his own desires and whose affairs are in disarray.” Being engulfed in this way results from following one’s desires, while inattention is a kind of heedlessness. Hence some have said: “Inattention means being heedless of something and having one’s heart turn away from it.” These two—heedlessness and desire—sum up all evil. Heedlessness of Allah and the Hereafter closes the door to goodness, namely remembrance and wakefulness. Desire opens the door to evil, inattention and fear. The heart thus remains engulfed in what it desires and fears, heedless of Allah, seeking something other than Him and inattentive to His remembrance. It becomes preoccupied with something other than Allah; its affairs fall into disorder, and love of this world covers its heart.

As related in Sahīh al-Bukhārī and elsewhere, Abū Hurayrah reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“May the slave of the dinar perish! May the slave of the dirham perish! May the slave of the plush covering perish! May the slave of the cloak perish! May he perish and fall headlong, and if a thorn pricks him, may he be unable to remove it! If he is given, he is pleased; if he is denied, he is displeased.”

He described such a person as the slave of whatever pleases him when he possesses it and displeases him when he loses it. Thus he becomes the slave of the dirham and of the other things mentioned in this hadith. The plush covering is something one sits upon, yet he becomes its servant. As one of the early Muslims said: “Wear clothes that serve you; do not wear clothes that you have to serve.” This covering is like a rug upon which one sits, while the cloak is something one wraps around oneself. These are among the least forms of wealth. Rather,