69—Abd al-Rahman mentioned it: Abu Muhammad al-Shafi‘i informed us in what he wrote to me, saying: “My father read to my uncle—or my uncle to my father; I am uncertain—from Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah, while I was listening. He was asked about the saying, ‘A person is with whomever he loves.’ He said: ‘Have you not ⦗78⦘ heard His saying, Exalted is He: “If you love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you” [Al ‘Imran 3:31]?’ He said: ‘Love brings you near to the Lord.’ He then cited: ‘And that He may take martyrs from among you. Allah does not love the wrongdoers’ [Al ‘Imran 3:140]—meaning, ‘He does not bring the wrongdoers near.’”