and admitted into Paradise has indeed triumphed. We ask Allah to make us and you among that blessed company. Because Paradise is the greatest thing that can ever be sought—the loftiest request a human being can make—nothing should be asked by invoking Allah’s Countenance except Paradise itself. Therefore, do not appeal to Allah’s Face for any worldly matter; a person must not say, “O Allah, I ask You by Your Face to give me a house to live in, or a car to ride, or anything similar,” for Allah’s Face is far too exalted to be used in supplicating for the transient things of this life. The entire world is base, fleeting, and holds no real good except what brings one nearer to Allah; everything else is sheer loss. Allah the Exalted says: “By the time, surely mankind is in loss” (Qur’an 103:1-2). Here al-ʿasr (time) means the span of this worldly life. Allah swears by time itself that every human being is in loss; no one profits from his lifetime except the one who possesses four qualities: “except those who believe” — that is the first; “and do righteous deeds” — the second; “and encourage one another to truth” — the third, meaning they counsel each other upon the truth; and the fourth, “and encourage one another to patience,” that is, patience in upholding the truth, calling others to it, bearing Allah’s decrees, and the like.

The crucial point, then, is that nothing should be requested by Allah’s Countenance except Paradise—and by extension, whatever leads to Paradise. Thus you may say, “O Allah, I ask You by Your Face to save me from the Fire,” for if a person is spared Hell, Paradise inevitably awaits him. There are only two abodes, not three: the abode of the disbelievers, which is Hell—may Allah protect us and you from it—and the abode of the believers, the God-fearing, which is Paradise. Hence, if you say, “I ask You by Your Face to grant me refuge from the Fire,” there is no harm in that.