“… I pondered over those whom Allah `azza wa jall has chosen for His governance and those whom He has drawn close to Him. We have indeed heard of their description and seen those whom we deem to be from amongst them.

Thus I found that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala does not choose except someone who is complete in his form without any fault in his way and no shortcomings therein. So you see him possessing a good countenance, is of proportionate posture, free from defects in his body, complete in his inner self, generous, charitable, and intelligent. He is not an imposter nor is he someone who deceives and betrays. He does not possess hatred or envy and there aren’t in him any of these internal flaws.

This is someone who (Allah) has raised from his infancy. So you’ll see him in childhood retreating from the other children as if he were a shaykh (scholar) amongst them. He is far removed from all ills and vices, and he fears shortcomings. The tree of his high aspirations continues to grow until he sees its fruits hanging over the branches of other youth. For he is passionate in (seeking) knowledge, preoccupied with deeds, guarding and looking after his time, hastening to seek out fadha’il (virtue) and in constant fear of falling short.

And if you only could see how the Guidance of Allah and Divine Inspiration have surrounded him, you would see how Allah takes him by the hand when he trips, and prevents him from error when his soul calls him to it, and He utilises him in all that’s good and conceals his deeds from him such that he does not even see any good from himself.”

– ‘Sayd al-Khatir’ by Ibn al-Jawzi, pg. 441