Surat al Falaq, the Daybreak, one of the two closing protective surahs of the Quran, ends its short list of harms the believer seeks refuge from with the evil of an envier when he envies, giving hasad the distinction of the only named human vice, as opposed to external danger or hidden malice generally, singled out for that specific protective invocation.
The Study Quran's commentary on the verse notes the classical exegetical discussion over why hasad specifically receives this treatment, generally settling on the reasoning that the envier's harm can operate independently of any action taken, through the mere wish itself and through associated ideas about the evil eye, ayn, a related but distinct concept treating envious or admiring attention itself as potentially harmful, making hasad uniquely difficult to guard against by ordinary vigilance since it may require no observable act to cause its effect.
Ghazali's treatment in the Ihya distinguishes hasad sharply from a second, permitted attitude, ghibta, wishing to possess the like of a blessing one sees in another without wishing the other deprived of it, a distinction that lets Islamic ethics endorse ambition and emulation while still condemning hasad's specific wish for another's loss.