And when Allah, the Most High, informed him of the reality of their condition, in their beginning and their end, and that was something that saddened him, blessings and peace be upon him, due to his great concern for their return and adherence to what benefits them and avoidance of what harms them, He consoled him with His saying, marveling at their condition: "Have you seen him who has taken as his god his own desire?" This means that they have belittled the deity by lowering it to the level of desire; they do not worship anything but desire, which is the inclination of lust and the throwing of the soul towards something. They have no doubt at all in the worship of idols; they would turn away from it if it were exalted. They do not cease from worshiping it as long as their desire exists. No one can stop them from that except the One who is capable of diverting those desires, and that is Allah alone. This is like saying: So-and-so has taken his book as his companion, meaning that he has confined himself to conversing with the book and does not converse with anything other than the book. Others may share in the conversation of the book with him. If you said: He has taken his companion the book, the situation would be reversed, and the meaning would be that he has confined himself to conversing with the companion and has not looked at a book during the time of conversation, and others may share with him in the conversation. Or he has confined the companion to the book and the book to the companion, just as you would say: I have taken the clay as pottery, meaning that this despised one has confined himself to the worship of desire; there is no rectitude or guidance for him, and others may worship desire as well. If it were said: Who has taken his desire as his god, the meaning would be that he has confined his desire to the deity, so there is no deviation for him, because his desire is subordinate to the command of the deity, and others may share with him in the worship of the deity. Abu Hayyan said: The meaning is that he has not taken a god except his desire - this is the end.

So if it were reversed, it would be said: He has not taken a desire except his god. If he does that, he has stripped himself of desire, so he does not act upon it except in what agrees with the command of his deity. And what clarifies for you the reversal of the meaning by the order of presentation and delay is that if you said: So-and-so has taken his servant as his father, the meaning would be that he has honored the servant. If it were said: He has taken his father as his servant, the meaning would be that he has dishonored the father. It is the same whether you present it in this manner as in the Quran or you make one of them indefinite; for you will not find your taste in it differing in that if he honors the lowly, he elevates him, and if he honors the noble, he belittles him. Likewise, if you said: He has taken his stable as a mosque or his friend as a father, or if you reversed it. Even if the presentation is merely a matter of attention without any difference in indication, he has presented desire in Al-Jathiya, for the context and the preceding matter belong to it. The essence of the meaning is that the description of the deity has diminished, and nothing remains except desire. If desire were presented, the meaning would be that it has vanished and the attribute of the deity has prevailed over it, and he would not look at anything except it, and there would be no judgment except for it, just as in clay in relation to pottery, equally - and Allah knows best.

And when it was that no one could divert desire except Allah, it resulted from his intense eagerness for their guidance his saying: ﴿So are you to be﴾. And when his intention ﷺ was eagerness for them and mercy for them, he turned them away from misguidance, and it must be so. He expressed this with the tool of elevation in his saying: ﴿Upon him as a guardian﴾, meaning by Allah, whereby it is necessary for you to turn him away from his desire to what Allah has commanded forcibly. You are not a guardian, but you are a messenger; there is upon you only the conveying. So do not let your soul be consumed with regret for them.