Love of Allah

"Therefore, none is truly deserving of love except Allah, the Exalted and Glorious. The Prophet, peace be upon him, is praised because he embodies the love of Allah. Similarly, love for scholars and pious individuals is also validated, for the beloved of a beloved is beloved, and the messenger of a beloved is beloved, and the lover of a beloved is beloved."

"We affirm the existence of longing for God, and that the knower is drawn towards Him through reflection, contemplation with insight, and through reports and traditions. Reflection establishes longing, as every beloved is longed for in their absence. The one who is present does not inspire longing, as longing involves seeking and yearning for something not present."

"When one's beloved is absent, and only their image remains in the heart, there arises a longing to complete that image through vision. If the memory of the beloved were entirely erased, longing would be impossible. Similarly, one cannot long for something they are directly seeing. Longing, in this sense, is the soul's yearning to complete its image."

"Similarly, what is fully perceived is not longed for—complete perception comes through vision. Thus, one constantly observing their beloved cannot conceive of longing for them. Longing relates to something known in part and unknown in part, and this can only be understood through examples from observed realities. When one's beloved is absent, and only their image remains in the heart, there arises a longing to complete that image through vision."

"If the lover's heart turns to the watcher out of dislike and resentment, they are distracted from the pleasure of the beloved's presence. If overwhelmed by love, they lose awareness of anything but the beloved. Just as attention to the non-beloved out of love while in the presence of the beloved is a dilution and deficiency in love, so is attention to the non-beloved out of hatred a dilution and deficiency, although the latter is lesser."

"In times of separation, the goal is to arouse longing. Longing, though painful, can contain pleasure if hope for reunion is present, as hope brings joy while despair brings pain. The pleasure of hope is as strong as the longing and love for the anticipated reunion. In this context, longing is stirred, passion is aroused, and the pleasure of anticipated union is achieved through the eloquent description of the beloved's beauty."

"The seeker has a path leading to their goal, engaging in acts of devotion and states encountered in their spiritual practices. When they hear mention of guidance or reproach, acceptance or rejection, union or separation, closeness or distance, longing for what is lost, thirst for what is awaited, yearning for what is to come, hope or despair, loneliness or intimacy, fulfillment of promises or breaking of covenants, fear of separation or joy in union, observing the beloved and avoiding the watchful eye, tears flowing or sighs multiplying, prolonged separation or promised union, or anything else described in poetry, it must resonate with some state of the seeker."

"Verbal monotheism has little value, and the degree of love is tested by the separation from the beloved. Wealth is beloved by people because it is the means of their enjoyment in the world, through which they are intimate with this world and averse to death, despite death leading to the meeting with the beloved. They are tested by the truth of their claim of love and are persuaded away from wealth, which is their focus and beloved."

"He said, "He is beloved only if he embodies everything mentioned in God's statement {Those who repent, those who worship...}. He further said, "The beloved is the one who does not engage in anything his beloved dislikes." The essence is that repentance has two fruits: one is the expiation of sins until one becomes like someone who has no sins, and the second is to attain degrees until he becomes beloved."

"despite their closeness to Him and their vision of Him. They say that the evidence that longing is greater during the meeting is that we see the lover weeping when meeting the beloved. This weeping is due to the intensity of his longing and yearning, and thus he finds a kind of longing at the meeting that he did not find during his absence. Chapter: The debate in this matter revolves around the idea that longing is the movement and stirring of the heart for meeting the beloved."

"Some say longing vanishes because it is the heart's journey to its beloved. When it arrives, the delight of the eye with the beloved takes the place of longing, and this delight accompanies love. They argue that when witnessing the beloved dominates the heart, longing does not visit it. Others were asked if they long for him, and they replied: No, longing is for the absent, and he is present."

"Some have named the first type as longing and the second as yearning. القُشَيْرِي said: I heard the teacher أَبُو عَلِيّ الدَّقَّاق differentiate between longing and yearning. He said: Longing is calmed by meeting, while yearning does not fade with meeting. He recited in its meaning: "The eye does not turn away from him upon seeing him... until the eye returns to him yearning.""

"passion. This deterrent is either an unsettling fear or an agitating love. When the heart lacks fear of missing something more detrimental than acquiring this beloved, or fear of acquiring something more harmful than the essence of this beloved, or love for something more beneficial and better for it than this beloved, it finds no refuge from the love of appearances. The explanation is that the self does not abandon a beloved, except for a higher beloved, or due to fear of a disliked matter whose occurrence is more harmful than the essence of this beloved."

"The wise endure hardships for the pleasure they bring afterward, even if temporary. There are four types, a disliked thing leading to another disliked thing, a disliked thing leading to a Beloved thing, a Beloved thing leading to another Beloved thing, a Beloved thing leading to a disliked thing. The Beloved that leads to the Beloved calls to action from two perspectives, while the detested thing that leads to what is detestable calls to neglect from two perspectives."

"The debate in this matter revolves around the idea that longing is the movement and stirring of the heart for meeting the beloved. This longing is alleviated by the meeting, but it is followed by an even greater longing, stirred by the sweetness of union and the vision of the beloved's beauty. This longing increases with meeting and closeness and does not fade."

"Delight follows love: it grows strong as love grows strong and grows weak as love weakens. The more intense the longing and yearning for the beloved, the more complete is the delight of reaching him. And love and longing follow upon knowledge of the beloved: the more perfect the knowledge, the more complete the love. So the perfection of bliss in the Hereafter, and the perfection of delight, come back to knowledge And as for love: whoever is more knowing of God, of His names, His attributes, and His religion, will love Him the more, and his delight in reaching Him, in nearness to Him, in gazing upon His face and hearing His speech, will be the more complete."

"He decreed upon them what necessitates the occurrence of what is disliked and detested to Him, so that what is loved and pleasing to Him may result from it, just as the disliked causes lead to the beloved. Thus, what is disliked by the servants may lead to what is beloved to them, and the causes with their effects are of four types: a beloved leading to a beloved, a disliked leading to a beloved, and these two types are the basis of His decrees and ordainments in relation to what He loves and what He detests."

"As it is said, "If sins have estranged you, then leave them if you wish and be intimate." Nearness brings about intimacy, awe, and love. The author of "Al-Manazil" further elaborated on the degrees of intimacy. Degrees of Intimacy The First Degree: Intimacy with Witnesses This concept is divided into three degrees. The first degree is intimacy with witnesses, which involves delighting in remembrance, nourishing oneself through listening, and understanding the signs."

"When faced with a choice between the interests of the beloved and the rights of their Lord, they favor the former, cherishing the beloved's pleasure over their Lord's pleasure. They offer their beloved the best they have, while offering, if anything, the worst to their Lord. He exhausts himself in seeking the pleasure of his beloved, obeying and drawing near to him and gives to his Lord, if he obeys him, the leftover time that remains from his beloved."

"The power of longing is hidden by the overwhelming presence and astonishment of seeing the beloved. When the beloved is out of sight, the power of longing returns. Thus, it is said: "The greatest longing is when the tents draw near to the tents." We have explored this topic in detail in our major book on love and in "The Journey of the Two Migrations." We will revisit it when we reach its station, if اللّٰه wills."

"Longing then becomes intimacy and pleasure in closeness. Another group says it increases and does not vanish with the meeting. They say that love grows stronger when one witnesses the beauty of the beloved, much more than when they are absent. The power of longing is hidden by the overwhelming presence and astonishment of seeing the beloved."

"setting a time that calms and reassures their souls. Longing is the journey of the heart in search of its beloved. Lovers have differed: Does longing remain upon meeting the beloved, or does it vanish? There are two opinions. One group says it vanishes because it exists only in absence. It is the journey of the heart to the beloved."

"of Allah. These cannot coexist in the heart without one overpowering the other. Secondly, the lover's heart suffers because of their beloved. Anyone who loves something other than Allah is inevitably tormented by it. There is no one more miserable than a lover, even if they find sweetness and desire, they are often found weeping, fearing separation, or longing for their beloved. Love, though it may seem sweet, is one of the greatest torments of the heart. Thirdly, the lover's heart is captive to the beloved, leading to humiliation. The intoxication of love blinds the lover to their plight. Their heart is like a"

"The third type is a disliked leading to a disliked, and the fourth is a beloved leading to a disliked, and these two types are impossible in His case, exalted be He, as the ultimate goals sought from His decree and ordainment, for which He created what He created and decreed what He decreed, are only beloved and pleasing to the Lord. The causes leading to them are divided into what is beloved to Him and what is disliked to Him. Obedience and the oneness of God are beloved to Him, leading to benevolence and reward, which are also dear to Him."

"immense joy, whose existence is more beloved to Him than its absence; and its existence without that which it entails is impossible. This shows that the existence of what He loves is more beloved to Him than the absence of what He hates. Yet what is meant by this is not that every single instance of what He loves is more beloved to Him than the absence of every single instance of what He hates, such that the two units of the forenoon prayer would be more beloved to Him than the non-occurrence of the killing of a Muslim."

"the beloved is your eagerness to keep him; jealousy from what is hateful is that a rival should crowd you out of him. So jealousy for the beloved is not complete without jealousy from the rival. This is praiseworthy where the beloved is one in whose love sharing is repugnant, as with a created being. But as for one in whose love sharing is a fine thing — such as the Messenger, or the scholar, or indeed the Beloved who is ever near, glory be to Him — there"

"There are benefits and wisdom that arose from the emergence of sins and crimes, decreed by God. This was pure wisdom, as the resulting beloved outcomes were more preferable to Him than the absence of sin. The attainment of this great beloved is more cherished by God than the absence of the disliked thing. Although its absence is beloved to Him, the attainment of the beloved could not have been achieved without the existence of the disliked thing."

"It stirs from the heart of every longing and loving person its dormant feelings and agitates its resident, so their passion rises, and their longing appears, moving according to what is in their heart of love, longing, and passion for that beloved, whatever it may be. Therefore, you find all of them have a taste in hearing, a state, a passion, and tears."

"to them than a great deal of bodily voluntary worship. So when one of them is granted a gathering of the heart and a visitation of intimacy, or love, or longing, or brokenness and lowliness, he will not exchange it for anything else whatsoever — unless the command comes, and then he hastens to it while still carrying that visitation if he can; and if not, he hastens to the command even if the visitation departs. But when the voluntary acts come, here is the battleground of wavering. If he can rise to them while keeping it, then that is what is wanted, and let him do so with it; but if not, let him consider which is the weightier and the more beloved to God:"

"What is beloved today brings on what is hated tomorrow, and what is hated today brings on what is beloved tomorrow. The greatest profit in this world is that you occupy yourself at every moment with what is most worthy of you and most beneficial for you in the life to come. How can he be sane who sells Paradise and all it contains for the appetite of an hour? The knower of God departs this world without ever having had his fill of two things: weeping over himself, and praising his Lord. When you fear a creature you shrink from him and flee from him; but when you fear the Lord Most High you find intimacy with Him and draw near to Him. Had"

"So too the heart that is occupied with the love of other than God, with desire for it, longing for it, and intimacy with it: it cannot be occupied with the love of God, with desire for Him, love of Him, and longing to meet Him, except by emptying it of attachment to other than Him; nor can the tongue move in His remembrance, nor the limbs move in His service, unless they are emptied of the remembrance and service of another. When the heart is filled with preoccupation with creatures and with sciences that bring no benefit, no room remains in it for preoccupation with God and knowledge of His names, His attributes, and His rulings."

"Chapter, this is only achieved through the rectitude of one's heart and faculties. The rectitude of the heart relies on two things. The first is that the love of Allah Almighty supersedes all other loves. When the love of Allah encounters love for anything else, the love of Allah prevails over all others and its effects manifest accordingly. This is so easy in claim, yet so difficult in reality. For it is during times of trial that a person is either honored or disgraced. How often does one prioritize what he loves or desires, or what his leader, teacher, or family loves over what Allah Almighty"

"The fourth is that the perfection of his Beloved dawns upon him while he sees the road to Him barred against him, and this produces a cry of regret and sorrow. The fifth is that his Beloved had been veiled from him and he had busied himself with another, then the hearing reminded him of his Beloved, so His beauty dawned upon him, and he saw the door open and the road plain, and he cried out in joy and delight at what had dawned. In every case, the cause of the cry is the strength of what descends and the weakness of A Noble Principle: The Root of Good and Evil Lies in Thought"

"before him to the Hereafter; a heart empty of the love of God, of longing for Him and intimacy with Him; a body idle from His obedience and service; a love not bound to the pleasure of the Beloved and compliance with His commands; a span of time left idle, neither making up what was missed nor seizing some good work or means of nearness; a thought that wanders in what brings no profit; the service of one whose service brings you no nearer to God and yields you no good even in your worldly life; and your fear of, and hope in, one whose forelock is"