among humankind better than an earth full of his own kind; this is an immense disparity, the like of which does not occur among other animals.

This is the meaning indicated by the saying:

“Abū Bakr did not surpass you through greater prayer or fasting, but through something firmly settled in his heart.”

That is certainty and faith. Along the same lines are the words of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“I was weighed against the community and outweighed it; then Abū Bakr was weighed against the community and outweighed it; then Umar was weighed against the community and outweighed it; then the scales were raised.”

He also said, as reported from him by al-Siddīq:

“O people, ask Allah for certainty and well-being, for after certainty no one has been given anything better than well-being.”

This was transmitted by al-Tirmidhī, al-Nasā’ī in The Day and Night, and Ibn Mājah. Raqabah ibn Misqalah said to al-Sha‘bī:

“May Allah grant you the certainty in which alone souls find rest, and upon which alone one can rely in matters of religion.”

In Imam Ahmad’s Book of Asceticism, it is reported from [Sayyār, and Ja‘far narrated to us, from ‘Imrān al-Qasīr] (1), who said:

“Moses said, ‘My Lord, where may I find You?’

“He said, ‘O Moses, with those whose hearts are broken for My sake. I draw nearer to those hearts by a handspan each day; were it not for that, their hearts would burn up.’”

This meaning may be expressed more expansively, to the point that one says, “There is nothing in my heart but Allah; I have nothing but Allah.” Likewise, in the authentic hadith, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, reported that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said:

“Did you not know that My servant so-and-so fell ill? Had you visited him, you would have found Me with him.”

And it is said:

“He dwells within the heart and fills it;
I do not forget Him and then recall Him.”

And it is said: