23. THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT IS SWEET
I thought about how the ‘self eagerly seeks whatever has been kept away from it, and noticed that the more a matter is forbidden, the further the ‘self-pursues it. An example of this is noted in the origin of humanity i.e. after Adam (‘a lay hi as-salam) was forbidden to eat from the tree; he became keen to eat from the forbidden tree even though there were plenty of trees that would have sufficed him. As the Arabic saying goes: ‘What is forbidden is sought after and what is not [forbidden] yet attained is [least] desired.’
It was also said, ‘If people were commanded to be hungry they would have endured hunger and if they were commanded not to break apart faeces they would have wanted to do it, justify the saying, ‘certainly there was something in it for which we were forbidden from.’
This made me investigate the reasons behind this behaviour and I concluded that this is due to two reasons;
■ Firstly: The human ‘self cannot handle being restricted or being contained, thus limited within the body is the maximum level of its forbearance. If the ‘self is prevented from something, it becomes more eager and reckless just to attain the forbidden. This is why it is easy for a person to remain at home for one full month, yet if he was told not to leave his house for an entire day, he would find that unbearable.
■ Secondly: The human ‘self [is rebellious] and hence finds it difficult to be under any authority. This is why it tends to enjoy the unlawful and almost finds no joy in the lawful. And this is why it’s easy for a person to worship as per what it senses and sees and favouring it over anything else.
(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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John Doe
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