And a people who worship Allah...

And a people who worship Allah, the All-mighty, the Majestic, out of love; this is the worship of the free people, and it is the best kind of worship ( ‘ibadah ).”[^5] Al-Kulayni also narrates from Holy Prophet (S) , “The best of the people is he who is passionately in love with worship ( ‘ibadah ), embraces it, loves it from his heart, applies his body to it and attends to it, such that he is not bothered in which condition he is in this world, in difficulty or in ease.”[^6] Imam as-Sadiq (‘a) says: “The secret conversation of those who have attained thorough recognition of Allah ( ‘arifin ) revolves round three principles: fear ( khawf ), hope ( raja’ ), and love ( hubb ).

Fear is the subsidiary of knowledge ( ‘ilm ), hope is a subsidiary of certainty ( yaqin ), and love is a subsidiary of recognition ( ma’rifah ). The sign of fear is taking flight ( harab ) {from the anger of Allah}; the sign of hope is seeking ( talab ); and the sign of love is to give preference to the Beloved over everything other than Him.

Thus, when knowledge is actualized in the breast ( sadr ), he would have fear ( khawf ); and when the fear gets firm, he would take flight ( harab ); and if he takes flight, he would attain salvation ( najat ); and when the light of certainty shines on his heart, he would witness the grace ( fadl ), and when he is able to see the grace, he would become hopeful; and when he experiences the sweetness of {the state of} hope, he would seek ( talaba ); and if he succeeds in seeking, he would find ( wajada ).

When the light of recognition ( ma‘rifah ) is disclosed ( tajalla ) to the heart ( fu’ad ), the breeze of love is stirred up ( haja ); and when the breeze of love is stirred up, he would become intimate with the patronage ( dilal ) of the Beloved, and prefer him over everything other than Him, and carry out His orders.

The parable of these three principles is that of the holy Sanctuary ( haram ), the sacred Mosque ( al-masjid ), and the ka‘bah ; whoever enters the haram would be safe from the creatures; and whoever enters the masjid his limbs would be guarded from being employed by him in sinning; and whoever enters the ka‘bah his heart would be protected from being occupied by him with the remembrance of other than Allah.”[^7] The Holy Prophet (S) is related to have said, “Prophet Shu’ayb (‘a) wept out of love of Allah, the All-mighty, the Majestic, until he lost his sight…, so Allah revealed onto him saying, ‘O Shu‘ayb!