Under What Conditions Do We Fall into Fisq or Imbalance?
Have you ever wondered how we often define ourselves, or what is our impression of ourselves?
– I am a successful person because I was able to get a bachelor’s or a doctorate degree.
– I am a successful soccer player, and the whole world knows me. Many people would like to be in my shoes.
– I have raised children who have reached high academic and social status.
– I am a thriving businessman with millions of dollars in assets, with several houses, cars, and high social status.
The amount of energy and time we spend on each dimension of our existence indicate how much value we associate to each of our perfections. That is, the definition we have of ourselves shows the organizing and arrangement of different beloveds in our souls.
Our desires and aspirations reveal which aspects of our soul we prioritize and cultivate. Our deepest desires, the ones that come naturally without conscious effort, are like mirrors reflecting the health of our soul. The arrangement and priority of our desires, driven by one of the five faculties of our soul, reveal the state of our being. If any of the beloveds of the lower dimensions of our existence are more favored than our main Beloved, that is, the Infinite and Unlimited Perfection or God, we are caught in fisq. Literally, the word fisq means straying from balance and the right path, and balance is the normal state of our soul.
When Are We Imbalanced?
Our soul is a complex structure of various faculties, which together form our existence as a whole. This structure is made up of five dimensions: inanimate, vegetative, animal, intellective, and supra-rational. Each of these dimensions provides us with different needs and beloveds. However, which beloved is so essential that failing to attain it leads to a sense of failure in life? God is our beloved, love, deity, and our true goal. Besides, the most successful people are those who have taken pleasure in God and have manifested most of His names. In the previous lessons, we explained that God created all creations in pairs. Our eyes are paired with wavelength, and our ears with sound frequency; the animal dimension of our existence is paired with marrying the opposite sex. Accordingly, the pair and the beloved of the human dimension of our existence is also having a connection with God, which should always be above other beloveds. Otherwise, we will fall into fisq or imbalance.
In our body, diseases take the body out of balance and the doctor restores this loss of balance and brings the body back to its normal state. Each of the faculties of our soul naturally seeks to bond with its beloved. For example, as soon as we enter a dark environment, we seek to find light and lamps, or if our ears lose the ability to hear, we use tools to save them from fisq or imbalance and bring them back to balance. The presence of pain in the body is also a sign of fisq and a warning that shows us somewhere in our body is out of its normal state. A sign of fisq or imbalance in the heart and human dimension of existence is suffering from pain, sadness, and anxiety. The more we distance ourselves from happiness and peace, the more we are caught in fisq. The most natural state of our soul is to love God, and as long as we have God’s love in our hearts, we will be happy and peaceful in this world and the hereafter. In fact, God always speaks to us in the language of love: If I am not your most cherished beloved, then know that you have become fasiq and have gone out of your normal state and balance.
The Bounds and Limits of My Love
It should be noted that loving and desiring the pairs of the lower dimensions of existence has no contradiction with the love of God, provided that the love of God prevails in the heart. The problem is when the lower beloveds of existence become our deity and the goal of our lives. Instead, they should be regulated to maintain the balance of our existence. For example, if we love others, we have helped the names of Rahman and Rahim manifest in our existence. Of course, it is on the condition that we are loyal to the main Beloved of our existence, and earthly loves and affections do not occupy the place of love for God in our hearts, that is, we do not fall into fisq or imbalance.
Before making any decision, we must keep in mind that our soul is a collection of different levels and faculties, and our duty is to maintain balance and harmony between these faculties. For example, a person who is at the point of death due to thirst, hunger, and fatigue after days of walking in a desert does not think of any need other than water. However, after drinking water, the same person remembers his hunger and fatigue and tries to relieve them. To achieve lasting peace, we must bring all the dimensions of our existence to their beloved and create balance, so that they do not prevent the human dimension of our existence from reaching its Beloved. As a human being, we must always pay attention to our main Beloved while dealing with the lower aspects of our existence. When we get caught up in inanimate, vegetative, animal, and intellective dimensions, we must save ourselves from fisq or going out of balance. The actions and behaviors that are organized without considering the true Beloved of our existence and Allah is not on top of them do not lead anywhere and fail us.
All our thoughts should be adjusted in a way that we see Allah above any other beloved and when it is time to choose, our most important wishes and desires should be related to meeting the needs of this dimension. The organizing and arrangement of our desires determine how to arrange the different dimensions of our being and provide us with a view of the overall health of our soul. Our human dimension is the truth of our existence, and our happiness in this world and the hereafter depends on our connection with the Beloved of our human dimension. Therefore, our most important goal in life, which is the growth of the human dimension and manifesting the names and attributes of the Infinite Beloved, depends on the correct arrangement of our beloveds and desires.
In this article, we defined fisq or imbalance. We stated that our soul is made up of a set of levels and faculties, each of which finds peace just with its own pair and beloved. As human beings, we are in a state of balance only if we put Allah or the Beloved of our human dimension above all our desires. Otherwise, our soul will go out of balance and we will fall into fisq or imbalance.
How do you evaluate and define yourself? Is maintaining balance a priority for you?