"Beauty and the Beautiful"
Beauty and
the Beautiful
Beauty elevates our
hearts, awakens our souls with sweet excitement and appreciation, and then
becomes the esthetic of our inner self. This hard-to-describe phenomenon, this
sense that is present in our most joyous moments, is beauty. Even though this
definition might seem too narrow, it is one interpretation. There have been
elaborate interpretations on the notion of beauty from the point of view of
esthetics. The focus now shifts on the relation of beauty with existence,
nature, and human beings, or even beyond nature. The meanings of beauty
need to be redefined all together in order to be properly appreciated. Even
though this has been done many times by masters of esthetics, we will try to
explain our understanding of beauty in the context of our philosophy and
belief, where every beautiful object is a mirror image or a reflection of
Divine Beauty. Furthermore, anything that incites appreciation, love, and
astonishment is seen as a reflection of Divine Beauty. Therefore, when our
hearts are filled with these everlasting reflections, we are always able to
perceive ourselves within beauty. Through such a
perspective, we conceive of even seemingly sad things, like death and decay, as
being the essence of the most amazing harmonies, thus feeling ourselves to be
among infinite beauty. In this way, we never feel upset or discouraged by the
fading of our attachments. On the contrary, we experience the outward beauty of
faith, breathe in the motivating air of hope, strive to do righteous deeds in
the hope that we will full fill our spiritual desires, seek sincerity in every
deed, struggle to be tolerant, merciful, and constructive in all our behavior,
and we strive to accept those deeds done for the sake of God as being the best
moments of our lives. For us, faith becomes the light that illuminates our
horizons, and a source of hope for our expectations. Only through faith can the
chaos of nothingness be overcome. Only through faith can we reach the happiness
that spreads from our hearts to the infinite Paradise. Through its vastness and
power, faith becomes beautiful. Through faith one can find the Divine Unity,
turn toward the Truth, and reach worldly and heavenly bliss, being released from
all worries. These are all the
beauties within beauty that can be enjoyed through faith in God. The universe,
events, objects, and human intellect that can evaluate these are all beautiful
in that they help us find faith. Likewise, all righteous acts that stem from
faith, good morals, and the desire to reach real faith and progress in the
spiritual ranks of love and knowledge of God are also beautiful. Even acts of
worship, or calamities that strike us, or sins that we find hard to resist, all
of which may seem like hardship from the outside, represent beauty if we adopt
the right attitude toward them. Real beauty belongs to God. He necessitates
perfection, which is unique to Him alone. All of existence is a different
mirror of God, reflecting His beauty as much as its potential allows. Stars
sing of the beauty of light every night, they wink at us and remind us of Him
through their unbelievable beauty. Moonlight touches the hearts with its
softness and beauty and the sun spreads its mercy on each and every thing
without distinction. It pours down its light and colours all day long, and
sets, giving us another marvellous scene. The seas rise and fall through the
tides, and take care of millions of living beings, like a merciful mother.
Mountains, with a sheer size that makes our hearts pound, seem to be whispering
something to the skies, playing along with the clouds. Mountains invite the
rains, and stop the oceans with their proud look, yet they become mere earth.
All the voices from the birds, sheep, forests, and mountains make up such a
harmonious song, feeding our souls with the most peaceful rhythms. Yes,
everything from the smiling skies to the thousands of glories of the Earth is
so beautiful that they make us aware of the beauty of Heaven and we simply say
"it just could not have been more beautiful!" And human beings
themselves seem to be the most beautiful among all this beauty. With our
outward looks, our inner world of senses, thoughts, and faith, we are like a
sample, a replica of the universe. It is therefore apparent that humans have
been created as a key to solve the riddle of creation. This is the way we
should perceive beauty, seeing it only as a tool to interpret the real meaning
of existence. In this enormous arena of beauty, everything can be seen as a
point referring to the Creator. If, with our pure intentions and the right
perspective, we can perceive existence as a mirror reflecting the beauty of The
Beautiful, we can experience spiritual joy. In fact, it should not
be difficult to be aware of this. Sometimes, only a beautifully designed city
or a place of worship is enough to make us enjoy this holy pleasure. Sometimes,
a nice poem, a legend, a well-told story, or music that is meant to touch our
human sensibilities, that waft harmony into our soul, can draw us to this
beauty, and make us hear the beauty of some other abode. However, the
continuity of the joy that these spiritual pleasures give us and the avoidance
of suffering depends on relating this worldly beauty to its real Owner.
Otherwise, all will end at the most unexpected moment. The Sun will set and the
Moon will disappear as our soul sinks into the darkness. It is impossible for
souls in decline to appreciate and enjoy beauty. Since every beauty of this
world fades away and leaves us one day, for our soul not to despair and to be
able to enjoy the real and infinite beauty, it is necessary to establish the
true Owner and Originator of the beauty we observe. A poet, relating this
concept to a Qur'anic verse said: "Even faces as beautiful as the Sun set
in the end. Thus I love not the temporary ones, but the infinite beauty that
does not fade away." Rumi illustrates the same point in the following
verses: "My God, after seeing You, knowing You, I do not see the beauty of
this world anymore . . ." Yes, material beauty is
just a means to acknowledge the Most Beautiful. Getting stuck at the
"means" and not realizing the ultimate goal of this beauty, which
shows us the real Beauty of God, is nothing more than being blind to the real goal,
the real Truth. The Creator has placed all sorts of beauty and signs along the
way so that we will not be blinded; however, for souls that have not reached
this realization and which lack the faithful perspective, this beauty is
nothing but a source of mischief, or means leading them to sin. But for those
who can think clearly, even the love for the beautifully created is only the
shade of the shade of the shade of the Beauty of the Beauty of God. As long as
we are able to distinguish between the Real Source of Beauty and its
reflection, the love we feel for the created is harmless. In this sense we can
accept the created as beautiful. Sometimes, we are aware
of the innermost feelings in our souls which sense only the abstract beauty
that fills our hearts with God's love alone. At these moments, when beauty and
love become intertwined, the soul, with its unique ability to see, feel, and
hear, senses the Real Source in everything that it meets. Through its heavenly
bestowed mechanisms, our soul perceives the essence of everything and
attributes this to its real owner. It is the lack of this mechanism that
renders the materialists and the naturalists short-sighted; they only observe
the outer beauty of things, and fall short of perceiving the spiritual and
infinite horizons. However, all beauty exists to take us to the Heavens, to the
Godly realms. "Every human being
displays themselves, their feelings, and their abilities in their works. This
means that they are presenting something for others who will observe and
perceive through the prism of their insight. God presents His works embellished
with colour, meaning, and content in order to make Him known and loved for
those seeking Him. We are sent to this world with the responsibility then, to
affect and reshape things with His permission, to reflect our understanding,
but also to be attentive to the true purpose and meaning of the creation of
things. The universe and the happenings in it are thus perfect examples to
imitate. However, no matter how perfect the example is, everyone will draw and
interpret objects according to their abilities. Charles Lalo, commenting on
esthetics once said: "The magnificent scene taking place at the time of
sunset will remind a farmer of the rather un esthetic thought of dinner; the
physicist, not of beauty or ugliness, but of rightness or wrongness of the
analysis of a matter. Thus, the sunset is beautiful only for those who are
aware of beauty." Therefore, only those who see with God and hear with God
can appreciate the beauty that spreads throughout existence as their senses are
tuned to the spiritual realms". A heart that beats with
God's love and which desires to meet Him, will be aware of many signs from God
along the way. Such a heart will feel the excitement of meeting Him, as it
reads the messages from the Moon, the sunset, the twinkling stars, colorful
nature, the blowing of the wind, the snow. . . And such a heart would utter, in
the words of one who has reached unity of sight and heart, "Everyone from
everywhere is coming to watch your beauty. From beneath and from above, every
being is declaring you, displaying the reflections of your beauty." This
heart looks at nature and objects, but sees the Unseen spiritual realms. This
is the point of love and connection with GOD.
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