Episode 25 - Love Without Return

There are beautiful phrases that people say to each other: (I have been overwhelmed by your kindness. I will never forget your goodness as long as I live). (My love for you has reached the stage of no return! No matter what you do in the future, I will always love you, and I will not allow anything to shake my love for you). (I feel shy towards your sincere love for me and your concern for me! I do not deserve all of this from you! I only have the power to promise you that I will be loyal to you as long as I live).

These phrases resonate in our hearts, flow from our tongues, and are reflected on our faces... towards those who treat us well time after time, not out of worldly interests, but because their affection is pure, their souls are noble, and their hearts are big.

When we live these phrases and repeat them in our minds, we also love and respect ourselves! Because we are pleased to be loyal, kind, appreciative, soft-hearted, and sensitive.

I remember that once these phrases echoed in my being towards my older brother, who has been good to me all my life. When I fell into a difficult situation that distanced me from my family, my brother did not rest, did not taste peace, and devoted himself to every direction to lift the injustice from me. He excelled in filling the void for my children. He would come to visit me burdened with worries, but despite that, he would control himself, put on a smile, choose his words, and recall good news to keep my morale high.

After one of his visits to me while I was away from my family, he smiled a farewell smile and said to me: (Take care of yourself. God willing, relief is near).. I looked at him as he left and went away, and those phrases began to echo in my heart towards my brother: (I love you, you have overwhelmed me with your kindness, I will never forget your goodness as long as I live, my love for you has reached the stage of no return! No matter what you do in the future, I will always love you, I do not deserve all of this from you! I will be loyal to you as long as I live).

I felt happiness and self-satisfaction as I thought about these phrases.. then suddenly.. a question was cast in my mind: Who deserves such phrases? Who deserves such phrases?

Is it not... Allah, the Exalted? Has He not overwhelmed us with His goodness? Has He not proven His care for us and His honor for us by making us Muslims, speaking to us with His words, guiding us to Himself, informing us of His attributes, enveloping us with His blessings at every moment, telling us about the Paradise He has prepared for us, guiding us to its path, and making us love His words, His blessings, His forgiveness for our slips, and His joy at our repentance?

How many times have you asked Allah and He gave you? How many times have you fallen into distress and He saved you? How many years has He covered your faults from people and shown them your virtues? To how many hearts has He made you beloved.. how many times has He saved you from the gloating of your enemies.. even from affliction.. Would it not please you if Allah accepted you by His side in His abode of honor and wanted to purify you to be worthy of this status, so instead of purifying you with fire, He tested you and made you good and pure?

Is all of this not enough to remain loyal to Allah as long as we live? Does this care and honor not make us feel shy before Him, the Exalted? Will we remain, whenever Allah tests our love for Him with worldly affliction, shaken by this love and disturbed by the purity of our affection?! Will we remain failing the test?!

When will you say: O Lord! You have overwhelmed me with Your kindness, I will never forget Your favor upon me as long as I live! O Lord! No matter what You decree for me, and no matter how You test me, I will remain loving You, and my love for You will only increase, and I will not allow anything to disturb the purity of my love for You.

Brother, you whom Allah has blessed with much in your past and present.. but you will not remember the past and feel the present unless you are loyal and appreciative of the goodness.. after this divine blessing, if your love for Allah has not reached the stage of no return, then when will it reach it? And what will bring it there?!

It is beautiful to be loyal, modest, grateful, kind, appreciative of kindness and gratitude with people.. but the most beautiful, the most deserving, and the most right is to be like this with Allah, the Exalted, the Creator of people, who has not been good to us except by His will, His kindness, His covering of our faults, and His making us beloved to His creation.

So be like this with Allah.. love without return..