Page 58 - The Debased Culture of Superficiality

56 THE DEBASED CULTURE OF SUPERFICIALITY

never wear an expression of mockery. Being always aware
of his own helplessness in Allah’s sight, he would never
enter such a state of moral depravity. His intelligence and
his conscience ensure that his eyes are always natural and
sincere. There is always a wise, humane, warm, sincere and
friendly expression in the eyes of a devout Muslim. Others
see through his eyes that he is reliable and has a high moral
character. Besides this, his eyes act as a veritable shield
against superficiality. Someone who gazes at him with a
shallow expression will never receive the response he
expects.
The awareness, precision and clarity are striking in the
eyes of a person who sees Allah’s manifestations in every-
thing and who praises Him. When you look into such a per-
son’s eyes, his admiration of Allah’s creatures, his love and
interest are obvious. But when you look at someone who
does not regard his environment this way but who, on the
contrary, thinks of human beings as independent of Allah
(surely Allah is beyond that), forgetting that the world is
under His control, you see his eyes reflecting emptiness and
often tension. Because he does not love Allah in his heart as
he ought to, the love he feels toward Allah’s creatures is
weak. His eyes give no indication that he understands what
real love is. On the contrary, no matter how friendly you act
toward such an individual, he will respond only insofar as
his shallow understanding of love permits. This is because
superficiality as a culture draws him into unawareness by
preventing him from gathering together things that would
strengthen his love toward Allah and His creations. A per-