The Marvels of the Heart: Chapter 2

Chapter 2: An exposition on the armies of the heart (Bayaan Junuud Al-Qalb)

Imam Al-Ghazzali says:

Allah says: no one knows the armies of thy Lord save himself. For in the hearts and spirits of other worlds, Allah has armies levied (Junuud Mujannadah).

Junuud Rabika – the armies of your Lord, which are the Angels (malaika)

Junuud Al-Qalb – the armies of the heart:

The heart has two armies – the armies seen with the eye (outwardly) and the armies seen with the inner sight (inwardly)

 The heart is as a King. And the armies are as servants and helpers.   The armies visible to the eye, include, the hand/foot/leg/ear/eye/tongue etc. These were created with a disposition to obey the heart, and not to rebel against it.

When the heart commands the limbs, they obey, as do the angels when Allah commands them.
Thus note: if the heart is pure, then it will command the limbs to do pure actions.

The heart needs these armies due to its need for a vehicle to make the journey to Allah. Thus, the body is the vehicle of the Heart. The heart needs this vehicle in order to:

-          Procure food -  by the internal army (apetite) and the external army (hand/mouth)

-          To drive off things that will destroy it – internal army (anger), and external (hand/foot). – thus anger is not always a bad thing in terms of protecting yourself and your family.

These things are related to preservation of the body.
And so the heart also needs this vehicle to gain knowledge, again with internal and external aspects.

We have learnt the two types of armies of the heart (internal/external) and why they are needed by the heart. The next post will be about how the heart uses its armies to gain this provision for the journey, inshallah.