Page 94 - The Solution To Secret Sorrows

THE SOLUTION TO SECRET SORROWS

sincerity. Because of this, when evaluating himself, a person should
measure not only his externally visible behavioral defects which can
be proved, but also his secret insincerities. He should give up all
these and ask Allah's forgiveness.
He should know that otherwise—if he does not accept warn-
ings he is given, disdains those who give them and sets his face
against them— he may fall into the situation of the people described
in the Qur'an like this: "No indeed! Truly man is unbridled, seeing
himself as self-sufficient." (Surat al-'Alaq: 6-7) In such a situation,
because he has not come even close to sincerity and has not changed
his behavior, even though he knows Allah's commandments and
sees the true path, Allah may close down his comprehension com-
pletely. Allah warns His servants about this:
I will divert from My signs all those who are arrogant in
the Earth without any right. If they see every sign, they will
not believe in it. If they see the way of right guidance, they
will not take it as a way. But if they see the way of error,
they will take that as a way. That is because they denied
Our signs and paid no attention to them. (Surat al-A'raf:
146)
If people persist in their insincerities despite being warned by
the verses of the Qur'an, their own consciences and sincere believ-
ers, the outcome they may suffer while in the life of the world is not
limited to this. Allah tells that He may blind the eyes of the con-
science of those who take no notice of the advice given them:
Such are the people Allah has cursed, making them deaf
and blinding their eyes. Will they not then ponder the
Qur'an or are there locks upon their hearts? (Surah
Muhammad: 23-24)
These are only a few of the things that Allah can do to people

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