And the second is its fear of Allah, for fear, which opposes infatuation, dispels it. Whoever loves something, whether with passionate infatuation or otherwise, is turned away from loving it by love for something dearer to him, when the two compete. He is also turned away from loving it by fear of suffering harm that he finds more hateful than relinquishing that love. Thus, when Allah is dearer to a servant than everything else, and feared by him more than anything else, neither infatuation nor any competing love arises, except during heedlessness or when this love and fear weaken through neglecting some obligations and committing some forbidden acts. For faith increases through obedience and decreases through disobedience. Whenever a servant obeys Allah out of love and fear of Him, and refrains from disobedience out of love and fear of Him, his love and fear of Allah grow stronger, removing from his heart love and fear of others.

The same applies to bodily illnesses. Health is preserved by what is like it, and illness is repelled by its opposite. Likewise, the heart’s health through faith is preserved by what is like it: beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds that bring faith to the heart. These nourish it, as in the report of Ibn Mas‘ūd, transmitted both as a saying traced back to the Prophet and as a statement of Ibn Mas‘ūd himself:

“Every host loves to have people attend his banquet, and Allah’s banquet is the Quran.”

The word ādib means a host; thus, the Quran is Allah’s hospitality to His servants . . . (1).

such as the latter part of the night, the times of the call to prayer and the call announcing its commencement, during one’s prostration, and at the close of the prayers. Seeking forgiveness should be added to this, for whoever seeks Allah’s forgiveness and then repents to Him, He will grant him a good enjoyment of life until an appointed term.