Understanding the Uniqueness of the Qur'an
Murtada Mutahhari
Chapter# /Title
13. Qur’anic Outlook Regarding the “Heart”
Perhaps I need not explain here that in the language of literature and mysticism the term heart does not mean the organ situated in the left side of the human body, which pumps blood into the blood vessels. What is implied is the sublime and distinguishing faculty of the human soul, as can be readily understood from the following examples from the Qur’an and verses of Sa’di:
“Surely in that there is a reminder to him who has a heart …” (50:37)
“My heart was alarmed [on sensing the coming danger],
While I, a thoughtless dervish,
Do not know what this wandering prey has come across.”
These two examples make it obvious that the connoted meaning of the heart is quite different from the bodily organ. Elsewhere, the Qur’an refers to the ailments of the heart:
“In their hearts is a sickness, and God has increased that sickness …” (2:10)
To cure this sickness is beyond the powers of any man of medicine, even the heart specialist; only the doctors of the spirit can diagnose such diseases and suggest proper remedies.