Benefit from the commands of Allah, take heed from His admonitions, and accept His advice. He has left you with clear proofs, leaving you no excuse, and has completed the proof against you. He has clarified for you both what He likes and dislikes, so that you may perform good deeds and avoid evil ones. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: Paradise is surrounded by unpleasant things, and Hell is surrounded by desires. Know that every obedience to Allah appears arduous, and every disobedience aligns with one’s desires. May Allah have mercy on one who uproots carnal desires, for the self is always inclined toward passion and sin. O servants of Allah! Know that a believer spends his mornings and evenings accusing himself, holding himself accountable and seeking to increase his good deeds. Be like those who passed before you, who packed up from this world like a traveler folds up his tent—moving through it as one passes through stages. Realize: this Quran is an advisor who does not deceive, a guide who does not lie. Anyone who keeps company with the Quran will emerge more guided and less astray. Turn to it for healing of your ills, and solace in your sorrows; within it lies the cure for great diseases like disbelief, hypocrisy, and ruin. Ask Allah for help through the Quran, and let it draw you nearer to Him, not as a means to seek from people. There is no means like it for drawing nearer to Allah. The Quran is an intercessor whose intercession is accepted and a speaker whose word is believed. On Judgment Day those it intercedes for in their favor, its intercession will be accepted, and for those it testifies against, its testimony will be upheld. On that Day, it will be proclaimed: Only those who sow the field of the Quran will thrive; all others will face what their own sowing merits. So, be among those who sow the Quran and follow it, and seek it as your proof toward your Lord and an admonition for yourselves. Do not let your desires mislead you; act and act, reflect on outcomes, be steadfast and patient, adopt piety and God-consciousness—for you have a destination to reach and a sign to seek guidance by. Fulfill the obligations Allah prescribed upon you, perform the duties explained to you; I am a witness to your deeds and one who will argue for you on Judgment Day. Behold, what was to happen, has happened. What Allah has decreed has come to pass. I speak with Divine proof and authority. Allah, the Exalted, says: 'Indeed, those who said, 'Our Lord is Allah' and then remained steadfast, angels descend upon them, (saying) ‘Do not fear nor grieve but receive glad tidings of the Paradise you were promised.’' Embody this by remaining firm upon His Book, His path, and righteous worship—do not deviate from it, innovate therein, or oppose it. Those who run from this path are, on the Day of Judgment, separated from Allah’s mercy. Do not alter your character back and forth, nor be double-faced or fickle, and guard your tongue, for it is the most defiant part of its owner. By Allah, I have not seen piety benefit any person unless he guarded his tongue. A believer's tongue is behind his heart, whereas a hypocrite’s heart follows his tongue—because a believer only speaks after thinking in his heart; if it is good, he manifests it, if not, he withholds it. The hypocrite, however, says whatever comes to his tongue, caring not for the harm or benefit. The Messenger of Allah said: A servant’s faith is not sound until his heart is sound, nor his heart until his tongue is sound. Let whoever is able to meet Allah with clean hands from the blood and property of Muslims, and a tongue preserved from slandering their honor, do so. O servants of Allah, remember: the believer considers lawful what was lawful last year, and unlawful what was unlawful then. Innovations created by people cannot make lawful what Allah has forbidden. Lawful is only what Allah made lawful; unlawful is only what He made unlawful. You have been tried and given advice, and the truth and falsehood have been set before you; those who fail to heed only have themselves to blame, for they are truly deaf and blind. People are of two types: followers of the Shariah, and makers of innovations without any proof from the Prophet or evidence from Allah. Truly, Allah has given no advice better than this Quran: it is Allah’s strong cord and trustworthy means. In it are the joys of the heart, the springs of knowledge, the polish of the soul. Though the rememberers have passed away and the forgetful remain, your duty is to reinforce good when you see it and shun evil when you see it. The Messenger of Allah said: O child of Adam, do good and leave evil; if you do, you are righteous and upright. Beware! There are three types of wrongdoing: one not forgiven (shirk, associating another with Allah); one often forgiven (a servant’s minor sins against himself); and one never neglected (wrongs against others), for which Allah gives a severe reward in the Hereafter—far harsher than any punishment in this world. Do not become divided in Allah’s faith; your unity upon truth, even if disliked by you, is better than splintering upon falsehood, even if loved by you. Truly, Allah has never granted good to divided or scattered people, neither those of the past nor the present. The truly blessed is one whose own faults prevent him from finding the faults of others, who stays within his home, eats what he finds, busies himself in the worship of his Lord, and weeps over his sins—concerned with himself, letting others find rest from him.