Concept
Qalb
Overview
meaning "heart", is the origin of intentional activities, in Sufism
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
In the original texts
Passages from public-domain books where Qalb is discussed.
1. Qalb (heart) has two meanings. (_a_) a conical shaped piece of flesh on the left side of the chest, circulating blood, the source of animal spirits. It is found in all animals. The heart thus belongs to the external world and can be seen with the material eyes.
Ghazzali, Some religious and moral teachings of Al-Ghazzali
states what it is; names the idea; opens on it
This state, then, can be revealed to the initiated in ecstasy, and to him who is incapable of ecstasy, by obedience and attention, on condition that he frequents the society of Sufis till he arrives, so to speak, at an imitative initiation. Such is the faith which one can obtain by remaining among them, and intercourse with them is never painful. But even when we are deprived of the advantage of their society, we…
Ghazzali, The Confessions of Al Ghazzali
states what it is
And to this they gave the body to be a vehicle, and the members to be instruments, having the power of flexion and extension. Such was the origin of legs and arms. In the next place, the gods gave a forward motion to the human body, because the front part of man was the more honourable and had authority.
Plato, Timaeus
states what it is
But in reality this is only the beginning of the Sufi life, the end of Sufism being total absorption in God. The intuitions and all that precede are, so to speak, only the threshold for those who enter. From the beginning, revelations take place in so flagrant a shape that the Sufis see before them, whilst wide awake, the angels and the souls of the prophets. They hear their voices and obtain their favors.
William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience
Formerly the principles were outside of and successive to one another; their unity is found in the Soul. It is said of the latter that it is not produced, and is not productive; it is individual, and hence there are many souls; it is sentient, eternal, immaterial and unchangeable. Colebrooke here distinguishes between the theistic and atheistic systems of the Sanc’hya, since the former not only admits of individual…
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy
Related ideas
Place in the tradition
Part of Mind.