Does "Piety" Mean Deprivation of Pleasures?

If we think that righteousness (piety) means dryness of life and deprivation of pleasures, then we have not understood our religion! It is replacing great, sublime pleasures with base ones. You used to enjoy seeing a girl wearing makeup, and today your soul rejoices when your call is the reason she is covered, obedient to her Lord, Glorified and Exalted. You used to enjoy attracting the attention of young men, and today you enjoy diverting their attention to the issues of their nation and its path to glory. You used to enjoy committing sins in secret, and today your soul almost soars to the Throne when a tear of love and longing for Allah falls from you in solitude, and the verse applies to you: "And a man who remembers Allah in solitude, his eyes flow with tears." You used to enjoy words of love and await them from him or her: "I love you," and today you enjoy hearing the words of your heedless friend or heedless friend: "Allah and Islam have become dear to me..." and you replay the tape of these words because they are more beautiful to you than any melody they hear! You used to enjoy wasting time with your companion and not care about the burning of his mother's heart as she sees him lost, and today you enjoy being a cause of her comfort and earning her pleasure. ************************ Your joys yesterday were tainted, clouded, done with a feeling of guilt, and today your pure joy increases because Allah is pleased with you, your obedience, and your turning to Him! You used to need to forget Allah to enjoy sin!...And today, what pleases you most is Allah looking at you as you obey Him! All of this requires you to move with your religion after your guidance, to draw from your influence on people's lives the oil that keeps the flame of light in your heart burning, and then overflow with more light upon them. And in these meanings, I composed some verses: My Eid is in knowledge that I acquire, which elevates the soul and purifies it. My Eid is in tears I shed out of longing for Allah, which I conceal. The tear outweighs in the balance all the earth and what is in it. My Eid is in a hadith I read about the best of people and their guide, and I feel the breaths of my beloved in my ribs, fanning them. My Eid is in seeds I sow, perhaps my Lord will water them, so I see one who neglected Fajr prayer praying in the first row, and a girl who after adornment has taken refuge in the hijab, or one who has disobeyed his mother now clings to her feet in humility. My Eid is in contributing to children with a more beautiful craft: honor, faith, and defiance that repels the schemes of my enemies. Sayyid Qutb, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "Through experience, I learned that nothing in this life equals that pure spiritual joy we find when we can bring comfort or satisfaction, confidence or hope, or joy to others." Allah is Generous, and He does not punish those who turn to Him by drying up their lives! If you do not find these pleasures...then review your "piety!"