adversity, calling upon Him and seeking His help, but then turn away from worshipping Him once their aims have been attained. Many speculative theologians establish Allah’s oneness only in terms of His lordship, whereas the messengers called people to His oneness in worship. Likewise, many Sufi devotees and those who experience spiritual states turn to Allah only in terms of His lordship, because of the inward states He supplies them with, through which they exercise influence. Such people are of the same kind as kings, and Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has frequently censured this class in the Quran. Reflect on this, for it reveals the condition of people who speak about realities and act upon them. By my life, they are concerned with a category of realities pertaining to creation, divine decree, and lordship—not realities pertaining to religion, revealed law, and divinity. I have discussed this meaning in several places. It is a fundamental principle deserving great attention. Allah, Glorified is He, knows best.

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This is because human beings—indeed, all created beings—are servants of Allah Most High, dependent upon Him and owned by Him. He is their Lord, Sovereign, and God; there is no deity worthy of worship except Him. A created being possesses absolutely nothing of its own accord. Rather, its very self, attributes, actions, whatever benefits it or is its due, and everything else are all part of Allah’s creation. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is the Lord of