with the beardless youth. The effects this has upon the soul are well known. People have related accounts of passionate lovers too lengthy to recount here. If a Muslim is afflicted with any such thing, he must strive against his soul for Allah’s sake. He is commanded to undertake this striving; it is not a matter of obligations and prohibitions he has imposed upon himself, whereby he would be obeying his own self and desires. Rather, it concerns something Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, with no way around that prohibition. Through striving against his soul, he thus obeys Allah and His Messenger.

In a hadith narrated by Abū Yahyā al-Qattāt, from Mujāhid, from Ibn ‘Abbās, and traced back to the Prophet:

“Whoever falls passionately in love, remains chaste, conceals it, and endures patiently, then dies, is a martyr.”

Abū Yahyā’s transmission is open to question. However, the meaning expressed in this report is supported by the Quran and Sunnah. Allah has commanded mindfulness of Him and patience. Mindfulness of Allah includes refraining from everything He has forbidden, whether a glance of the eye, a word of the tongue, or a movement of the hand or foot. Patience includes refraining from complaining of one’s suffering to anyone other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic. This is beautiful patience.

As for concealment, two things are meant by it:

“The first”: to conceal one’s anguish and pain, without complaining to anyone other than Allah. Whenever one complains to anyone other than Allah, one’s patience is diminished. This is the higher of the two forms of concealment. Yet not everyone is capable of it; indeed, many people complain of their suffering, and this may be done in