Love  of  God  is  not  only  incompatible  with  the
bestowal  of  affection  on  other  rational  beings,  but
even  with  the  most  innocent  enjoyments.  In  a
revelation  to  Moses  fault  was  found  with  a  man
who  was  perfect  in  every  other  respect,  but  enjoyed
the  morning  air.  Another  lost  rank  in  the  spiritual
world  because  he  transferred  his  oratory  to  a  tree
where  he  could  enjoy  the  singing  of  a  bird.  God
is  jealous.  A  devotee  who  had  given  away  all  he
possessed  asserted  that  this  was  because  he  had
heard  a  human  lover  promising  his  beloved  the  like
— sacrifice  of  everything  ;  and  the  divine  beloved  can
claim  no  less.
This  road  also  leads  to  the  doctrine  which  is  so
characteristic  of  Sufism — contempt  of  Heaven  and
Hell.  If  God  had  created  neither,  they  scornfully
ask,  would  he  be  unworthy  to  be  obeyed?  Christ,
according  to  one  of  their  Apocrypha,  passed  by  three
sets  of  ascetics :  a  party  who  feared  Hell ;  a  party
who  hoped  for  Paradise ;  and  a  party  whose  sole
motive  was  love  of  God.  He  reprimanded  the  first
and  second  for  making  created  things  the  object  of
their  hopes  and  fears,  and  took  up  his  abode  with
the  third.
