It was with great care that I undertook to listen to a friend who happened to open his heart before me and tell what has been bothering him for some time. Human hearts tend to have a weakness. They have a tendency to be fragile and occasionally…they break.

Some hearts break because of treason, some shatter due to lies, other can’t stand various forms of deception and the rest break because of distance. Hearts have two other deficiencies. They have no gift of bilocation, nor are they flexible so they can stretch themselves to be here and there at the same time, so… they break.

And yet, we need our hearts. Hellen Keller is quoted to have said “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” She ought to know. If you are not aware of her, quickly google her, and learn that compared to a girl born blind, deaf and speechless, you are way better off, no matter what happens to you in the mysterious routes of life. However, to get back to my story, we need our hearts to feel and understand the world around us and to grasp the unimaginable (by reason), unseen (by eyes) and unheard (by ears)  truth which is only meant to be encompassed by the spiritual heart defining all of us. And these hearts, well… they break.

I am a lifelong student of Arabic. In this language the word ‘Arab’ comes from a root signifying sharpness and precision, and indeed Arabic is the most precise of languages. There is a word for a table, and a different one when there is food on it, a total of 121 words depicting lions, some 300 words for different kinds of sand, 70 for clouds and around 40 for hearts. Those are divided into words for the phases and states of the physical heart, and words for the spiritual heart and its ills and pains. All of religions serves the purpose of cleansing the heart and keeping it pure and healthy, and making hearts complete, after they break, and it happens that hearts break from time to time.

The struggle of this world is not mainly political, nor is it financial, it is a struggle for the hearts and minds of all of us. Whether you turn your head towards East or towards West, there are armies of people in internal conflict looking to cure themselves by extensive shopping for the things they don’t need, with money they don’t have, to satisfy people they don’t love. Most people don’t love even themselves. They fear that they are completely and utterly worthless and they have no power coming from within, so they cure it by overcompensating with costly clothes, costly gadgets, costly cars, costly jewellery and tyrannical behaviour towards the people around them. Thus they betray, lie, deceive and finally distance themselves, and with all of this they sacrifice everything at the altar of the ego. This is how more hearts get broken.

Amongst the curiosities of the Arabic language are the multiple meanings of a single root. Arabic words are made of trilateral roots and by adding vocals we create different forms and meanings. For example, from Sin-Lam-Meem (SLM) comes the word for peace (salaam), and the word for healthy (saleem), and the word for whole (saalem), and the verb for submitting (salama). The explanation is that there is a raging war between ourselves, and the world outside of us. This war is stressful, it is harmful, and eventually we all are losing it. However, if we choose to give up, that is to submit ourselves to the Divine will, there is no war, only peace, we will regain our health and inner calm. That is the recipe for mending broken hearts. Look around and notice that we all are in a dire need for mending ourselves and then, others. It is probably clear to anyone contemplating this matter, that mending hearts is a skill which requires patience, inner calm and wisdom, and all of that can stem only from a healthy heart. Fix yourself and be the candle which lends its flame to others. And then, finally, let there be light.