to the servant what he desires in the way of blessings, as a consequence of what his Lord loves. This is like the seller and the buyer: the seller primarily wants payment from the buyer, which necessarily entails wanting to hand over the goods; the buyer wants the goods, which necessarily entails wanting to pay the price.

The Lord loves to be loved, and this necessarily entails loving those without whom worship cannot take place. The servant loves what he needs and benefits from, and this necessarily entails his love of worshipping Allah. Whoever worships Allah and treats people well thus fulfills Allah’s rights and the rights of His servants while devoting his religion sincerely to Him. Whoever seeks recompense from people—whether praise, supplication, or anything else—has not treated them well for Allah’s sake.

Whoever fears Allah in his dealings with people, but does not fear them when fulfilling his duty to Allah, does good both to creation and to himself. His fear of Allah prompts him to give them their rights and refrain from wronging them. Whoever fears them but does not fear Allah wrongs both himself and them by fearing someone other than Allah and placing his hope in that other. For when he fears them rather than Allah, he feels compelled to ward off their harm by every means: either by ingratiating himself with them and putting on a show for them, or by responding with harm equal to or greater than theirs. When he places his hope in them, he fails to fulfill Allah’s rights in his dealings with them. If he does not fear Allah, he chooses to act aggressively against them. The soul is naturally inclined to wrong those who do not wrong it—so how much more those who do?

You therefore find such a person greatly afraid of others, frequently unjust when he has power, and abased and humiliated when overpowered. His fear of people is proportionate to what he himself harbors of these traits. This is among the things that provoke strife between people. Likewise, when he places his hope in them and they do not give him what he hopes to receive, he inevitably comes to hate them and then wrongs them, unless he fears Allah, Mighty and Majestic.

This is widespread among people: you find them fearing one another and placing their hopes in one another. Each complains of being wronged by the other while seeking to wrong him. Thus they wrong one another; they violate Allah’s rights by fearing others and placing their hopes in others; and they wrong themselves. These are sins through which the soul suffers and for which it is punished. This also leads to committing particular sins, such as associating partners with Allah and unlawful sexual intercourse. For if a person does not fear