To the most
honorable Ustaz Hassan al-Banna
Assalamualaikum
warahmatullahi wabarakatooh
Have you ever
heard of the man with a dead heart? Nay, if the heart mentioned here is one of
the organs of the body made of red flesh, which withdraws and ejects blood, he
would certainly have it. This heart that enables him to live and continue
living. But unfortunately, the heart that contains his passion, strength and
livelihood, is absent.
He knows good
as small it may be, he knows evil even if elusive. And oft he truly feels and
comprehends a person from their faces and would respond appropriately as such.
But he doesn’t have a heart.
Meeting an old
friend after a long time, he would grasp his friend's hand ever so tightly,
indeed, he would even hug him. But his heart remains frozen, unmoved. He
advises others; "be, you, this and that" and mentions various
propositions and evidences for his advice, yet his heart further hardens and
remains unswayed.
He smiles to
good news. He wrinkles his forehead at bad news. Yet his happiness and sadness
are only his reflexes, while his heart stays silenced and unwavering. He states
love and hatred towards people. Yet
looking at his heart, it remains quiet without words.
He stands up
for prayers, giving it his all, reads the Quran and tries hard to concentrate.
He reads the verses of his prayers such that people would say "He is
definitely concentrating". Yet, feeling his heart, he finds it deaf and
unfocused, even when he understands everything that he reads.
This is the
picture of this man's heart. I have not added or omitted anything from it.
Would you suggest that his heart is similar to the usual hearts of others?
I am given a
mind, but my heart is defunct. I can feel my mind thinking, working, living and
making its presence known. But when I try to feel all that in my heart, I can
never find a way to.
Know that, now, in this moment, you have heard about the man without a heart.
Know that, now, in this moment, you have heard about the man without a heart.
He has made a
pact with you and you have taken an oath of allegiance from him. Would you
stand to have a soldier of yours living without a heart? Can you help him reignite his heart so that
it will again be able to be moved and feel what his tongue says? This is a disease
in one of your soldiers, that would sadden you upon knowing it. Thus I shall
not name him till I can tell you that he is cured.
Waalaikumussalam
In reply to
the youth without heart
Waalaikumussalam
warahmatullahi wabarakatooh
I have read
your correspondence and am deeply affected by the sincerity of your language,
the beauty of your courage, the finesse
of your conscience and the livelihood of your heart.
My brother,
you are not of those whose heart is dead as you may think. But you are a youth
whose intuition is keen, spirit pure and
soul tender. If not so, you would have definitely denied your feelings. But the
magnitude of your enthusiasm and your
goals (purpose of life) have made you perceive the big matters in your life as
small and you feel the need for supplementation in regards to them. There are no problems in that, it is how it
is meant to be.
I feel what
you feel, I walk as you walk *(I think it means, "I hear you" and I can see where youre coming from) and I will try to give you some advice. If, these advice benefit you
and by obeying them your thirst is quenched and your illness cured, then all
praise is to Allah/Alhamdulillah for His Guidance. But if it fails to do so, I
would be happy to meet with you so we can together work to recognize this
disease of yours and find a cure to it.
To make companionship with the
khushu'/solemn/focused, who are always in deep thought, to mingle with those
who always contemplate in solitude, to be close to those that are righteous/ God conscious and pious,
whose from faces rays shine and from hearts you will gain more
makrifah/knowledge of God/intuition about God- and these are few- is a good
remedy. Make effort to be friends with these people, to always be in their company, make them a
point of return and connect your soul to theirs, connect your spirit to their
spirit and spend most of your free time with them. Be wary of those who are
pretentious. Find people who lift your spirit, whose actions lead you to do
good deeds and upon seeing them you will remember Allah. Befriending these people
would be a potent cure, because the nature of man is that they constantly
steal, and so a heart is affected by another heart, and a soul takes example from another soul. Hence, try
to find these good souls for your companionship.
My brother,
Contemplating,
dzikr (glorifying God) during blessed moments, supplicating while observing the
beauty and magnificence of nature, uncovering the secrets of the charm and
grandeur of the universe, to scrutinize with the heart and dzikr/glorifying God
verbally about these astonishing signs of majesty and this august brilliance,
are one of the things that gives life to the heart and shines it with faith and
confidence. Allah swt decreed;
Indeed, in the
creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the
day are signs for those of understanding. (Ali- Imran: 190)
My brother,
Subsequently,
thinking about society, witnessing misery, happiness, plight and peace,
visiting the ill, comforting/cheering up those whom misfortune had befallen and
knowing that the sources of misery takes the forms of anarchy,
disbelief/denial of the truth, cruelty,
disobedience, self centeredness/narcissism, egoism, being beguiled with the
trivial; all these are the strings acting on the heart that will reunite its
shattered pieces and resurrect it from its demise.
Hence, strive
so that your presence brings cheer to those who are sad and affected by
misfortune. Nothing is more potent for your heart other than doing good for
those in need, helping those who are victimized, or sharing feelings with those
in plight or in sadness.
My brother,
The heart is
in God's Hands. He flips it by His will. For that, be zealous in your prayers so that He gives life to your heart, expands your chest with faith and showers
you with confidence as rewards and bounties from Him. Say your prayers in
propitious moments and during suhoor as prayes during suhoor is like an
unstoppable arrow flying towards the Arasy.
I do not doubt
your sincerity in achieving your purpose and the honesty of your confession.
Allah swt decreed
"Indeed,
Allah only accepts from the righteous [who fear Him]." (Al-Maidah: 27)
Your brother,
Hassan Al
Banna
Dear readers, I have promised you this a long time ago. But things came and occupied my head, this got thrown to the back of the pile.
For those who are wondering what this is about, you may refer to the blog post:
Well...truth be told, no one actually responded to the contest ! Surprise !!! Not really...~ I'm not entirely sure why, possibly because no one would bother that much about this....~
Oh well ! by the time I posted the competition up, I actually have come up with the translation myself. Later, I asked a friend to look at it and give me feedback, but he seemed to have looked at it using his bum...and sat on it for...forever.
So here it is !!!! For your reading pleasure. Please send me corrections/ comments as you feel appropriate.
