[Nat]

"In the Arabic language, the word for "beauty" and "virtue" is the same. And "goodness." All three. In Islam, in the Muslim mind, they are not separated from each other.

Beauty can deal with external forms, but also with the beauty of the soul, with the beauty of the spirit within us. Beauty in a sense is more interiorizing. Beauty is what draws us directly to the divine - to the divine reality.

The celestial beauty which is the center of the sacred art of various traditions is salvific - it's a way of salvation. And ugliness, which is the opposite of beauty, in Arabic also means "evil." Ugly is the evil. One of the signs we live in an evil world is the ugly ambience we have created for ourselves.

Look at the remarkable predominance of beauty in nature - the remarkable predominance of beauty from the fish that swim in the sea under coral reefs that we are now destroying so rapidly in the gulf of Mexico to the great mountains where the snows are melting thanks to driving too many cars.

I think what is happening is proof precisely of the error of our worldview. If we look at nature, look how beautiful it is. Many people today in the West that are atheists are the greatest protectors of nature. It is central to Islamic spirituality, and Islamic spirituality sees even morality in terms of spiritual beauty. We are created in beauty, we are drawn to beauty, our soul is drawn to beauty.

So yes, there is a very deep nexus between beauty and happiness, and happy is the person who realizes inner beauty."

- Seyyed Hossein Nasr (Being, APM)