means seeking Him alone in worship. He Most High said:

“He loves them, and they love Him.”

He Most High said:

“But those who believe are stronger in their love for Allah.”

He Most High said:

“Say, ‘If you love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you.’”

Everyone who loves also desires. Allah’s intimate friend, peace be upon him, said:

“I do not love those that set.”

Then he said:

“Indeed, I have turned my face toward Him who created the heavens and the earth.”

There are many such passages in the Quran: Allah commands people to desire Him and what He commands, and forbids them to desire anything besides Him or what He has forbidden. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Actions are judged only by intentions, and each person will have only what he intended. Whoever emigrates to Allah and His Messenger, his emigration is to Allah and His Messenger. Whoever emigrates for worldly gain or to marry a woman, his emigration is to whatever he emigrated for.”

Thus, there are “two kinds of desire”: desire that Allah loves and is pleased with, and desire that Allah neither loves nor is pleased with—the latter being either something He has forbidden or something He has neither commanded nor forbidden.

With regard to desire, people fall into “three categories.” Some desire whatever gratifies their whims; these are slaves to themselves and to Satan. Others claim that they have entirely relinquished desire and no longer desire anything except what the Lord decrees, and that this station is the most perfect of all stations. They claim that whoever occupies this station has attained reality—namely, the reality of the divine decree governing creation—and that he