23. LEAVING THE UNLAWFUL PRESERVES YOUR RELIGION AND DIGNITY
One marvels at those who prefer the worldly desires, do they not measure them with the scales of the intellect even before the scales of divine revelation?
Take the greatest physical pleasure— copulation. The desired woman’s aesthetics remain perfect from the onset of puberty until the age of thirty, after which they become affected. Her hair may begin to grey causing men to lose interest in her; yet boredom may set in earlier, for a long companionship uncovers one’s flaws.
Nothing clarifies the flaws (‘ayb) in the worldly women more eloquently than the saying of Allah,
“And they will have therein [in Paradise] purified spouses.” [al-Baqarah (2):25]
If man pondered (tafakkur) upon a body that is filled with impurities (;najasha), he would not like to be close to it, but the desire (shahwa) overcomes thoughts (fikr).
Wise is the one who preserves his religion (din) and dignity (maru’a) by leaving the unlawful (haram), preserves his strength (quwa) for the lawful (halal) in order to spend it in pursuing virtues (talab al-fadail). Such as knowledge film), righteous deeds {‘ami), and who does not exhaust his life and divide his heart (qalb) in matters of ill consequence:
Your Hawdah holds no recompense
for my heart if I died of longing
We have seen many people overpowered by sexual desires, squandering their lives and departing quickly. Some wise people however, restrained themselves from this ordeal and only indulged in it whenever necessary. They kept most of their senses and strength, managing to enjoy them in this life along with attaining virtues— their own selves realised their strength and did not entice it to do what is harmful.
(Source: al-Hafiz Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-jawzl [d. 597AH] “CAPTURED THOUGHTS being” a translation of his masterpiece ‘Sayd al-K hatir)
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