said to his Companions:

“Is it poverty that you fear? I do not fear poverty for you. Rather, I fear this world for you, for whenever the heart of any one of you goes astray, it is this world alone that leads it astray.”

The same applies to those who love a person, such as his friends, and those who hate him, such as his enemies. Those who love him draw him towards themselves. If their love for him is not for Allah’s sake, this becomes something that cuts him off from Allah. Those who hate him harm him and show him hostility, distracting him from Allah through the harm they cause. If his friends who love him for reasons other than Allah’s sake treat him kindly, their kindness makes him love them and draws his heart towards them—even if this is not in keeping with upright conduct—and obliges him to repay them. Thus they cut him off from Allah and His worship.

The heart is not freed from temptation unless the servant’s religious devotion is entirely for Allah, Almighty and Majestic. He must love for Allah’s sake and love what Allah loves, hate for Allah’s sake and hate what Allah hates; the same applies to his allegiance and enmity. Otherwise, his love for a created being draws him towards that being, while people’s love for him is a means that draws them towards him. Either of these may be stronger than the other.

If he has mastered his desires, someone overcome by his own desires will not draw him in, nor will the things he loves draw him towards them. This is because he masters his desires and restrains himself from following them, owing to the fear and love of Allah in his heart that prevent him from being drawn towards those things.

As for people’s love for him, it leads them to draw him towards themselves with their own strength. If he does not possess the strength, born of love and fear of Allah, to fend them off