Discovering God

Purification of the Self with a bad environment, may cause one to fall a prey to evil influences. All such failings run counter to tazkiya. A person should be so sensitive in this matter that, on each such occasion of temptation, he immediately becomes alert to the immanent dangers and then does one’s utmost to re-purify oneself. Re-purifying oneself on such occasions is tazkiya. But without introspection, no one can become a purified personality. Introspection leads to intellectual development, which is a guarantee that the process of tazkiya will continue to take place. Tazkiya and Modesty No crops can grow on barren land. Requiring favourable soil for their growth, they must grow on fertile land. So also does tazkiya require favourable soil from which to grow. And that favourable soil is modesty. The quality of modesty greatly facilitates the attainment of tazkiya. On the contrary, arrogance is unfavourable to its attainment. An arrogant person can never attain the goal of selfpurification. The most significant feature of modesty is that it causes a person to feel that there is something lacking in him. The result of this feeling is that when the truth becomes evident to him, he accepts it without any reservation. He receives it in an unbiased way and soon discovers that this truth can compensate for his shortcomings. Thus, he