notifications_active Weekly Meshkat-e Noor Session: Thursdays at 20:30 at Haj Reza Mosque
Peace be upon you, Master.
قَلْبُ الْمُؤْمِنِ عَرْشُ الرَّحْمَنِ
Why is the heart so important?
Why don’t we speak of:
the believer’s thought?
the believer’s reason?
the believer’s spirit?
Why is the heart God’s Throne,
God’s sanctuary, God’s house?
َّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ
The believer’s heart is called God’s Throne because it has the capacity to contain thought, reason, and spirit, just as the Divine Throne is the locus of God’s knowledge. The heart is a lamp niche for light and wisdom, the dwelling place of reason and channels of divine grace. If it does not stray, it becomes God’s house and a treasury of knowledge and wisdom.
The heart is like a vessel; everything else is contained within it, including thought, reason and spirit. The Divine Throne, too, is a vessel for divine knowledge.
The heart is like a lamp-niche, where the lamp is placed. It is a vessel and repository—a beautiful dwelling for light, knowledge and wisdom. It is where reason and its hosts reside, and where divinely inspired knowledge and communications are received. In another analogy, the heart is like a book upon which the letters of the All-Glorious are inscribed.
The heart is like a treasury, and “reason, noble virtues, knowledge, wisdom, and so on” are the jewels it holds.
This is, of course, the heart that has not strayed or been turned upside down; otherwise, it becomes a dwelling place for devils.