“My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more loved to Me than the obligation I have enjoined upon him. And My servant continues to draw near to me with Nafil (supererogatory) deeds until I Love him. When I Love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him; and were he to seek refuge with Me, I would surely grant him refuge.” [Bukhari]

When a person loves Allah

When person loves Allah, first and foremost, he will be resolute in carrying out what Allah has ordained him to do and refrain from what He has prohibited. He will then seek out further opportunities to remain engaged in the company of Allah. 

Part of the condition of love is to be present with the beloved and be in the service of the beloved.

Love always starts with knowledge of the beloved and results in obedience in doing what the beloved loves and refraining from what the beloved despises.

“Love is not a mere noun but is a verb.
Love is not just a claim but it has to be substantiated with actions and service.”

When person loves Allah, primarily, he will be a knower of Allah. The knowledge of the Beauty, Majesty and Perfection of Allah has captivated his heart that he cannot see anything of His creation that can compete with the love for Allah. It was said by knower of Allah:

“O’ Beloved of my heart, Your Beauty has vanquished me,
Who else can I love, when I have come to know You?”

The seeker and knower of Allah has found Allah and is completely besotted with Him. His heart no larger than his fist is full and overflowing by the thought of his Beloved. The mere mention of His Name softens him, the thought of having His company fills him with purpose and anticipation, the thought that His Beloved makes mention of him to Himself and also those closest to Him, invigorates him, and the chance that he may one Day see Him, melts him. A poet once said:

“O Allah, do what You want with me,
I cannot love you anymore,
Some of Your love has filled all of my heart,
If You want me to love You more,
Then give me another heart.

And if I had two hearts,
They would both be filled to the brim with You.
But I have but this single heart,
And it is raptured out of loving You.”

When Allah loves a person

The lover of Allah spends his days and night in His thought and in His service. And what happens as a result of keeping company with the Divine? Allah loves him in return. The Hadith continues: “My servant continues to draw near to me with Nafil (supererogatory) deeds until I Love him. When I Love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks.”

What does it mean that Allah becomes his hearing, seeing, striking and walking?

It means, he will become amongst the people whom the Qur’an describes as “those who remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying on their sides” [Al-Imran: 3:193]. Such will be his state, he will remember Allah in all his affairs. If you were to see him, you will observe: 

When he speaks, he speaks about Allah, when he listens, he listens for Allah, when he sees, he sees by the Light of Allah, when he walks, he walks for the service of Allah, when he thinks, he thinks of the Greatness and Glory of Allah, when he does, he does for Allah, when he spends he spends for Allah, when he eats, he eats to nurture the body for the devotion of Allah, and when he sleeps, he sleeps to rejuvenate his body for the worship of Allah, when he wakes up, he wakes up to be with Allah, when he gives, he gives of himself in Allah, when he loves others, he loves them in Allah for Allah. He no longer sees ‘himself’ because he sees Him.

The love of Allah has annihilated him in Allah that ‘he’ no longer exists except for Allah, by Allah, with Allah and to Allah. He is a mirror of the Divine, a Lordly (Rabbanni) person reflecting Him in everything he does. When others see him, they are instantly reminded of Allah, for he is from amongst those who are in His presence throughout the day and night remembering Him in every endeavour he undertakes.

The Reciprocity of Divine Love

When you love Allah, it is a sign that Allah loves you in return. In fact, it was Allah who loved you first in pre-eternity so you may be born and be one of His knowers and lovers, here, now – in this world, and then be eternally from the people of honour and proximity in the life Hereafter. Whilst you love Him in this realm, He will love you and cause the creations of the Heavens and Earth to love you. The beloved Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

“If Allah loves a person, He calls Jibreel saying: ‘Allah loves so and so; O Jibreel , love him.’ Jibreel would love him, and then Jibreel would make an announcement among the residents of the Heaven, ‘Allah loves so-and-so, therefore, you should love him also.’ And all the residents of the Heavens would love him and then he is granted the pleasure of the people of the earth.” [Bukhari]

It isn’t just the people of the world who will love you, but the fish in the sea, the trees, the birds in the sky and even the mountains would love you. Anas ibn Malik narrated: “When the mountain of Uhud came in the sight of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ), he said. ‘This is a mountain (Mount Uhud) that loves us and is loved by us.’” [Bukhari] 

Can you imagine the celestial beings of the Heavens and Earthly beings; both inanimate and animate all making supplications for you? What a privilege and honour! The Hadith also mentioned: “Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him; and were he to seek refuge with Me, I would surely grant him refuge.”

Allah will grant you a response every time for whatever requests you have from Him. If you desire protection, He will protect you from anything that can harm you. He wants you draw close to Him and have His love as a gift. Allah wants you to be His and in return He will make you from among His Awliyya.

“You do not love anything without being its slave, but He does not want you to be someone else’s slave.” [Hikam|210] 

Even though the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was the most beloved of all His creation, he would always ask Allah for His love. He (ﷺ) used to supplicate using the supplication of Prophet Dawud (ﷺ):

“O Allah, indeed, I ask You for Your love and the love of those who love You, and for the action that will cause me to attain Your love, O Allah, make Your love more beloved to me than myself, my family and cold water.” [Tirmidhi]

May Allah love us, and make us love Him. May we be of those who are given shade on a Day where there is no shade but His because we loved one another for His sake.