Page 42 - The Solution To Secret Sorrows

THE SOLUTION TO SECRET SORROWS

son to be happy and enjoy blessings. People have been created to de-
rive pleasure from sharing friendship, love, affection and joy with
others, and from being in the company of those they trust. Because
loneliness and friendlessness are against human nature, they weary
people and plunge them into sorrow. No matter how much people
may claim, "I am happy to be alone. I love nobody except myself
and take comfort from this," they are not sincere. They remain un-
happy because of their hatred of others, or their inability to find any-
one with whom they can form a friendship. They say such things
only to make others believe they are happy.
People who cannot make friends often befriend dogs, cats and
birds out of desperateness, which is the motive behind their becom-
ing so devoted to them and even talking to these animal pets as if
they were human. In short, hatred and anger are against human na-
ture and inevitably drive people into loneliness, unhappiness and
helplessness.
In Paradise, there is no place for hatred and anger, as we are
told in these verses: "'Enter them in peace, in complete security!'
We will strip away any rancor in their hearts—brothers, resting on
couches face-to-face" (Surat al-Hijr: 46-47).
This being the case, a believer whose aim is Paradise needs to
purge himself of these moral defects.

Affectation: A Characteristic that Wearies and
Discomforts People
The catalyst that drives people into affected behavior is their
concealing any number of secret thoughts in their hearts. Because
their internal and external behaviors are contradictory, these people
find it extremely difficult to behave naturally and sincerely from
within. They are always concealing and simulating, trying to de-

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