In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Know, O dear reader, that to embark upon the path of true happiness, one must first comprehend the true nature of the traveler. Just as a physician must understand the essence of an illness before he can prescribe a cure, so must you understand the reality of your own self before you can hope to purify it. This is the foundational knowledge, without which all subsequent efforts are but a building on sand.
Let it be known with certainty that Allah, the All-Wise, did not create man in jest, nor merely to eat, sleep, and pursue fleeting pleasures of this world. To believe so is the gravest of errors. The creation of the human is a profound act, imbued with a serious and magnificent purpose. Man is not without a beginning, for he was brought from non-existence into being by the command of his Lord. Yet, in his true essence, he has no end, for the soul He has breathed into him is eternal. Your life in this world is not the totality of your story; it is merely the first line in an everlasting book.
This human, whom you call “yourself,” is a wondrous and paradoxical creation, a compound of two distinct realms. His body is fashioned from the lowly soil of the earth; it is base, temporal, and subject to decay and desire. But his soul — his *ruh* — is a thing of sublime majesty, a divine command, a celestial secret entrusted to this earthly frame. It is from the highest realm, a direct emanation from his Creator, and it carries within it the longing to return to its Origin.
This dual nature places man in a state of constant struggle and immense potential. Primarily, in his untrained state, he is dominated by the properties he shares with other creations: the appetites of animals, the ferocity of wild beasts, and the whisperings of deceit from Satan. He is pulled downward by his earthly composition. Yet, herein lies the great test and the greater opportunity. If he strives, if he engages in the sacred struggle against his lower self, he can purify his soul. He can polish the rust from his heart and subdue the base influences.
Thus, man stands at a crossroads. He possesses the unique capacity to become the lowest of the low, should he indulge his animalistic nature and neglect his soul. But he also holds the sublime potential to become the highest of the high, should he nurture his spirit, overcome his base desires, and ascend to such a state of purity that he becomes worthy of attaining the presence of his Lord. The entire journey of religion, the very purpose of the Alchemy of Happiness, is this transformation from a state of potential to a state of divine proximity.