Extract from “To Know, To Will, To Love”
The Intelligence, the Will, and the Soul of the human being are capable of objectivity, hence of transcendence; it is because of transcendence—the possibility of knowing God—that the human mind is endowed with objectivity.
Instead of saying “Intelligence, Will, Soul” we could say “to know, to will, to love”. To know God is to discern the Absolute and the elements of absoluteness; to will God is to do what brings us near Him; to love God is to find happiness in Him. No man has the right to say he cannot love God, for man always loves something; he always aspires to some happiness; he always makes his choices.
The formulas of consecration and of gratitude—the Basmalah and the Hamdalah—integrate the contingent objects of our love into our love for the Absolute or the Infinite, which is imperative for us because we are human beings.
To know God is to understand by way of consequence that one must remember Him, that there is no other choice.
To will God is to remember Him in fact, and untiringly, while abstaining from what is opposed to this end.
To love God is to find joy and happiness in this remembrance, not in what separates us from it.
To know things in relation to God, to will them for God, to love them in God.
© World Wisdom, Inc / For Personal Use Only
basmalahtraditional Muslim formula of blessing, found at the beginning of all but one of the sūrahs of the Koran, the full form being Bismi ’Llāhi ’r-Rahmāni ’r-Rahîm (Arabic: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم), “In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful”.
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