Ezekiel 16:14 Meaning Your Renown Went Out Among the Nations

God is beautiful and He loves beauty: beauty starts with Him The Prophet said this in a single line. Being told you are lovely puts a person in an odd spot, since the praise lands on them though they had no hand in making what is praised. Following beauty back to where it came from takes nothing away from the one holding it, and it settles the question of whose it was first.

Tajallī: God showing Himself through what He makes Ibn Arabi keeps returning to the picture of a mirror. A mirror gets admired for how clearly it shows a face, though nothing in it belongs to it. Someone whose gifts draw every eye is in that spot, keeping the beauty and the attention while no longer counting as its source.

Faqr: having nothing of your own The Quran tells people plainly that they are the poor ones and God alone is rich. Everything a person carries, looks and standing included, arrived from outside and can be handed back at any time. Someone who holds a gift as borrowed carries it more lightly, without the panic of an owner who might lose it.

Shukr: gratitude that traces the gift back Al-Ghazali describes gratitude as more than a warm feeling. It means knowing who gave the thing, saying so out loud, and using it the way the giver intended. A person doing that stays in touch with the giver while enjoying the gift, so the gift never quietly takes the giver's place.

ʿUjb: being pleased with yourself Al-Ghazali counts self-admiration among the faults that ruin a person from the inside. The slide is small and hard to feel: a gift is received, enjoyed, then quietly counted as your own doing. Once the giver has dropped out of the picture, the person starts carrying a kindness as though they had earned it.

Ḥubb al-jāh: love of standing in people's eyes Al-Ghazali treats the hunger for a high place in people's hearts as one of the hardest traps to spot. Praise from many people feels good, and the good feeling turns into a need without announcing itself. The person begins steering by whatever keeps the admiration coming, and the one who gave them anything worth admiring fades into the background.