Likewise, the love of wealth is one of the soul’s cravings. If someone steals, driven by the urge to amass money and seize the property his heart desires, then by stealing he has torn down that veil and will reach the Fire—may Allah protect us.

The same is true of fraud committed to inflate the price of a commodity. The soul yearns for this gain, so a person does it, rips apart the barrier between himself and the Fire, and enters it.

Overpowering people, elevating oneself above them, and acting arrogantly—all humans relish this, and the soul is drawn to it. When a person behaves that way, he destroys the veil between him and the Fire and thus reaches it—may Allah protect us.

What, then, is the cure for this appetite to which the evil-inciting soul inclines? Its cure lies in what follows: “and Paradise is surrounded by hardships,” or, “veiled by hardships,” meaning it is encircled by what souls naturally dislike. Falsehood is beloved to the soul that commands evil, whereas truth is hateful to it. When a person pushes past that aversion and forces his evil-inciting soul to fulfil the obligatory acts and shun the prohibited ones, he will arrive at Paradise.

For that reason you find a person weighing heavily upon the prayers—especially on winter days, in the cold, when sleep overwhelms him after toil and fatigue. The prayer feels burdensome; he detests rising from a warm, soft bed. Yet if he breaks through that barrier and performs this duty he dislikes, he will reach Paradise.

Similarly, the evil-inciting soul invites its owner to fornication out of lust, and it loves this act; but if the owner masters it and compels it to