What is the operative cause of the prohibition of wearing gold for men? And what is the harm in a man adorning himself with gold?

The questioner : What is the operative cause of the prohibition of wearing gold for men, since we know that the religion of Islam does not forbid a Muslim anything except that which is harmful to him? So what is the harm that results from a man adorning himself with gold?

The Shaykh : Know, O questioner, and let everyone who listens to this program know that the operative cause in the rulings of the Shari'ah for every believer is the statement of Allah and His Messenger, by the saying of Allah the Exalted: So whoever asks us about the obligation of something or the prohibition of something, and the Book and the Sunnah have indicated its ruling, we say: the operative cause in that is the statement of Allah the Exalted or the statement of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And this operative cause is sufficient for every believer. For this reason, when Aisha was asked: "Why does the menstruating woman make up the fast but not the prayer?" she said: Because the explicit text from the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is an obligatory operative cause for every believer. However, there is no harm in a person seeking the wisdom and looking for the wisdom in the rulings of Allah the Exalted, because that increases his tranquility, and because it clarifies the nobility of the Islamic Shari'ah, which links rulings to their operative causes, and because it enables him to perform analogical reasoning if the operative cause of this specified ruling is established in another matter that has not been specified. Knowledge of the legal wisdom has these three benefits.
And we say, in answer to the brother's question: It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the prohibition of wearing gold for males, as opposed to females. The aspect of this is that gold is among the highest things by which a person adorns himself and beautifies himself; it is adornment and ornamentation. The man is not intended for this matter, meaning: he is not a person who is completed by something other than himself or perfected by something other than himself. Rather, the man is complete in himself because of the manliness in him, and because he is not in need of adorning himself for another person so that his desire is attached to him. This is unlike the woman, who is incomplete and needs to be completed in her beauty, and because she is in need of adorning herself with the highest types of jewelry so that that becomes a means of good treatment between her and her husband. For this reason, it is permissible for the woman to adorn herself with gold, as opposed to the man. Allah the Exalted said in describing the woman: And by this, the wisdom of the Shari'ah in the prohibition of wearing gold for men becomes clear. On this occasion, I offer advice to those men who have been afflicted with adorning themselves with gold: by doing so, they have disobeyed Allah and His Messenger, and they have associated themselves with the association of females, and they have become those who place a burning coal of fire in their hands with which they adorn themselves, as that is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). So they should repent to Allah the Exalted and the Supreme. And if they wish to adorn themselves with silver within the limits of the Shari'ah, there is no blame on them. Likewise, with metals other than gold, there is no blame on them to wear rings from them, provided that it does not reach the limit of extravagance.