13. GAINING OR LOSING

13. Gaining or Losing ~ 37 ~ 13. GAINING OR LOSING In this world man sometimes loses, sometimes gains. These vicissitudes are the common lot. No one is exempt from them. Now the question is how man should react to them. Islam tells us that both these experiences are meant as tests. Here gaining is not in itself synonymous with success. Similarly, losing does not mean that an individual has failed for all time. Losing and winning are not in themselves important. What is of actual importance is how people conduct themselves when facing these experiences. So, when a man suffers a loss, he should not consider himself a failure and a deprived person; he should not lose hope and courage, and begin uttering endless complaints. He must rather prove his courage, and, bearing up under the burden of adversity, retain his mental balance. He must consciously regard both the “give” and the “take” as being from God. He has thus to accept God’s