What is Forbidden is Desired [Translated Extract]

I pondered over the cravings of the nafs (one’s egotistical or animal self) for what is forbidden to it. I realised that its desire for something increases the more it is forbidden from attaining it. I observed that in the first generation of humanity, Adam, upon him be peace, desired the tree he was forbidden from despite the multitude of trees available to him.

As the proverb goes, ‘A man is desirous over what is forbidden to him and longs for what he could not attain.’

It has also been said, ‘If hunger was made undesirable to men, they would have patience for it. And if they were forbidden from breaking apart dung, they certainly would want to do so.’ This is because they would think that there must be something (valuable) that they have been prevented from.

It has also been said, ‘The most beloved thing to man, is what he has been prevented from.’

When I inquired into the reasons of this, I found two.

The first, is that the nafs does not show patience upon been confined or restrained. It is enough confinement for it to be constrained in the human body. If it is forbidden of something by some notion, it increases in its recklessness and fickleness. Hence, if a man sits in his house a whole month, he has no problem with it. But if it is said to him, “Don’t leave your house for a day,” it becomes unbearable for him.

The second, is that it is difficult for the nafs to surrender to authority. Hence, it delights in the forbidden and barely finds agreeable what is merely permitted. And so, it is easier to worship based on one’s own choosing and opinions than to simply follow what has been transmitted.

Chapter 23, Sayd Al-Khatir (Capturing Thoughts), Imam ibn Al-Jawzi.
Translated by Omer Siddique

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Originally published on the Dhikr Substack.