so that he has no aim other than doing what Allah has commanded. As for what the servant has not been commanded to do, but which the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, brings about without the servant’s mediation, or brings about through him without any desire on his part, this is the divine decree with which he must be content. Later passages from the shaykh will clarify his intent and show that, in every circumstance, the servant must do what he has been commanded and refrain from what he has been forbidden.

But when He has not commanded the servant to do anything concerning the matter, we must submit to whatever the Lord brings about. This is the “reality” spoken of by the shaykh and others like him. To explain this reality in accordance with the revealed law, the matter falls into “two categories”:

(The first): The servant is commanded to respond to what the Lord has brought about, either by loving it and helping to bring it about, or by hating it and repelling it.

(The second): The servant is not commanded to do either.

(The first) includes, for example, righteousness and piety practised by someone else: the servant is commanded to love this and help that person in it. This includes helping those striving in Allah’s cause in their struggle, and helping all others who perform good deeds in their good works, as far as possible, while loving these deeds and being pleased with them. Likewise, when someone else suffers a calamity, the servant is commanded to act: by supporting someone who has been wronged, consoling someone afflicted by loss, relieving a poor person’s need, or doing something similar.