“Allah does not look at your outward forms or your wealth; rather, He looks at your hearts and deeds.”

Allah Most High has also said:

“How many generations We destroyed before them who were better in possessions and outward appearance!”

Allah grants enjoyment through physical beauty just as He grants enjoyment through wealth. Both belong to the splendour of worldly life, and both are a temptation to their possessors and associates, sometimes leading a person to ruin in this world and the Hereafter. Those who perish are of two kinds: those who have the means and those who do not. Those without the means are tempted by looking and gazing longingly at these things, while those with the means are tempted by what they have been given, immersed in it and surrounded by something from which they cannot rescue themselves.

A believer may admire the person he sees, even if that person is a hypocrite or an evildoer, just as he may admire what he hears from such people. Allah Most High says:

“When you see them, their bodies impress you, and when they speak, you listen to what they say. They are like propped-up pieces of wood. They think every cry is against them. They are the enemy, so beware of them. May Allah destroy them!”

This is a warning from Allah Most High against looking at them and listening to what they say. They should therefore not be looked at, nor should their words be listened to, for Allah, glorified is He, has stated that their appearance impresses those who look at them, and their speech impresses those who listen.

He then describes the corruption of their hearts and deeds by saying:

“They are like propped-up pieces of wood.”

This is a likeness of their hearts and deeds. Allah Most High also says:

“Among people is one whose speech about worldly life impresses you,”

and the rest of the verse.

Allah Most High says concerning the people of Lot:

“Indeed, in that are signs for those who discern.”

The word tawassum (discernment) derives from simah, meaning a distinguishing mark. He has thus stated