‘O ‘Alī, do not follow one glance with another. The first is yours, but the second is not.’” A hadith in the Musnad and elsewhere states:

“The gaze is a poisoned arrow from the arrows of Satan.”

It also contains:

“Whoever looks at a woman’s beauty, then lowers his gaze from her, Allah will instill in his heart a sweetness of worship that he will experience until the Day of Resurrection.”

Or words to that effect.

Thus it is said that lowering one’s gaze from those whom it is forbidden to look at—such as a woman or a handsome beardless youth—brings three benefits of immense value.

The first is the sweetness and delight of faith, which are sweeter and more pleasing than what one has given up for Allah. Whoever gives something up for Allah, Allah replaces it with something better. The soul loves to gaze at such beauty, especially the souls of those devoted to self-discipline and purity. A tenderness remains within them that draws them to beautiful forms, until such beauty seizes one of them and overpowers him as a beast of prey would.

For this reason, one of the Successors said: “I fear more for a young man who has repented when a handsome youth sits beside him than when a beast of prey sits beside him.”

Another said: “Beware of gazing at the sons of kings, for the temptation they pose is like that of maidens.”

The leading scholars and religious authorities—including the imams of guidance and the shaykhs of the spiritual path—have continually urged people to avoid keeping company with youths. Indeed, it is related that Fath al-Mawsilī said: “I kept company with thirty of