Page 81 - Romanticism: A Weapon of Satan

Romanticism: Miscellanea

understand just how misguided they were in being sad, and their
feelings would turn to joy and delight. If a person's fate were to be
revealed to him in its entirety, and the so-called misfortunes were to be
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seen for the part they play in it, he would never again feel regret for
that which happens to him.
Therefore, the wisest thing to do is to live a life of submission to
God. Be that as it may, it remains to be said that everyone already lives
in submission to God, whether they realise it or not, but it is necessary
that an individual be conscious of this in his life. Believers who are
possessed of such a consciousness live secure with peace of mind,
observing with a contented spirit the unravelling of the fate that God
has determined for them, as peaceably as one might watch a film.
They know that, as the Prophet Mohammed said, "Wealth is not in vast
riches but wealth is in self-contentment." 13
Most people think that, apart from birth, death and its appointed
hour, and what God has provided for human beings, fate determines
nothing; they believe that things happen by accident or inadvertence
unconnected to fate. This delusion makes them rebel against the things
that have been determined for them according to their fate, and is the
reason for their melancholy. They consider every event to be a setback
against them, causing them to suffer continuing torment. Therefore,
the happy and joyful moments enjoyed by sentimental people are but
brief and fleeting. And, just after having experienced a moment of joy,
they choose to recall something saddening and revert once again to
their depressive melancholy.
These factors are all the natural and inevitable results of living
without religion. Without faith, a person becomes enslaved to regret
and melancholy. Similarly, those who live in the world neglectfully,
wasting their lives without any attention to the commandments of
God, or to His proscriptions, will, in the hereafter, face their
unhappiness:

They will say, "Our Lord, our misery has overwhelmed us. We
were misguided people." (Qur'an, 23:106)