41- First – Sense of Love, Affection, and Attraction

The indicators and effects of this sense are the attraction and the appeal towards one another. Its source is in the heart. Just like when you like something, it first registers in the brain, and then you feel it in your heart. As they say, "I felt it with all my heart."
Alternatively, one may refer to a "dear person" as "sweetheart," which also demonstrates this notion. This sense may adopt different names according to the subject that stimulates its manifestation. If it is love towards God, it is called faith, or love of God. In moderation, it is called balanced worship and prayer, and the lack of it is faithlessness and aberration. Too much of it is above human endurance and creates lunacy in faith (as some indulging monotheists have suffered).
 If this sense of love is towards parents, children, or spouses, it is called love towards relatives. In moderation, it establishes a social life; its deficiency deteriorates family structures. Too much of it, in this regard, deprives humans of the focus on the spiritual and social obligations and other essential affairs.
The fondness and affection that people find towards other people is a subsidiary of love, which happens through contact and attraction. It has a state of moderation, exaggeration, and balance level. It is relatively like the sense of love towards kinship.
Attraction towards science and knowledge that compels individuals towards learning what is known and unraveling mysteries is also among this category. It is desirable when in moderation; lack of it causes ignorance and deprivation, and exaggeration of it results in falling behind in having a balanced life. There is also the love of fame, status, and power, which is called aggrandizement or ambition for a position. It has many types; once again, it is proper when in moderation because it stimulates people towards work and endeavor. However, if exaggerated, one can become misguided. Lack of it deprives humans of worldly life.
Moreover, there is love towards earthly possessions. In moderation, it stimulates one for work, endeavor, and continuing social life, while in exaggeration, it creates greed, miserliness, stinginess, and similar attributes. On the other hand, lack of it promotes austerity, seclusion and becoming renunciant, and falling behind in life.
The sense of establishing social connections, gathering, unity, and similar social interactions are among subsidiaries of the sense of love.
The natural attraction of people towards one another is also a subsidiary of this sense.
One subsidiary of love is desire and longing, which results in a tendency towards different necessities of human beings, including appetite and hunger, thirst, yearning for recreational activities, the desire for luxuries, wanting to be orderly, and many other such affairs. Competitiveness is also a subsidiary of this sense. Like other similar subsidiaries, it needs to be maintained in a balanced way not to reach a level that becomes harmful to others. Jealousy is also among its subsidiary.
These were some examples; the sense of love has many more branches and subsidiaries.

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