks. If he asks Me, I will surely give him; and if he seeks My protection, I will surely protect him. I have never hesitated over anything I am going to do as I hesitate over taking the soul of My believing servant: he dislikes death, and I dislike causing him distress, yet he must undergo it.”

Al-Bukhārī narrated this in his Sahīh on the authority of Abū Hurayra.

His words, “Whoever shows enmity to a close servant of Mine has openly declared war on Me,” explicitly affirm both distinction and connection: He treats enmity toward His close servant as enmity toward Himself, without making Himself identical with His close servant. Then He said, “Nothing by which My servant draws near to Me compares to fulfilling what I have made obligatory upon him.” He has thus clearly explained that the one drawing near to Him is His servant, and that the one drawing near is not the One to whom he draws near.