Iblis had knowledge, insight and worship. But he had no love.

Iblis had knowledge, insight and worship. But he had no love. If a person acquires knowledge, insight and worship but does not acquire love, there is a great likelihood that he will end up holding to the creed of Satan — may Allah protect us! The meaning of this is that you gain knowledge, you attain understanding, you perform acts of worship, but there is no affection and love in your heart. That is, you cannot give love to Allah, to His beloved ones, and to the deeds He loves. It is precisely the absence of love and affection that is the source of arrogance, the spring of showing off and seeking fame. A person without love takes offense; a person without love considers his own deeds great; a person without love expects a reward. If you are not one of the people of love, be careful about drawing close to the people of love, because if you approach them presenting yourself as one of the people of love, once your true nature is exposed, you will be driven away. A person’s love is proven in trials and hardships. Not a trial like everyone else’s, but a different, special trial. In truth, a person himself longs for this. Our teacher gave an assignment. One of the students completed it on time, beautifully and fully; the teacher accepted it, and we never saw this student either receive a reprimand or receive praise. Unless he has to be called to the general scholarly gatherings, the teacher has nothing to do with him. But there is another one. He makes mistake upon mistake. He is often late with his work. When the teacher reprimands him, he listens without a peep. Yet the teacher gives him commands, assigns him tasks. The teacher mentions him often, scolds him often, and so among the teacher’s scoldings we found a special kindness and affection meant for him. Yes, affection and love are not always beautiful words; in most cases they come mixed with reprimands. The trial of love is such that more labor is laid upon the one who claims to be a lover than upon others; the subtle point is that the lover does not have to come through these labors unscathed or carry out the commands perfectly; if there is true love in him, he is shown kindness: his mistakes in carrying out the commands are corrected, he is taught to do the work properly, he is helped from beginning to end. The nature of the false lover shows itself at the very start of the work: he only thinks about getting the job done; he does it half-heartedly; he wants to be done with it quickly; he is given no help either, he is given no other work or commands, he is removed from the court without a word or a sound, so that he himself does not even notice; the false lover’s love is revealed by his displeasure when he is given a heavier load than others; the truth of the true lover is seen in his acting with love even in those very moments — he accepts every hardship as a kindness from the beloved, he feels happiness in spending his life and strength on these labors and hardships, and lives in the embrace of joy. This is how love shows itself. Whichever servant wants to know whether the love of God has fallen upon him, let him look at his own deeds: when more hardship came to him than to everyone else, was he not displeased? Did he not rebel against destiny, asking why it was so? Is he not doing the work laid upon him half-heartedly? By the answer let him understand who he is! And let him strive as far as he can to take a place among the beloved ones.

Akrom MALIK