How can it be understood that loving something other than Allah for its own sake is not considered shirk, given that a lover may not love their beloved for the sake of Allah, and similarly, people's love for good qualities, or a child's love for being cute and innocent, is not necessarily love for the sake of Allah?

Shirk-related love (Mahabbat al-Shirkiyyah) is the love of servitude that encompasses veneration, glorification, humility, and submission, and it is directed to Allah alone. None is loved for His own sake except Allah, due to the perfection of His attributes and actions. As for creation, they are loved in proportion to their perfection and beneficence. Natural love is not considered shirk. Ibn al-Qayyim distinguishes between four types of love: love of Allah, love of what Allah loves, love for the sake of Allah and in Him, and love alongside Allah (which is shirk-related). Natural love, such as the love of a thirsty person for water, remains and is not blameworthy unless it diverts one from the remembrance of Allah. Sheikh Al-Ghunaiman divided love into two categories: shared love (love of compassion, appreciation, partnership), which is not blameworthy, and the specific love of servitude, which must be for Allah alone. This type of love encompasses humility, submission, and glorification, and directing it to other than Allah is shirk.