and with Qarun and Ubayy ibn Khalaf.

Prayer, then, is light for a person in every circumstance. That demands that one safeguard it, stay keen upon it, and perform it often, so that his light, knowledge, and faith will grow.

As for patience, he said, “It is radiance.” It is light, but a light that comes with heat, just as Allah, exalted is He, says: “He is the One who made the sun a radiance and the moon a light” (Qur’an 10:5).

Radiance is always accompanied by heat, and so it is with patience: it inevitably involves heat and toil, for it is exceedingly arduous. Because of that, its reward is without measure.

The difference, then, between the light of prayer and the radiance of patience is that the latter is joined with heat, owing to the inner—and at times physical—strain it entails.

He also said, “Charity is proof.”

Charity is spending one’s wealth in order to draw near to Allah: one gives money in this manner to family, to the poor, and to public interests such as building mosques and the like. It is a proof of the servant’s faith, because wealth is beloved to people and their souls cling to it. When a person surrenders what he loves for the sake of Allah, he only relinquishes it for something he loves even more. Thus, giving wealth for Allah’s sake is evidence of the truth and soundness of one’s faith.