Love Makes One Introspect

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 30 May 2023 "Amora En Quist En Suit Delina." -An ancient Greek proverb, actually a line from Sappho's Fragments (Love deletes all negativity) Hai Isi Mein Pyaar Ki Aabroo Tu Jafa Kare Main Wafa Karoon Lata Mangeshkar, Film: Anpadh (1962) Lyrics: Raja Mehdi Ali Khan Music: Madan Mohan "Whoever kills a person not in retaliation for a person killed, nor (as a punishment) for spreading disorder on the earth, is as if he has killed the whole of humankind." Quran, Surah-Al-Ma'idah- 5:32 The gruesome murder of a young girl, Saakshi, in Delhi by her alleged lover, Sahil, has triggered a tsunami of thoughts and emotions in my heart and mind. I wonder, how can you kill a person whom you claim to love? There's a beautiful saying in English: Love me love my dog. It suggests that when you love someone, you must accept that person with all faults and flaws. In fact, the best thing about true love is that it ignores and overlooks the flaws of the other person. So long as one remains stuck in counting the mistakes of other/s, love in its true essence can never flourish. Every individual is flawed and imperfect. There's no exception to this universal observation about human nature. If we keep looking at mistakes and errors in others, when will we love? Life's too short to know even oneself, let alone others. Here I'm not limiting love to a mere man-woman relationship. I'm talking about love as an all-encompassing, universal idea which widens the horizons and sweeps away all negativity. Love indeed brooms off all that's NOT positive. Laotse beautifully summed it up, 'LOVE IS IN LOVE WITH LOVE.' It's the most beautiful thought ever expressed about love. M K Gandhi's son, Devilal, requested the government of India to forgive Nathuram Godse and others for killing his father and the 'apostle of peace'. Coretta King, the widow of the 'American Gandhi' Dr Martin Luther King Jr., requested the President of the US to forgive James Earl Ray, who assassinated her husband. Jesus on the Cross forgave those who crucified him. The Arab mystic Mansoor Al-Hallaj helped those who were finding it hard to peel off his skin! He told them to unpeel the skin from the neck because it's the place where the human skin is the most tender!! Love has no time for fault-finding and any kind of bitterness. It goes beyond selfish motives and sees the other person as its mirror image. This is the beauty and loftiness of love that when you're gifted with it, you see all creatures, not just human beings, as your extensions with hardly any difference. To a loving heart, everyone is his/her alter ego. That's the reason, when you truly love someone, you cannot be revengeful and can never think bad of the person who has walked out on you. Khalil Gibran says so poignantly, 'At love's home, there's no room for revenge and hatred. The zephyr of universal love wafts into my haven.' Love elevates you above all pettiness and fills you with kindness even for those who wronged you. It mellows hearts and melts hate. Love is all inclusive, all embracing and truly universal in spirit and essence. There have been cases where the dogs saved their masters who used to beat and kick them. Can't we be better than dogs on this count? French existentialist Jean Paul Sartre stated in his language of oxymoron, 'Man is condemned to love.' He indeed is. The story of a man who tenderly picked up a butterfly from the path while being led to the hanging has always warmed my heart. It's also made me think, why can't I think so compassionately? Why did I curse and could not bless those who weren't good to me? Perhaps I've a long way ahead to reach that stage or will I ever reach? That's the question I've begun to ask myself as time is gliding by. My favourite Rumi says in Turkish, " Ke Phin De Mana Rek Alji" (Love makes one introspect/ Phin was love in Ottoman Turkish). Now it's time for all to introspect whether humans are indeed guided by love? Hasn't bitterness or hatred become too overwhelming an emotion to eclipse the love in human hearts? Love also makes us introspect as to where have we all gone wrong? Instead of dwelling upon whether or not Allah is capable of lying as Deobandis and Barelvis will argue till the cows come home, it's time to ask whether the same god or Allah has been able to fill the coffers of our hearts with love for humanity. Remember, our love for god/Allah and His love for humankind are all impractical discussions and useless 'spiritual' indulgences that may yield cipher. What's most important is the possible realization of our love for all the creatures, not just humans, on earth. That'll make us humans. Nothing else. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/love-introspect/d/129884 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism