Non-Violence by Heart

The third category of non-violence is that of the heart, which is the hardest of the three, (non-violence of the hand, tongue and heart). Imam Saadiq (A) said:

'Removing and elimination of a mountain is easier than that of a heart from its position.'

The meaning of the non-violence of the heart is that one does not fill his heart with violence towards foes and adversaries. And it is normal for what is in the heart to seep through to facial expression, and body language. "One does not make any intention, but it shows in the slips of his tongue or features of his face.", as stated in a hadith from Imam Ali (A). So one may take care to eradicate physical and verbal non-violence but not of the heart. Depicting such a condition a poet states:

As of the tongue, it is coated with honey But the hearts (are) wasps and snakes

Furthermore is he who has violence in his heart able to hide his violence forever? Surely no. It is inevitable that his violence will come to the surface, even if under unusual circumstances. Hinting at this aspect, a poet states:

Secret has two windows: drunkenness and fury. Since keeping what is in the heart hidden forever is normally impossible, according to the poet who states: No matter what character an individual may have, If he wanted it hidden from the people, it would (eventually) be found out.

Adapted from the book: "War, Peace & Non-Violence" by: "Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq Shirazi"