29. THE PERFECTION OF IMAGE LIES IN ITS STRUCTURE
I contemplated the work of my Lord, Exalted be He, and came to realise an astonishing gem; Allah, Most High, does not choose for His love and His closeness except those whose outer image and inner image are perfect.
However, I do not mean by that the good features; for the perfection of an image lies in its structure. A structured image cannot but enjoy some of the beauty that reflects the inner image manifesting in the perfection of mannerism, character and the disappearance of bad manners. Such a person does not happen to have in his character what can be deemed malicious or vile. Rather, his inner image is as good as his outer appearance.
Everyone saw [Prophet] Musa (‘alayhi as-salam) loved him, and our Prophet was as beaudful as the moon when in full illuminadon. The righteous and pious men can be dark-coloured; but are beautiful in appearance and with a pleasant character.
The level of perfection in image (khalq) and character (khuluq) determines the excellence of deeds of a person and his closeness to his Lord. You will find people who are in a rank similar to the rank of the servant at the door, or the rank of the door keeper, are drawn close to Allah, and it is very rare to find a person whose appearance and character are both completely perfect. In fact, there might be just one person whose both, appearance and character are completely perfect in every hundred years.
This rank does not result because of the endeavours of a person, but rather it is the rank that leads to such endeavours, because when such perfection develops, it encourages and motivates the person to act according to the level of perfection.
This is a matter that is beyond the power of mankind since it’s intrinsic, and if Allah assigns you to serve a purpose, He will prepare you for it.
(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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