What did Ibn al-Qayyim say about the heart?
Ibn al-Qayyim's Madārij al-Sālikīn and his other treatises are the classical map of the heart's journey — each station named, each pitfall marked, each cure prescribed.
10 passages from 7 books in the library
The classical tradition maps the heart as a living mirror whose state is shaped by what passes over it. In the cited passages from al-Ghazali's Ihya, praiseworthy deeds refine and illuminate the heart's mirror, while a disbeliever's heart is described as black and overturned, sealed upon its seal. He teaches that hypocrisy appears as a black dot that spreads, that deepening knowledge alters the heart's very state, and that the great aim in worship is presence of heart—the heart emptied of all else and attentive before Allah, as it would be before dignitaries.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 7 books by Imam al-Ghazali — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"a black, overturned heart, which is the heart of a disbeliever, a sealed heart bound upon its seal,"
-
"whose effects reach the heart. The praiseworthy effects refine and illuminate the heart's mirror,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"Once knowledge deepens in the heart, it alters the state of the heart, and when the heart's"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"Whenever a person reflects on them with a clear mind and a present heart, the fire of envy in his heart is extinguished and he learns."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"heart becomes white. Conversely, hypocrisy appears as a black dot in the heart. As hypocrisy increases,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"the heart becomes present in prayer. Just as your heart is attentive when standing before dignitaries,"
-
"is beyond the presence of heart. The heart may be present with the words, but not with their meaning."
-
"acquiring them. The first is presence of heart, which means that the heart is emptied of everything"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"unburdened heart, and an easy reckoning, while the rich chose a troubled soul, a preoccupied heart,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"in a worn garment that his heart was not attached to. In this way, the heart would detach from the"
Want a different angle?
Type your question below — JM Scholar will ground its answer in the same sources.