what he desires. Thus, one can only be a servant of Allah and love Him while living between fear and hope. The Most High said:

“Those whom they invoke seek a means of nearness to their Lord, striving to be closest to Him. They hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. Indeed, your Lord’s punishment is ever to be feared.”

When a servant is sincerely devoted to Him, his Lord chooses him, revives his heart and draws him towards Himself. The evil and indecency that oppose this are thereby turned away from him, and he fears that the opposite might befall him. By contrast, a heart that is not sincerely devoted to Allah pursues, desires and loves without restraint. It craves whatever presents itself and clings to whatever it desires, like a branch that bends with every passing breeze.

At times, he is drawn to physical beauty, whether forbidden to him or not, and remains a captive and a slave to someone whom it would be shameful, demeaning and blameworthy for him to take as his own slave. At other times, he is drawn to prestige and leadership: a word pleases him, and a word angers him. Whoever praises him enslaves him, even through falsehood, while he becomes hostile towards whoever criticizes him, even truthfully. At still other times, he is enslaved by silver and gold, and by other such things that enslave hearts and that hearts desire. Thus he takes his own desire as his god and follows it without guidance from Allah.

Unless a person is sincerely devoted to Allah as His servant, with his heart wholly enslaved to his Lord alone, without partner—so that Allah is dearer to him than everything else, and he is humble and submissive before Him—created things will enslave him, and devils will take possession of his heart. He will be among the misguided, the brethren of the devils, and evil and indecency will arise within him to an extent known only to Allah. This is inevitable; there is no escaping it. For if the heart is not devoted to Allah alone, turning towards Him and turning away from whatever