How to Soften the Heart

Indeed the softness of the hearts, its submissiveness Its dejectedness to its Creator and Originator is a privilege from the Most Merciful A gift from the Just Ruler, deserving of pardon and forgiveness It is a strong sanctuary and protected fortress from transgression and sin The heart does not soften itself to Allah Most Great and Glorious except that its owner races to good Busy in obedience and pleasure The heart does not soften and humble itself to Allah Most Great and Glorious Except that you find it the most eager to obey and love Allah So it is not reminded except that it remembers It is not made to ponder except that it ponders and reflects Humility does not enter upon a heart Except that you find it at peace with the remembrance of Allah, his tongue constantly thanking Him and praising Him, Most High The heart does not soften itself to Allah Most Great and Glorious Except that you find its owner the furthest from disobeying Allah Most Great and Glorious So a soft heart is a submissive heart in front of the Greatness and Power of Allah Most Blessed and Lofty The callers of shaytaan do not try to tempt him away except that he is humbled out of fear of The Most Merciful, Most Praised and Lofty No caller to misguidance and desires approach except that the flesh of that heart trembles out of immense fear of The King, Most High and Praised The soft heart, its companion is sincerity and how sincere it is! The soft heart, is a friend and what a great friend! But who is able to grant us a soft and humble heart?

Who can bless us with a heart submissive and repenting to its Lord? Who, if He wills, can transform this heart into the softest of hearts in remembering Allah Most Great and Glorious and the most fearful of His Signs and Exhortations! Who is He? Glory to Him, none has the right to be worshipped save Him The hearts are between two of His fingers He turns them as He wills Such that a slave finds his heart the hardest of hearts But Allah willed nothing but His Mercy Allah willed nothing but His Gentleness, Generosity and Magnanimity Until comes to it this strange moment when faith penetrates its innermost cores After which Allah permits its owner to be chosen None has the right to be worshipped but Allah From those recorded as wretched to those as happy From the hard hearted to those with soft hearts After he was harsh and rough Not recognising good and not condemning evil, ruled by his desires Then suddenly he turns to Allah with his heart and soul Suddenly this heart That would daringly transgress Allahs limits His limbs would follow this daringness to sin Then in one moment his condition changes His end becomes good He changes so that he begins reflecting about where to place his every foot in his life My dear Muslims, this is a blessing You will not find a blessing more noble or virtuous than it, A soft heart, repenting to its Lord Most Blessed and High Indeed Allah Most Great and Glorious has informed us That no heart is prevented from this blessing Except that its companion is promised a punishment from Allah

Allah Most High says: Then woe to those whose hearts are hardened against the remembrance of Allah. (39:22) Woe and punishment to the hard heart from remembering Allah Whereas delight and mercy, happiness and success to the hearts that are dejected and submissive to Allah Most Blessed and High For this reason my brothers and sisters There is no Muslim true to his faith except that he wonders, what is the means to a soft heart? What is the means to reach this blessing? So that I be beloved to Allah Most Great and Glorious A friend form among his Awliyaa Not knowing comfort, composure or happiness except through His Love and Obedience, Most Glorified and High Because he knows that nobody is prevented from such a blessing except that he has been denied abundant good For this reason, how many a good person is afflicted with situations When they are in need of one to soften their hearts For the affairs of the heart are amazing Its state is mysterious At times it devotes itself to good So that it becomes the softest it can be before Allah Most, Glorious and Great If it were asked to spend all of its wealth out of Love for Allah, it would If it were asked to sacrifice itself for Allahs sake, it would These are moments in which Allah Most Great and Glorious spreads His Mercy to these hearts There are moments when the believer falls short before Allah Blessed and Most High Moments of hard heartedness There is no person except that a short period occurs Whereby his heart hardens Thus his heart aches Until it is harder than stone, we seek Allahs refuge!

There are ways to a soft or hard heart Allah graciously and out of kindness, Showed us its path in His Book So the heart does not soften due to anything greater Than belief in Allah Most Blessed and High The slave does not recognise His Lord through His Names and Attributes Except that his heart softens to Allah Most Great and Glorious It remains within the limits of Allah No verse from Allahs Book Nor hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) comes to him Except that his tongue says: We hear and obey, (we seek Your) forgiveness, Our Lord, to you is the final destination (2:285) There is no servant who recognises Allah by His Beautiful Names And acquaints himself with His Lord In Whose Hand is the Dominion He protects all whilst nobody can protect from Him Except that you find him racing to good and refraining from evil The best means to soften the hearts for Allah Most Great and Glorious and humble them in veneration Is awareness of Allah Most Blessed and High The slave knowing his Lord He should know that there is nothing in this world except that it reminds us of The Lord The morning and evening remind us of the Great Lord The blessings and trials remind us of The Most Gentle, The Most Kind Good and evil remind us to Whom belongs the Command of good and evil. The Most Praised and Most High

So whoever recognises and knows His Lord His heart softens from fear of Allah Most Blessed and Lofty And the opposite applies You do not find a hard heart Except that its companion is the most ignorant of Allah Most Great and Glorious The furthest from realising His power and punishment The most ignorant regarding Allahs blessings and mercy So much so that you find some people Despairing of Allahs mercy, the most despondent of Allahs mercy We seek Allahs refuge from ignorance about Allah When one is ignorant of Allah, he will transgress Allahs limits and boundaries by sinning He will not recognise anything except night and day Sin and crime, this is all he knows of this life He considers this his aim in this life For this reason my beloveds for Allahs sake Knowing Allah Most Great and Glorious Is the path to a soft heart Whenever you find a person persistently gaining lessons and contemplating over the Dominions of Allah Whenever he searches his heart he finds it in softness He finds his heart humble and lowly before Allah Most Blessed and High The second way that humbles the hearts and softens it Aiding the slave in this out of fear of Allah Most Great and Glorious Is studying the verses of this Book Studying this is the path leading to uprightness and precision Studying the Book, which Allah describes as: This is a Book, its verses perfected and then explained in detail from the One, Who is All Wise, Well Acquainted (with all things) (11:1)

A slave does not read these verse Whilst his heart is contemplating Except that he finds his eyes shedding tears His heart fearing His soul glowing with faith from its deepest core Desiring the journey to Allah Most Blessed and High All of a sudden the substance of the heart Transforms due to the verses, becoming fresh And productive in good, obedience and love for Allah Most Great and Glorious A slave does not read the Quran Or hear the verses of the Most Merciful Except that he finds after his recital and reflection A softness that shakes his heart and skin from fear of Allah Most Blessed and High A Book, its parts resembling each other The skins of those who fear their Lord shiver from it That is the Guidance of Allah, He guides therewith whom He wills and whomever Allah sends astray, for him there is no guide (39:23) This Quran is amazing Some verses were recited to some companions of the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) Thus transforming them from idol worshippers to Monotheists, From associating partners with Allah to the worship of the Lord of lords Most Praised and High, with just a few verses This Quran is the Reminder of the Lord of the Worlds The speech of the God

The third means from the means that aid in softening the heart And its repentance to Allah Most Blessed and High Is remembrance of the Hereafter That the slave remembers that he is travelling towards Allah That he remembers, every beginning has an end That after death there is no discomfort After this world there is no final abode except paradise or hell So if one remembers that life is vanishing, pleasures will deplete And its deceptions are an obstruction The hereafter will call him To despise this world and approach his Lord a remorseful and sincere approach And by this his heart softens Whoever looks at the graves and their inhabitants, His heart humbles As free as it can be from harshness and being deceived We seek Allahs refuge For this reason, you do not find one Persistent in visiting the graves and reflecting deeply When he sees the fathers and mothers Brothers and sisters Companions and loved ones Brothers and friends He sees their resting place And remembers that he will soon join them Some of them were neighbours to each other But their visiting each other was cut off by death Two graves may be close to one another However, the difference between them is as the heavens and the earth in terms of pleasure and fire The slave does not recall these final outcomes of people

Which the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) expressed sorrow over Except that his heart softens out of fear of Allah Most Blessed and High One dies not stand around a grave and see the buried individual Except that his soul prepares itself as if he is the one entering the grave He does not stand at the edge of the grave Except that he sees its companion lowered into it Thus he asks himself upon what has this coffin been closed? Upon whom has this coffin been closed? Upon what thing has this coffin been closed? Has it been closed over an obedient or a sinful slave? Has it been closed upon fir or delight? None has the right to be worshipped except Allah, He is the Knower of their states He is the Judge, the Just who will judge between them The slave does not see such spectacles Nor does his self explore such matters Except that his heart trembles from fear of Allah His dread crumbles before Allah Most Blessed and High He approaches Allah and rushes to Him Most Blessed and High, a sincere approach and humble repentance My beloveds for Allahs sake The worst disease to afflict the heart is the disease of a hard heart We seek Allahs refuge And from the worst means to a hard heart after ignorance of Allah Most Blessed and High Is reliance upon this world and being deceived by its people And excessively busying yourself with its superfluous occurrences

Indeed this is from the greatest factors that harden the heart Allah Most Blessed and Highs refuge is sought If the slave preoccupies himself with buying and selling He also busies himself with its transient afflictions and obstructing trials How quickly his heart hardens As such things are the furthest from reminding him of Allah Most Blessed and High Hence, it is necessary for one who wishes to dedicate himself to this world That he endow himself with gentleness and be easy going Because out religion is not a strict religion The Most High and Praised did not forbid what is permissible Nor did He permit us to prevent ourselves from all that is good But gradually taking things easy The pen has preceded the utmost of destiny Provisions have been decreed Man obtains sustenance through various means without trying to overcome destiny and predestination One acquires sustenance calmly, content with Allah Most Blessed and High for whatever little comes to him Praising and thanking his Creator See how quickly blessings are assigned to him He is sufficed from the fitnah of a hard heart We ask Allahs safety from it For this reason hence From the greatest of affairs that necessitate harshness of the heart is reliance upon this world You will generally find the hard hearted people overprotective of this life Sacrificing everything for it Sacrificing the times for prayer Sacrificing in order to commit promiscuity and major sins

They would never sacrifice a dinar or dirham from it Hence this world penetrates the heart This life has branches If the slave knew the reality of these branches He would indeed reach the morning and evening gasping His tongue saying to Allah My Lord, save me from the trials of this worldly life! Indeed in this world there are branches No heart inclines to one of its branches Except that it tempts him to seek more and more Until he is distanced far from Allah Most Great and Glorious Thus he status before Allah falls Thus Allah does not care for him, nor does He care in which ditch he is destroyed We seek Allahs refuge! This slave who forgets his Lord Whilst rushing towards this world Honouring and venerating that which is not deserving of veneration Whilst neglecting The One deserving of veneration, glorification and honour The Most Praised and Lofty Thus his end is one of the most evil of endings From the factors that cause a hard heart Rather from among the greatest factors that harden the heart Is spending time with evil people Associating with those in whom there is no good Hence, one does not become accustomed to companionship in which there is no good Except that his heart hardens from remembrance of Allah Most Blessed and High Nor does one choose the best of companions to spend time with Except that they soften his heart for The One, The Subduer One does not desire sitting with them Except that tranquillity comes to him whether he likes it or not It comes to him so that his innermost heart is at peace And he emerges with piety and success

Directing his attention to the hereafter Hence it is necessary for one who spends time with evil people, to take precaution Let it be only out of dire necessity Whilst your religion is safe Because the best wealth in this world is the religion O Allah, we ask You by Your Most Beautiful Names And Lofty attributes that You grant us hearts that are soft And humble to Your Remembrance and Thanks O Allah we ask You for hearts tranquil at your remembrance O Allah we ask You for tongues dedicated to Your remembrance O Allah we ask You for perfect faith True certainty A fearful heart Fruitful knowledge Religious deeds acceptable to You O Most Kind O Allah we seek Your refuge from trials both apparent and hidden Glorified is Your Lord, the Lord of Honour and Power, from what they attribute to Him And peace be on the Messengers And All Praise and Thanks are to Allah, Lord of the Worlds