“We believe in Allah,’ yet when he is harmed for Allah’s sake he takes the people’s persecution to be like the punishment of Allah” (29:10). Some people—Allah’s protection is sought—say, “We believe in Allah,” but their faith is flimsy; the moment they suffer for Allah’s cause they fall back—Allah forbid—into disbelief, sinfulness, and the abandonment of obedience. Kaʿb ibn Mālik, may Allah be pleased with him, was harmed for Allah’s sake with the most intense, overwhelming harm, yet he remained patient, sought his reward, and awaited deliverance. Allah then granted him a relief unequalled by anyone save him and his two companions, revealing in their honor verses that will be recited until the Day of Resurrection.

We recite their story from the Quran in our prayers! What an immense favor: their story is read in the five daily prayers, in voluntary prayers, both silently and aloud.

Another benefit of this hadith is that when a person sees a temptation—or fears that something may become a temptation—he should destroy whatever could lead to it. Thus, when Kaʿb feared that his soul might later incline toward that king and use the letter as a pretext, he burned it, may Allah be pleased with him.

A further example is what happened to Solomon son of David, peace be upon them both. Fine, poised steeds were paraded before him at the time of the afternoon prayer, and their display distracted and absorbed him until the sun had set. When the sun had set and he had not performed ʿAṣr, he summoned those noble horses and struck their necks and legs—slaughtering and hamstringing them—in self-reproach, punishing himself for having been diverted by those swift horses from the remembrance of Allah. He said, “Indeed, I have loved the love of good things over the remembrance of my Lord until it disappeared behind the veil” (38:32). Again he said, “Indeed, I have loved the love of good things over the remembrance of my Lord until it disappeared behind the veil” (38:32). “Bring them back to me,” and he began “stroking their legs and necks”—“Bring them back to me,” and he began “stroking their legs and necks” (38:32-33).

The point, then, is that whenever you notice something that