Description
The heart is dependent both upon the nafs and upon the sense organs and is attached to things which the sense organs are preoccupied with. When man sees something lovely, hears a beautiful voice, or tastes something sweet, the heart becomes attached to them. Man cannot help this attachment. Also, when man reads something beautiful, the heart becomes attached to the author and its meaning. By ‘beautiful and sweet’, ‘what comes beautiful and sweet to the heart’ is meant. Most of the time, man cannot identify real beauty. He confuses what appears beautiful to the nafs with what appears beautiful to the rûh. If the heart is sound, it recognizes beauty and loves it. Valuable things such as âyats, hadîths, words of the Awliyâ, prayers, and tesbîhs are originally beautiful. They are very sweet. The heart, after its attachment to the nafs decreases and it is released from the bondage of the nafs, it will love them too. When a man reads or hears them, his heart becomes attached to them without his awareness of it. When this person reads the Qur’ân al-kerîm or listens to it being read or makes dhikr, his heart loves Allâhu ta’âlâ.
To release the heart from the bondage, from the oppression of the nafs, it is necessary to oppress the nafs and strengthen the heart. This is possible only by obeying Rasûlullah. If a person who has released his heart from the paws of his nafs by following Muhammad ‘’alaihis-salâm’ observes a Walî, he will realize that he is a beloved born slave of Allah and a (spiritual) heir to the Messenger of Allah. Since he loves Allah very much, he will also love very much whomever Allah loves. But loving is not easy. Many people have ended up in perdition as a result of confusing things loved by the nafs with real beauties loved by the soul (rûh).
Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 282