Love is something that is yet to get its precise definition. No doubt, philosophers have defined love, but every one of them defined it in their own way. Like Socrates said, “Love is the consciousness of a need for a good not yet acquired or possessed”, while Phaedrus said, “Love is a mighty god, and wonderful among gods and men, but especially wonderful in his birth.”
Thus, a universal definition of love is yet to be arrived at.
If I am not mistaken, I guess it is love and only love that brings a lover out from depths of darkness towards the lofty peaks of light. The existence of the universe in itself is testimony to the power of love. The birth of feelings in human beings is itself the manifestation of love. Love is abstract in nature. It is not the name of anything and cannot be achieved by toil. It is not something like art, as some moderns pretend, that can be cultivated by regular practice. It is the blessing only chosen ones are showered with.
Love is also the root of faith. Where there is love, there is faith. They are intertwined. Anyone pretending to be faithful without having love in his heart is a mere hypocrite. It is love that differentiates a believer from the disbeliever. It is love that gave relief to Abu Jahal despite being a staunch opponent of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w).
Love is something that makes the lover yearn every moment for the presence of the beloved. Love cannot be dual. One filled with love sees every where his beloved; rather, in everything. Love is humanity. One filled with love sees in every human his beloved. Love turns days into nights and nights into days. In fact, love frees one from the boundaries of the world and hereafter. A lover is free of time and space. Love means to sacrifice one’s will for the will of the beloved. Mere longing for communion without willingness to sacrifice turns out to be mere lust.
Just like no two things in this universe are alike, every soul differs in its degree of love from the other. Love can be affection or infatuation. Affection and infatuation are two different things. But infatuation without affection is not possible. Affection is for general people while infatuation is for the special one. Affection is found in every honest and just Muslim but infatuation only in the hearts of chosen ones.
Infatuation is infinite affection. Affection is the love caused by the perception of qualities while infatuation is caused by perception of the creator behind those qualities. However, it is not every one’s cup of tea to cross the stage of affection. To cross the stage, it requires the blessings of Allah. And those who cross this stage virtually become Allah’s chosen ones while those who are not blessed by Allah fall victim to evil. Thus, we can say love without Allah’s will leads to hell while the love blessed by his willingness leads to Jannah.
On the day of judgement, the degree of one’s closeness to Allah will be determined on these factors. The more one loves, the closer he will be and the more pleasure he will attain. This state of love can be achieved by emptying one’s heart of everything else than Allah. For Imam e Ghazali, this is the precondition. This first step is like sowing the seeds of Allah’s love in the field of the heart. After sprouting, these seeds give rise to the tree of cognition and learning which is the main purpose of life. The virtues are like the guardians of this field. May Allah help us reach this state and hold us close like chosen ones. Ameen!

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Syed Sabahat Jan