which Abū Dāwūd narrated from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—who said:

“Envy consumes good deeds as fire consumes firewood, and charity extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire.”

This is because the miser refrains from giving, whereas the envious person resents Allah’s blessings upon His servants. A man may give to those who help him achieve his aims while envying his peers; or he may be miserly without envying others. Avarice lies at the root of this.

Allah Most High says:

“And whoever is protected from the avarice of his own soul—it is they who will be successful.”

The two Sahīh collections report that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“Beware of avarice, for it destroyed those before you. It commanded them to be miserly, so they were miserly; it commanded them to commit injustice, so they committed injustice; and it commanded them to sever ties, so they severed them.”

While circumambulating the Kaaba, ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Awf would frequently supplicate, saying, “O Allah, protect me from the avarice of my own soul.” A man said to him, “How often you make this supplication!” He replied, “If I am protected from the avarice of my own soul, I am protected from avarice, injustice, and severing ties.” Envy gives rise to injustice.

Section

Miserliness and envy constitute a disease that causes the soul to hate what benefits it—indeed, to love what harms it. This is why envy is coupled with rancour and anger. As for the disease of desire and passionate love, it is the soul’s love for what harms it, which may also be accompanied by hatred of what benefits it. Passionate love is a psychological illness. When it grows intense, it affects the body and becomes a physical illness, either a disease of the brain