“Consider the Kaaba: a stone house in an uncultivated valley, with no one to defend it from enemies and no gardens or other things people desire. It offers neither worldly inducement nor threat. Yet God preserved it through awe and reverence: people approach it humbly and submissively. He placed in it an attraction that brings people from across the earth out of love and longing, without worldly motive. This has continued for thousands of years, unlike any other building. Kings build magnificent palaces that last a while and are then demolished, with no one longing to build them or fearing their ruin.”
