A Piece of Heaven in the Heart
April 7, 2009
Is there such a career as a ‘Happiness Provider’? Apparently there is. I read about this ’happiness’ consultant who has studied ‘happiness’ for three years. Now, she holds her ‘happiness’ workshops in Dubai.
The concept is very interesting. I believe most of such coaching is useful to some degrees if followed correctly. How does it work? Mainly through a change in perspective. The coached person is taught to become better aware of good things in him and outside him, and he is shown how to appreciate nice things that he was oblivious to before. This changed attitude, inturn, causes him to experience many moments of joys & pleasures.
But are those things ’happiness’? Can we survive solely on them – those sensual joys, those ephemeral pleasures, those borrowed enjoyments, those giddy laughters, those triumphs, those accolades…? As much as they enrich our lives, these fleeting episodes do not settle in the deepest core of the heart, nor satisfy the soul. What really is happiness then – the real thing?
It is usually described as a ’state of well-being defined by contentment & inner peace’. The renowned specialist of the heart Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawzi (rahimuhullah) hits the perfect note when he describes:
“Truly in the heart there is a void that can not be removed except with the company of Allah.
And in it there is a sadness that can not be removed except with the happiness of knowing Allah and being true to Him.” [Al-Fawaid]
All joys flow from this ultimate fountain of happiness – the acknowledgment & submission to Allah. And, without it, all those ‘happy’ moments are shallow, temporary or just a façade.
This maybe the reason why the renowned icon of selfless love & charity, Mother Teresa did not find happiness during all those years of serving humanity. Her confessional letters describe the emptiness, the torture, the darkness that filled her core:
“The smile is a mask…”
“Where is my Faith? Even deep down right in there is nothing, but emptiness & darkness. My God, how painful is this unknown pain. I have no Faith. I dare not utter the words & thoughts that crowd in my heart & make me suffer untold agony.”
“As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear.” [Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light]
Only true belief & complete submission satiates the heart and quenches the soul. And once that happens, the happiness, the bliss, the tranquility that descends is known only to those who carry their paradise in their chests. One can only try to (enviously) imagine the delights that must fill their hearts when they describe their happiness:
“If kings and the sons of kings knew what we had, they would try to take it from us by the sword!”
”There are times when the heart dances in joy.”
“There are times when I say, ‘If the people of Heaven have anything like this, how truly sweet their lives!’” [Al-Fawaid]
May we get to taste this delight in our lives too.
April 7, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Assalamualaikum sis,
Beautiful post as always. I was reading my Hajj journal, and one of the passages I had written was on the search of happiness. I beseech and implore to Allah S.W.T to permeate a little drop of happiness, through the sincerest of faiths and best of guidance one can ever acquire from Him. Alhamdulillah, my prayers are answered and I am eternally grateful for it. For all its worth, one can truly be happy, as long as one hold steadfast to one’s own faith and to His biddings.
Insha’Allah, may we obtain that piece of heaven in our heart and soul.
serendipitouslife replies: “walaikum asalaam Hajar,
Thank you for sharing this from your hajj journal (what an idea! a hajj journal!). I’m so glad to know that you searched, found and tasted that true happiness, mashaAllah. Ameen to your dua.”
April 7, 2009 at 6:05 pm
‘May we get to taste this delight in our lives too’
ameeeeen!
serendipitouslife replies:”Thumma Ameen.”
April 7, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Ameen!
MashaAllah, another well-written post. I’m so glad you’re back and writing again
April 8, 2009 at 1:17 am
SubhaanAllah!
When I read ““As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear.”[Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light]” The very first thing that came to my mind was this Ayah:
“They are deaf, dumb, and blind, so they return not (to the Right Path).”
Alhamdulillah! He Guided us!
serendipitouslife replies:
“Yes, subbhanaAllah, that is exactly what i thought when i first read those confessional lines from her letters. They follow the description in the Quran to the T, about those whose hearts are sealed. Alhumdullilah, for HIS Guidance.”
April 15, 2009 at 5:01 pm
As Salam Alaykum,
Jazakallah achair for this beautiful message. How true is this! When you are around non-Muslims, you can feel their emptiness, the things they are talking about are so useless and unimportant and still they try to look for happiness in them. Their hearts are restless and they are happy only when the fleeting pleasures of this life satisfy them. When I talk to them, I feel pity for them and when I am forced to listen and speak their language, I feel like a comedian. If they only knew the reality of this life and meaning of their lives, otherwise they will only waste it in vain. Al Hamdulillah, Allah guided us, may also Allah put seeds of faith in the hearts of those who we meet and who are still seeking, Ameen.
serendipitouslife replies:
“Jazaana waiyyakum. Thank you for sharing your experience with such vivid details. You are right about them seeking happiness in those temporary vain things. Ameen to your dua.”