Symptoms of the Heart’s Sickness and Signs of Its Health

Summarized from “ The Purification of the Soul” by Ibn Alqayyim

Allah swt "He it is Who sent down As-Sakinah (calmness and tranquility) into the hearts of the believers, that they may grow more in Faith along with their (present) Faith. And to Allah belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is Ever Al-Knower, All-Wise." (48:4)

The healthy heart prefers what is beneficial and healing to what is harmful and damaging; the sick heart prefers the opposite. The most beneficial sustenance for the heart is Aleeman and the best medicine is the Qur’an. The Signs of a Healthy Heart For the heart to be healthy is to avoid sins in this life and always plan for the next and then settle there as if it were one of its people. The healthy heart only came to this life as a passer-by, taking whatever provisions it needed and then returning home. As the Prophet saaw said: "Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a passer-by." The More diseased the heart is, the more it desires this world; it dwells in it until it becomes like one of its people. The healthy heart continues to trouble its owner until he returns to Allah, and is at peace with Him, and joins Him.

Yahya ibn Mu'adh said: "Whoever is pleased with serving Allah, everything will be pleased to serve him; and whoever finds pleasure in contemplating Allah, all the people will find pleasure in contemplating him." This heart has only one concern: that all its actions, and its inner thoughts and utterances, are obedient to Allah swt. It is more careful with its time than the meanest people are with their money, so that it will not be spent wastefully. When it enters into the prayer, all its worldly worries and anxieties vanish and it finds its comfort and bliss in adoring its Lord. It does not cease to mention Allah, nor tire of serving Him.

The Causes of Sickness of the Heart The temptations to which the heart is exposed are what cause its sickness. These are the temptations of desires and fancies. Hudhayfa ibn al-Yamani, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The Messenger of Allah saaw said, "Temptations are presented to the heart, one by one. Any heart that accepts them will be left with a black stain, but any heart that rejects them will be left with a mark of purity.” so that hearts are of two types: a dark heart that has turned away and become like an overturned vessel, and a pure heart that will never be harmed by temptation for as long as the earth and the heavens exist.

May Allah swt purify our hearts to always seek His pleasure in this Dunia & Akhirah.. Ameen.