the verse in short the servant should spend his entire life struggling against his anger and desires and be prepared to oppose them as he prepares to oppose his enemies for they are two enemies as the prophet may god bless him and grant him peace said the worst enemy of your soul is the one within you. the example of someone who is preoccupied with enjoying his desires and taking revenge when angry is like a knight and hunter who has a horse and a dog. he neglects his prey and is preoccupied with looking after his horse and feeding his dog wasting all his time on it. for a persons desires are like his horse and his anger is like his dog. if the knight is skilled the horse is tamed and the dog is disciplined and trained then he is worthy. by realizing his need for hunting and whenever the rider is clumsy and his horse is unruly or wild and his dog is rabid so his horse does not spring under him submissively nor does his dog follow his signal obediently then he is worthy of being ruined let alone realizing what he sought. and no matter how much a person struggles with his desires in it he has three states the first is that his desires overcome him and he follows them and turns away from the shariah as the most high said {have you seen he who has taken his desire as his god?} the second is that he struggles with it and subdues it one time and his desire subdues him another time so he has the reward of the mujahidin and this is the response to his saying may god bless him and grant him peace strive. your desires as you struggle against your enemies. the third is to overcome your desires like many of the prophets and described them as saints according to the saying of the prophet may god bless him and grant him peace there is no one but that he has a devil and god has helped me against my devil until i have mastered him. in general the devil has control over the human being according to the presence of his desires within him. i have only likened desire to a horse and anger to a dog because if it were not for them i would not have imagined the worship that leads to the happiness of the hereafter. for the human being needs his body in his worship and he cannot stand except with sustenance and he is not able to subsist. except with desire and he is in need of guarding himself from destruction by repelling it and he does not repel the harmful except with the motive of anger so it is as if they are servants of the survival of the body and the body is the vehicle of the soul and by means of it he reaches worship and worship is his path to salvation.
الأية وعلى الجملة فينبغي ان يكون العبد طول عمره في مجاهدة غضبه وشهوته ومتشمرا لمخالفتها كما يتشمر لمخالفة اعدائه فانهما عدوان كما قال صلى الله عليه وسلم اعدى عدو نفسك التي بين جنبيك ومثال من اشتغل بالتلذذ عندالشهوات والانتقام عند الغضب مثل رجل فارس صياد له فرس وكلب غفل عن صيده واشتغل بتعهد فرسه وطعمة كلبه وضيع فيه جميع وقته فإن شهوة الانسان كفرسه وغضبه ككلبه فإن كان الفارس حاذقا والفرس مروضا والكلب مؤدبا ومعلما فهو قمين بإدراك حاجته من الصيد ومتى كان الفارس أخرق وفرسه جموحا أو حرونا وكلبه عقورا فلا فرسه ينبعث تحته منقادا ولا كلبه يسترسل باشارته مطيعا فهو قمين أن يعطب فضلا أن يدرك ما طلب ومهما جاهد الإنسان فيها هواه فله ثلاثة أحوال الأول أن يغلبه الهوى فيتبعه ويعرض عن الشرع كما قال تعالى {أفرأيت من اتخذ إلهه هواه} الثاني أن يغالبه فيقهره مرة ويقهره الهوى أخرى فله أجر المجاهدين وهو المرد بقوله صلى الله عليه وسلم جاهدوا هواكم كما تجاهدو أعداءكم الثالث أن يغلب هواه ككثير من الأنبياء وصفوه الأولياء لقوله صلى الله عليه وسلم ما من أحد إلا وله شيطان وإن الله قد أعانني على شيطاني حتى ملكته وعلى الجملة فالشيطان يتسلط على الإنسان بحسب وجوده الهوى فيه وإنما مثلت الشهوة بالفرس والغضب بالكلب لأنه لولاهما لما تصورت العبادة المؤدية إلى السعادة الآخرة فإن الإنسان يحتاج في عبادته إلى بدنه ولا قيام إلا بالقوت ولا يقدر على الاقتيات إلا بشهوة وهو محتاج إلى أن يحرس نفسه عن الهلكات بدفعها ولا يدفع المؤذى إلا بداعية الغضب فكأنهما خادمان لبقاء البدن والبدن مركب النفس وبواسطتها يصل إلى العبادة والعبادة طريقه إلى النجاة