So he did so, and the boy began to visit the monk, listen to him, and then go on to the magician. Whenever the magician threatened to punish him for being late, he would say, “My family detained me,” and when he reached home late because he had been with the monk, he would say, “The magician held me back.”

One day he came upon a great beast—the hadith does not specify what kind—that had barred the people from passing so that no one could get by. The boy said to himself, “Which of the two ways is better for me, the monk’s or the magician’s?” He picked up a stone and prayed to Allah, exalted be He: “If the monk’s way is better for me, let this stone kill the beast.” He threw the stone, it killed the beast, and the people were able to proceed.

The boy thus realized that the monk’s path was better than the magician’s—and about that there can be no doubt. A magician is either a transgressing oppressor or an unbelieving polytheist: if he relies in his sorcery on the devils, drawing near to them, worshipping them, calling upon them, and seeking their aid, he is an unbelieving polytheist; and if he does none of that yet harms people with potions containing sorcery, he is still a wrongful aggressor.

As for the monk, if he worships Allah with clear insight he is rightly guided; and even if some ignorance and error remain with him, his intention is pure, though his deed is blameworthy.

In any case, the boy told the monk what had happened. The monk said, “Today you are better than I,” because the boy had called upon Allah and Allah had answered him.

This is one of Allah’s favors to a servant: when a person is uncertain about a matter, asks Allah for a sign to clarify it, and Allah makes it clear, that is a blessing from Allah.

For that reason the practice of istikhāra (seeking guidance) was legislated, so that when a person considers a matter but is unsure as to whether—