purification and piety, through which a person merits Paradise. As reported in Sahīh al-Bukhārī, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever undertakes to safeguard for me what is between his jaws and what is between his legs, I undertake to guarantee him Paradise.”

Whoever purifies himself has indeed succeeded and will enter Paradise. Purification entails attaining good and removing evil. When good is attained and evil removed—in knowledge and action—a person gains light, guidance, knowledge and other benefits. Through action, he gains love, a heart that turns to Allah, reverential fear and other virtues.

This is for the person who abandons these prohibited things and carries out what is commanded. Through this, he also gains strength and authority. These are the qualities of perfection: knowledge, action, ability and sound intent. Reports have come down concerning this, including that whoever lowers his gaze gains light and love in his heart, as scholars who act upon their knowledge have themselves experienced.

In the Musnad of Ahmad: ‘Attāb narrated to us from ‘Abd Allah—that is, Ibn al-Mubārak—who said: Yahyā ibn Ayyūb informed us, from ‘Ubayd Allah ibn Zahr, from ‘Alī ibn Yazīd, from al-Qāsim, from Abū Umāmah, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“No Muslim looks at a woman’s beauty and then lowers his gaze without Allah granting him, in return, worship whose sweetness he experiences.”

Abū Bakr ibn al-Anbārī also narrated it in his Amālī through Ibn Abī Maryam, from Yahyā ibn Ayyūb, with the same chain. His wording is:

“Whoever looks at a woman and immediately lowers his gaze, Allah will grant him worship whose sweetness he experiences.”

Abū Nu‘aym also narrated it in al-Hilyah: