The 365 · Tazkiyah · Day 355 · Heart
Faqd al-Tawāzun · Imbalance of Fear and Hope
The disease
فَقدُ التَّوازُنِ بَيْنَ الخَوْفِ وَالرَّجَاءِ
Faqd al-Tawāzun bayn al-Khawf wa al-Rajāʾ
The story
ʿUmar said: 'If a caller called from the sky that all of mankind will enter Paradise except one, I would fear to be that one; and if a caller said all will enter the Fire except one, I would hope to be that one.' Perfect balance.
Why it's named first
The believer's heart is a bird flying with two wings: khawf and rajāʾ. Lose either, and the bird falls. Lose khawf, and the heart becomes deluded about its safety; lose rajāʾ, and the heart despairs. The Sunnah is the balance.
In the Qur'an
يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا (السجدة 16). 'They call upon their Lord in fear and longing.' (al-Sajdah 32:16)
In the Sunnah
When the Prophet ﷺ was asked when fear should outweigh hope: he taught that in youth and health, fear should be stronger (so as not to delude); near death, hope should be stronger (so as to die with good thoughts of Allah).
The cure
Audit your daily emotional state. Are you more often deluded or despairing? Tip the balance. Read verses of warning if deluded; read verses of mercy if despairing. Restore the equilibrium daily.
What is at stake
Imbalance produces erratic ibadah: bursts of intensity, then long despair; bursts of confidence, then collapse.
A du'a for this day
«اللَّهُمَّ إِني أَسأَلُك الجَنَّة، وَأَعُوذ بِكَ مِنّ النّار».
The door of mercy
Al-Raʻuf, al-Shadeed. Two attributes in one Allah.
A reflection to carry
Khawf and rajāʾ are not opposites; they are partners. The believer's heart needs both, daily, in proportion.
Read the longer reflection
The Heart cluster's penultimate day addresses the architecture of emotion. Khawf and rajāʾ together; never one without the other. ʿUmar's image is the standard: fear of being the only exception in Paradise; hope of being the only exception in the Fire. Both, at once. May Allah keep our hearts balanced, and may we fly to Him on both wings.
A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.
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