Thus, the Quran removes the diseases that give rise to corrupt desires, until the heart becomes sound, its desires are set right, and it returns to the innate disposition upon which it was created, just as the body returns to its natural state. The heart draws from faith and the Quran the nourishment that makes it flourish and strengthens it, just as the body feeds on what promotes its growth and soundness. For the heart’s flourishing is like the body’s growth.

“Zakāh in its linguistic sense” means growth and increase in goodness. Something is said to flourish when it grows in goodness. The heart needs nurturing so that it grows and develops until it becomes complete and sound, just as the body needs to be nurtured with wholesome foods. Alongside this, whatever harms it must be kept away. The body grows only when it receives what benefits it and is protected from what harms it. Likewise, the heart can flourish, grow, and attain complete soundness only by receiving what benefits it and warding off what harms it. Crops, too, flourish only in this way.

Since “charity” extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire, it causes the heart to flourish. This flourishing is something beyond its purification from sin. Allah Most High says:

“Take charity from their wealth to purify them and cause them to grow thereby.”

Likewise, abandoning indecencies causes the heart to flourish. So too does abandoning sins, for they are like harmful humours in the body and weeds among crops. When the body is purged of harmful humours—for example, by removing excess blood—its natural strength is freed of its burden and finds relief, allowing the body to grow. So too with the heart: when