Forty Gems of Beauty — Page 121
121 Explanatory Notes This observation of the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) is based on the eternal truth that God the Excellent, who is the Creator of nature, has endowed every man with pure nature. It is the later developments that mislead it in the wrong direction and cover-up this pure nature with impure superimpositions. Still, the basic goodness of nature and the light of conscience do not die out totally, but they serve man throughout his life like a torch of guidance. Even when persons deeply involved in worldly filth reflect calmly in moments of solitary retirement on their own condition, their nature, tearing through the meshes of worldliness, starts reproaching them. This blessed observation of the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) is based on the foundational guidance of this natural light. He says that in general matters of principle a sensible man needs to consult no outside judge, for his own heart is for him a jurist; he should consult his own heart in respect of evil and good and seek the light of his own conscience. For virtue produces a feeling of expansiveness and restfulness and contentment in the heart, while vice contracts the bosom and weighs down on the soul. In such a predicament, it is useless to seek the false support of guidance from others; instead, one should listen to the voice of one’s conscience. If in respect of a certain matter, the conscience hesitates and the heart feels contracted, then one should desist from it, notwithstanding the favourable views of doctors of the law, and should accept the verdict of the light of conscience which is, in fact, the guidance given by the Creator of nature Himself. But, as given in the words: aE) bE “consult thy mind. ”