Qaswa al-Qalb
قسوة القلبDefinition
Hardness of the heart — the advanced stage of spiritual disease in which the heart no longer responds to reminders, no longer weeps when the Quran is recited, no longer feels the weight of sin or the sweetness of obedience. Ibn al-Qayyim describes this as the most dangerous condition and the hardest to treat, because the very organ needed for the cure — the responsive heart — has been anaesthetised by repeated sin and heedlessness. It develops gradually: each sin that passes without repentance leaves a mark on the heart until eventually the marks cover it entirely. Ibn al-Qayyim prescribes specific intensive treatments for this condition, including extended dhikr, reading the Quran slowly and reflectively, and increasing remembrance of death.
As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn al-Qayyim and the scholars of his school.
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