Allah has condemned “hardness of heart,” which is incompatible with reverent humility, in several places. He Most High said:

“Then, after that, your hearts hardened and became like stones, or even harder.”

Al-Zajjāj said: “In Arabic, qasat means ‘grew coarse, dry, and hard.’” Hardness of heart is thus the loss of tenderness, mercy, and reverent humility. The words qāsī and ‘āsī mean “extremely hard.” Ibn Qutayba said: “Qasat, ‘asat, and ‘atat all mean ‘grew dry.’”

The praiseworthy strength of the heart differs from its blameworthy hardness: it should be strong without harshness and tender without weakness. A transmitted report states:

“Hearts are Allah’s vessels on His earth; those dearest to Allah are the firmest, tenderest, and purest.”

This is like the hand, which is both strong and supple, unlike the hardened part of the heel: it is dry and lacks suppleness, even though it has strength.

He, glorified be He, mentioned the heart’s trembling at His remembrance, then mentioned the increase of faith—in knowledge and action—when His Book is recited. One must then rely upon Allah in matters beyond one’s power and obey Him in matters within one’s power. The foundation of this is “prayer” and “zakat.” Whoever fulfils these five as commanded will necessarily fulfil all the other obligations. Indeed, “prayer itself,” when performed as commanded, restrains one from indecency and wrongdoing. As reported from Ibn Mas‘ūd and Ibn ‘Abbās:

“Prayer contains a restraint and deterrent against disobeying Allah. Whoever is not restrained by his prayer from indecency and wrongdoing only grows more distant from Allah through his prayer.”

The statement, “only grows more distant,” applies if the obligatory elements of prayer that he omits outweigh those he performs: neglecting the greater obligation distances him from Allah more than fulfilling the lesser obligation brings him near, and this