Imam Ibn Al-Qayyem said:
•• A slave (of God) wouldn't be afflicted by a punishment greater than the hardship of heart and being away from his creator (Allah). The Hell Fire was created to melt the hard hearts. The farthest heart from Allah is the hard heart. If the heart gets hard, the eyes get dry (they don't make tears). The hardship of heart comes out of four things if they exceed the normal needs: eating, sleeping, speaking and having sex. Moreover, if the body gets sick, it won't get benefit from food and drink and so as the heart, when it gets sick because of passion and fancy, it won't get benefit from preachments.
•• If you seek clearness and pureness of your heart, you should prefer Allah to your liking and passion. Those, clinging to passion are hindered and veiled from Allah as much as they are clinging to their passion.
•• Hearts are Allah's containers in His earth. The most beloved to Allah is the clearest, the firmest and the tenderest.
•• If the heart is fed with remembrance of Allah, watered with reflection and meditation and purified from corruption, he will see the wonders and be provided with wisdom.
•• Not everyone who claims having knowledge and wisdom is really one of the people of knowledge and wisdom. The people of knowledge and wisdom are those who keep their hearts alive by killing their passion and lusts. However, those who kill their hearts by keeping their passion and lusts alive, the knowledge and wisdom will be naked on their tongues.
•• The damage of heart comes from inattention and being heedless. Moreover, the heart's vitality and piety come from fear and remembrance of Allah.
•• The heart gets sick exactly as the body and its recovery will be in repentance. The heart also gets rusty such as the mirror and its shining is in remembrance of Allah. It also gets naked like the body and its clothing is in piety. Moreover, the heart gets hungry and thirsty exactly as the body and its food and drink will be in knowledge, love, trust and coming back to the way of Allah.
. Although I translated those beautiful words about heart, I always feel I need to read them more and more to remind myself and to be able to grasp the great wisdom in Imam Ibn Al-Qayyem's unique words!