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As for the questioner’s statement:

“An objection may be raised to this question: if his love of meeting Allah arises from the bliss he has seen, then his love is for the bliss he will enjoy, rather than for meeting Allah for its own sake.”

He may be answered as follows:

That is not so. Rather, meeting Allah is of two kinds: “a welcome meeting” and “an unwelcome meeting.” Sulaymān ibn ‘Abd al-Malik asked Abū Hāzim Salamah ibn Dīnār al-A‘raj, “What is it like to come before Allah Most High?”

He replied, “The doer of good is like someone returning to his master after an absence, whereas the evildoer is like a runaway slave brought before his master.”

Since there are two kinds of meeting—and when speaking of them, one can distinguish between them only by describing the qualities of each—the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, described the “welcome meeting” in terms of the good tidings that precede it and the honour that accompanies it, and the “unwelcome meeting” in terms of the tidings of evil that precede it and the humiliation that accompanies it.

The believer thus declares that his meeting with Allah will be welcome, while the unbeliever is informed that his meeting with Allah will be unwelcome. The believer therefore loves to meet Allah, while the unbeliever hates to meet Allah. Allah, in turn, loves to meet the former and hates to meet the latter: “a fitting recompense.” For the recompense is of the same nature as the deed, as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Those who show mercy