Beware of Weeds Growing Within

not enough simply to sow seeds in his field. Along with this, it is also essential to pluck out every weed. Otherwise, he will not be able to get the harvest that he hopes for. This weeding of a field, as it were, is what every individual should do with regard to his own self. In the terminology of Islam, this is called muhasabah. As in a field, where crops grow along with weeds, whenever one obtains something good, along with it a ‘weed’ begins to grow, all on its own, from inside. It is important to be aware of the presence of this ‘weed’ and to remove it from inside oneself and throw it away. If you do not do this, you will face the same predicament as a field that is left without being weeded. If someone acquires many worldly goods and means, he gets puffed up with an unwarranted sense of self-reliance. If he obtains political power, it engenders conceit. Likewise, wealth leads to miserliness, knowledge to pride, fame to pomp, and social respect to showing-off. All of these are, as it were, ‘weeds’ that, if not removed, will completely eat up or destroy one’s virtues. And so, one should become one’s own guard, and whenever one spots a ‘weed’ growing within oneself, one should pluck it out and throw it away. If you do not engage constantly in this sort of introspection, you are bound to face ruin. You will become like a field whose crops have been over-run and destroyed by weeds that have been left to grow unchecked.