Page 50 - Those Who Exhaust All Their Pleasures In This Life

48 THOSE WHO EXHAUST ALL THEIR PLEASURES IN THIS LIFE

only an ordinary and fleeting sense of pleasure that quick-
ly gives way to insensitivity, disinterest, and boredom.
Within a short time they want something new, more inter-
esting, and more original. This is a sign of the debasement
and insensitivity of their spirits. There are unbelievers who
say that they love nature and want to live in it; some of
them even have spent a large part of their lives doing so.
But, how do they measure the pleasure that they derive
from natural beauty?
Believers know that this measure depends upon their
ability to feel Allah’s power and greatness, seeing their
own littleness compared to His splendid creation, and sin-
cerely submitting themselves to Him. Allah allows only
those who see this truth and can live according to it to take
genuine pleasure in these beautiful things. Even though
they live amid all this loveliness, some people can never
escape the emptiness in their hearts, their inner discontent
and unhappiness. This only shows their inability to enjoy
this beauty properly. As long as they do not have faith in
Allah, beauty can give them only a fleeting sense of delight
and hold their interest for only a short time.
But a person who knows that Allah has created all the
beautiful things around him can better understand the
meaning behind it. He will discover its deeper aspects and
experience delight in each discovery. As a result, he can
feel the deep pleasure that comes from having a sense of
Allah’s supreme qualities, greatness, endless creative art-
istry, infinite knowledge and wisdom, and dominion over all
of creation. This person would not need to visit all the