the future; rather, it may disappear from the heart. Even when knowledge is present, action may not follow. Thus everyone is utterly dependent upon this supplication. This is why Allah has made it obligatory upon them in every prayer: there is no supplication they need more. When guidance to the straight path is attained, victory, provision, and everything else that souls seek for their happiness follow. Allah knows best.

Know that the life of the heart, and life in other things, does not consist merely in sensation and voluntary movement, or merely in knowledge and power, as some speculative thinkers who discuss Allah’s knowledge and power, such as Abū al-Husayn al-Basrī, suppose. They say, “His life consists in His being such that He knows and has power.” Rather, life is an attribute subsisting in its subject. It is a prerequisite for knowledge, will, and the power to perform voluntary actions, and it also necessarily entails these. Every living being has awareness, will, and voluntary action exercised through its power; and whatever possesses knowledge, will, and voluntary action is alive.

Hayā’ (modesty) is derived from hayāh (life). A person whose heart is alive is himself alive and possesses modesty that restrains him from ugly deeds. It is the heart’s life that prevents the ugly deeds that corrupt it. This is why the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Modesty is part of faith.”

He also said:

“Modesty and reticence are two branches of faith, while obscene speech and ostentatious eloquence are two branches of hypocrisy.”

For the living repel whatever harms them, unlike the dead, who have no life. Such a person is called shameless. Shamelessness denotes hardness: the dryness that contrasts with the moisture of life. When someone is shameless, dry, and brazen-faced, his heart has no life to inspire modesty and restrain him from ugly deeds; he is like the earth