I heard Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allāh sanctify his soul, say, “Indeed, there is a paradise within this world, whoever does not enter it shall not enter the Paradise of the hereafter.” He also told me on an occasion, “What can my enemies do to me?! My paradise and bliss are within my heart — wherever I may be, they are with me, never departing. My imprisonment is [an opportunity for worship in] seclusion; my killing is martyrdom; my exile is tourism.” During the period of his imprisonment, he would say when in his cell, “Were I to expend the equivalent of this cell in gold, in my belief, that would not equate the thankfulness necessary for this blessing”, or he said, “I would not have repaid them for the goodness which they brought about”, or speech along these lines. When imprisoned, he would supplicate while in prostration, saying, “O’ Allāh! Help me in remembering you, in giving you thanks, and worshipping You in the best manner”^[1] [as many times as] Allāh would will. Once, he said to me, “The imprisoned one is he whose heart is locked away from his Lord, and the captive is the one who has been captured by his desires.” When he was entered into his cell, becoming enveloped within its walls, he looked around and recited:

فَضُرِبَ بَيْنَهُم بِسُورٍ لَّهُ بَابٌ بَاطِنُهُ فِيهِ الرَّحْمَةُ وَظَاهِرُهُ مِن قِبَلِهِ الْعَذَابُ ‎﴿١٣﴾‏

“A wall will be placed between them, its interior contains mercy, but on the outside of it is torment.”
(Al-Ḥadīd, 57: 13).

Allāh knows I have not seen anyone live a more blissful life than he, despite the straitened circumstances he lived in which were contrary to comfort and luxury, in fact, the antithesis of it, and despite the imprisonment, threats and intimidation. Yet, with all that, he was among the most blissful of people, the most content, the strongest in heart, and the most happy in spirit — the radiance of bliss was evident upon his face. Whenever fear intensified upon us, our thoughts turned grim, and it felt as though the earth was closing in upon us, we would go to him. Simply upon seeing him and hearing his words, all that would fade away, turning into relief, strength, certainty, and tranquility.

So, glory be to He who displayed for His servants His Paradise before meeting Him, and opened for them its gates within the abode of action so that its coolness, its breeze, and its fragrance comes upon them in a way that evokes them to spend all their strength in seeking it and racing toward it. Some of those enlightened with knowledge [of Allāh] used to say, “Had the kings and their progeny known what we were in [of bliss], they would have fought us over it with their swords.” Another among them said, “How pitiful are the people of the dunyá, they departed from it without even tasting the sweetest of what is present within it!” Thereupon he was asked, “And what is the sweetest of what is present within it?” To which he replied, “The love, knowledge, and remembrance of Allāh.” And another said, “Truly, there comes upon my heart times where it dances in delight.” Another said, “Sometimes I say [to myself], ‘If the people of Paradise are in a bliss similar to this, they are surely in a delightful life.’”

Hence, loving Allāh, knowing Him, being in constant remembrance of Him, finding peace and tranquility in Him, singling Him out alone with love, fear, hope, reliance, and all dealings, such that He alone is the one who has taken hold of the servant’s concerns, his resolve, and his will — that is the paradise of this world, and the bliss which no other bliss resembles.^[2]