And He loves this and is pleased with it; He is pleased with those who practise it and rejoices at the repentance of whoever returns to Him. In this, too, lie the servant’s pleasure, happiness and bliss. Elsewhere, I have explained something of what Allah’s love for this and His rejoicing in it mean.
Nothing in existence other than Allah, glorified is He, can give the servant repose and tranquillity, or delight through turning towards it. Whoever worships anything other than Allah—even if he loves it and finds affection and some pleasure through it in this worldly life—suffers harm greater than the harm of enjoying poisoned food.
“Had there been gods in the heavens and the earth besides Allah, both would have been ruined. Glory be to Allah, Lord of the Throne, above what they attribute to Him.”
For the sound existence of the heavens and the earth depends on worship of the true God. If there were gods other than Allah within them, such a god would not be a true God, for Allah has neither peer nor likeness. They would therefore fall into ruin through the absence of that upon which their well-being depends. This concerns His divinity and worship. As for His lordship, that is a different matter, which we shall explain in its proper place.
Know that the servant’s need for Allah—to worship Him without associating anything with Him—has no counterpart against which it can be measured. In some respects, however, it resembles the body’s need for food and drink, though there are many differences between the two. For the servant’s true essence is his heart and soul, and it can have no well-being except through its God, Allah, besides whom there is no god. It finds tranquillity in this world only through remembering Him. It strives laboriously towards Him and will meet Him; it must inevitably meet Him, and it can have no well-being except through meeting Him.
Even if the servant finds pleasures or joy in something other than Allah, this does not last. Rather, he moves from one kind to another and from one person to another. He finds delight in something at a particular time and under certain circumstances, yet at another time, what once gave him delight and pleasure gives him neither delight nor pleasure; indeed, it may even