The Hardness of the Heart
The servant is not afflicted with a
punishment greater in severity than the hardening of the heart and
it’s being distant from Allah. The Fire was created to melt the
hardened heart – this heart which is the most distant of hearts from
Allah. If the heart becomes hardened, the eye becomes dry [and finds
no joy or tranquility].
There are four matters, when the limits are transgressed with
regards to them, that harden the heart: food, sleep, speech and
sexual intercourse. A body afflicted by disease does not derive
nourishment from food and water and similarly a diseased heart does
not benefit from admonishment or exhortation.
Whosoever desires to purify his heart then let him give preference
to Allah over his base desires. The heart that clings to its base
desires is veiled from Allah in accordance to the strength of its
attachment to them. The hearts are the vessels of Allah upon His
earth, hence the most beloved of them to Him are those that are most
tender, pure and resistant to deviation.
[A reference to the hadeeth, "Truly, Allah has vessels from amongst
the people of the earth, and the vessels of your Lord are the hearts
of his righteous slaves, and the most beloved of them to Him are the
softest and most tender ones"]
The transgressors preoccupied their hearts with the pursuance of
this world. If only they had preoccupied them with Allah and seeking
the Hereafter then they would have instead reflected upon the
meaning of His Words and His Signs that are witnessed in creation.
Their hearts would have returned to their owners (in whose chests
they reside) bestowing upon them marvellous wisdom and pearls of
benefit.
When the heart is nourished with dhikr, its thirst quenched with
contemplation and cleansed from corruption, it shall witness
remarkable and wondrous matters and be inspired with wisdom.
Not every individual who is endowed with knowledge and wisdom and
dons its robe is from among its people. Rather the People of
Knowledge and Wisdom are those who have infused life into their
hearts by slaughtering their desires. As for the one who has
destroyed his heart and given precedence to his desires then
knowledge and wisdom are deprived from his tongue. The destruction
of the heart occurs through possessing a sense of security and
negligence.
The heart is fortified through fear of Allah and dhikr. If the heart
renounces the pleasures of this world then it will be directed
towards pursuing the bliss of the Hereafter and it will be amongst
those who call to it. Should the heart become content with the
pleasures of this world the bliss of the Hereafter ceases to be
pursued.
Yearning for Allah and His meeting is like a gentle breeze blowing
upon the heart, blowing away the blazing desire for this world.
Whosoever causes his heart to settle with his Lord shall find
himself in a calm and tranquil condition and whosoever sends it
amongst the people shall be disturbed and excessively perturbed.
This is because the love of Allah can never enter the heart that
contains love of this world until the camel passes through the eye
of a needle.
Therefore the most beloved servant to Allah is the one whom He
places in His servitude, whom He selects for His Love, whom He
causes to purify his worship for Him, who dedicates his life to Him,
his tongue to His dhikr and his limbs to His service. The heart
becomes sick as the body becomes sick and its cure lies in
repentance and seeking protection from evil.
It becomes rusty as a mirror becomes rusty and it is polished
through dhikr. It becomes naked as the body becomes naked and its
adornment comes about through taqwaa. It becomes hungry and thirsty
as the body becomes hungry and thirsty and its hunger and thirst is
satiated through knowledge, love, reliance, repentance and servitude
to Allah. |
