An Easy Solution

of Lucknow often wrote about him in the worst possible manner, using titles such as: Abtar hamare hamlon se haali ka haal hai Maidan Panipat ki tarah paimaal hai Shattered by our assaults is Hali’s very state, Trampled like Panipat’s field beneath the weight. Hali never responded to these abusive attacks. He silently continued his work. After a few years, his critics grew tired and fell silent. Someone asked Hali how his opponents had finally quietened down. In reply, without naming anyone, he recited this verse: Kya poochhte ho kyun kar sab nukta cheen hue chup Sab kuch kaha unhon ne par hum ne dam na maara Why wonder now that every critic’s voice fell still? They spoke their piece—yet we remained unmoved, unheard. The easiest and most effective reply to false opposition is to give no reply at all. False opposition is always baseless; it is destined to collapse on its own. To respond to it is like extending its life. If one remains patient, it will one day fall like a rootless tree. It can never long survive on God’s earth. The greatest killer of falsehood is time. Wait for time, and you will see that it destroys the mischief far more completely than any effort you could make to destroy it yourself.