Second: “A youth who has grown up in the obedience of Allah.” A youth is anyone from fifteen to thirty years of age. Young people inevitably have many leanings and ideas; they seldom remain fixed on one thing, for they are still tender—everything attracts them, everything can sweep them away. For that very reason the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, ordered in battle that the elders among the polytheist combatants be killed while the young be spared, because if Islam is later presented to those young men they may well embrace it. Since a young man, by virtue of his age, is prone to intellectual, moral, and behavioral impulses and desires, the one whom Allah favors and who grows up in His obedience is counted among those whom Allah will shade in His shade on the Day when there is no shade but His.

Obedience to Allah means carrying out His commands and avoiding His prohibitions. One cannot carry out a command or avoid a prohibition without first knowing that this is a command and that is a prohibition; prior knowledge is therefore indispensable. Thus such a youth must be a seeker of knowledge, fulfilling the command and steering clear of the prohibition.

Third: “A man whose heart is attached to the mosques,” meaning that he loves the mosques. Does this refer to the places of prostration—that is, loving the prayer itself—or to the mosques as particular buildings? Both meanings are possible. This man’s heart is always suspended in the mosques; he occupies himself with the places of prayer and with the prayer itself—when he finishes one prayer he waits for the next, and so on.

Here lies the difference between a person who says, “Allahumma arihni bis-salah (O Allah, bring me comfort through the prayer),” and one who says, “Allahumma arihni mina-s-salah (O Allah, relieve me from the prayer).” The first is commendable, meaning, “Make the prayer a rest for my heart”; the second means, “Rid me of it”—Allah forbid! Such a man, however, has his heart attached to the mosques.