Object of love

بسم الله الحمن الرحيم
Assalaamu alaykum

I pray that you are well.

One of bases of love is acquaintance and understanding. Man does not not love one with who he is not acquainted. When it is strong and firm, then is deep love. One of the causes of love is secret connection between a lover and his beloved. This love is cemented not for beauty but for the union of their souls.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,
"Out of them, love grows among those who have got similarity of souls."
"The souls are regulated army." Love begets among persons of similar nature and habits. Remember the proverb, "birds of a feather flock together"? The souls which agree with one another love one another, and those souls which have no agreement differ.

Only Allah should be the object of our love. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is an object of love because he (peace and blessings be upon him) is the beloved of Allah. So is love for the learned, religious and good people, as the dear ones of the beloved are object of love. The ambassadors and the messengers of the dear ones are also objects of love.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Imbue yourself with divine attributes." This injunction is only for following the good attributes, such as acquisition of knowledge, honesty, showing kindness, to do good to people, enjoin them good, to show them right path and to prohibit from evils.

There is no object of love other than Allah. The way to love Him is through Divine knowledge. A man gets great pleasure getting the secret information of an emperor. God is the most High and Most Honorable. So, the pleasure gained by the pursuit of knowledge of His attributes is the greatest. The best and highest pleasure is by the pursuit of knowledge relating to God and His attributes. It is many times more than the pleasure gained by satisfaction of lust or greed by the sense organs.

Allah knows best.

May Allah increase us in Divine knowledge. Ameen.

source: Imam Ghazzali's Ihya Ulum-Id-Din