Do not covet that in which God has preferred some of you above oth- ers. To men a share from what they have earned and to women a share from what they have earned. And ask God of His bounty; God is ever Knower of all things. In terms of one's moral behavior lisān al-muʿālama the command is to toil not covet. In terms of declaring God's unity lisān al-tawḥīd the command is to the [divine] decree and judgment not [human] desire and wants. It is said “Travel the road of those who precede you in upholding the right of God but do not demand to obtain what they have been selected for from the favor of God. Concern yourselves with the right of your Protector mawlākum not with following your personal whims hawākum and preferring what you desire munākum.” It is said “do not covet the station of [spiritual] masters without travel- ing their paths cleaving to their course and doing what they do for this way of thinking [that is coveting] is an outrageous deviation from what is right.” It is said “Be a seeker of [God's] rights not a seeker of your portion or your rights. For if you seek the portion you wish for yourself in this world or the next you have unconsciously added partners to your profes- sion of God's unity.” It is said “do not covet stations of men for each has a station appropriate before God.” There are only so many [men with stations] and until someone has died his place will not be inherited by another. God most high said “He has made you successors” [6:165 35:39] and the successor is the one who succeeds the one who came before him. If you covet the station of one of the friends [of God] it is as if you are seeking to hasten his passing in all or in part of what you covet and this is not a harmless attitude. It is said that your extinction beneath the streams of His decree accord- ing to what has already been established by His choice is more fortunate for you than [your] seeking to obtain your desires since your ruin may lie in the object of your desire. It is said that if one's outward nature has not been refined through the different kinds of moral behavior muʿāmalāt one's inward nature has [likewise] not been refined by the different aspects of the mutual waystations munāzalāt.
