Revenge is not sweet



Imam Ibn al-Qayyim r.h says:

“The scene of peace and coolness of heart is a very honourable for the person who recognizes it and tastes it’s sweetness. This entails his heart and his inner feelings not bothering about the harm that he has experienced,

Furthermore, his heart should not bother about avenging this harm and satisfying his soul Rather, his heart should be empty and devoid of all this. He should realize that the peace and coolness of his heart and it being devoid of all this is more beneficial for him, more delightful, more wholesome and more advantageous.”

“This is because if the heart occupies itself in any sort of revenge, it would miss all that is more important and better for it. In so doing, the person will be deceived. An intelligent and discerning person will not be pleased with that. He will consider all this to be the engagements of a foolish person. How can there be any comparison between peace of the heart and it being filled with deception and evil whisperings? And being fully engrossed with exacting revenge?”

As for the scene of peace and tranquility — if a person abstains from replying to the harm and exacting revenge, he will save himself from all that is worse than this, if he exacts revenge, he will certainly experience fear.

This because revenge sows enmity. And an intelligent person never feels safe from his enemy even if he is an insignificant one. Many an insignificant person has brought about the fall of his major enemy.

So if a person forgives, if he does not exact any revenge, if he does not reply to the harm, he will save himself from the birth of enmity or the increase of enmity. His pardon, his forbearance and his overlooking will certainly break the power of his enemy and repulse his fear — contrary to what exacting revenge will do. Experience also bears testimony to all this.”

Ibn al-Qayyirn, Madãrij as-Salikin, Vol2 p320