Whoever is granted concern for the deeds of the heart and makes them a priority on the journey to Allah has had a great door of servitude opened to him, and a shorter path to Paradise made easy, by which he may surpass many diligent worshippers who give less attention to the heart’s deeds.
The realm of the heart’s deeds is vast. Only those who have lived its realities and walked through its gardens and beneath its shade know its breadth.
Among its noble subjects is understanding the relationship between the deeds of the heart. This is an exceedingly precious subject, yet it may be treated lightly if offered to someone who does not appreciate its worth and approaches it as merely a collection of scholarly observations, useful points and rare pieces of knowledge.
Here I will mention a brief, focused part of it, beneficial to those who understand this field and give it its due:
The deeds of the heart begin with knowing Allah.
The paths to this knowledge are:
Reflecting upon His Book,
contemplating His creation,
taking lessons from His decrees and the events through which He manifests His power,
understanding the path of His prophets,
and acting in ways that bring further guidance.
When knowledge of Allah takes root in the believer through these paths, it gives rise to three great foundations of servitude, which form major gateways to the heart’s deeds: certainty, love and reverent fear.
I will discuss these three deeds very briefly in relation to other deeds of the heart and stations of servitude.
Certainty:
Certainty is the foundation of reliance on Allah and patience; neither is complete without it. Both lead to contentment: reliance leads there through entrusting one’s affairs to Allah, and patience through increased guidance, as Allah rewards a believer who settles his heart upon patience by granting him contentment.
Thus certainty leads to contentment by two paths: reliance and patience.
Although certainty is the basis of these deeds, it also grows and increases through them. It sustains them, and they nourish it, until Allah brings the person to the station of profound truthfulness, in which the believer lives in constant awareness of Him: the station of excellence in worship.
This constant awareness safeguards two great matters: submitting oneself entirely to Allah and remaining steadfast in piety.