their souls, they grew arrogant, killing some prophets and rejecting others. Such is the condition of an arrogant person who refuses to accept whatever does not accord with his desires. In an authentic hadith, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, explained arrogance as rejecting the truth and looking down on people. In Sahīh Muslim, ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“No one with an atom’s weight of faith in his heart will enter the Fire, and no one with an atom’s weight of arrogance in his heart will enter Paradise.”

A man asked, “O Messenger of Allah, a man likes his clothes and shoes to look good. Is that arrogance?”

He replied, “No. Allah is beautiful and loves beauty. Rather, arrogance is rejecting the truth and looking down on people.”

Rejecting the truth means denying and repudiating it; looking down on people means despising and belittling them. Allah likewise mentions “arrogance” in the passage beginning with His words:

“And We inscribed for him on the Tablets something of all things,”

and continuing to His words:

“I will turn away from My signs those who are arrogant upon the earth without right. Even if they see every sign, they will not believe in it. If they see the way of right guidance, they will not take it as their way; but if they see the way of error, they will take it as their way.”

Such is the condition of someone who does not act upon his knowledge but instead follows his desires: he is one who goes astray. As Allah says:

“Relate to them the account of the one to whom We gave Our signs, but who cast them off. Satan then pursued him, and he became one of those who went astray. Had We willed, We would have elevated him through them, but he clung to earthly life and followed his desires.”

And so the verse continues. This is the likeness of corrupt scholars. Concerning Moses’s return to them, Allah said:

“When Moses’s anger subsided, he took up the Tablets, and in their inscription were guidance and mercy for those who stand in awe of their Lord.”

Those who stand in awe of their Lord are the opposite of those who follow their desires. As Allah Most High says:

“But as for the one who feared standing before his Lord and restrained his soul from desire, Paradise will indeed be his refuge.”