A PRACTICAL SOLUTION

A Practical Solution ~ 280 ~ A PRACTICAL SOLUTION “When one’s ego is touched,” an eminent psychologist once observed, “it turns into superego, and the result is breakdown.” Much the same thing was said some thirteen hundred years back by ‘Umair ibn Habib ibn Hamashah. During his last days this Companion of the Prophet Muhammad gave some advice to his grandson, Abu Ja’afar alKhatmi, part of which was about patience. “One who does not bear with a small hurt from a foolish person will have to bear with great harm,” was what he said. The gist of both these remarks is the same, namely that the only way to avoid being harmed by others is to keep out of their firing line as much as possible, to keep as far away as one can from those who show themselves to be potentially harmful. Every human being is born with an “ego”. More often than not, that ego is dormant. It is better to leave it sleeping, for the ego can be like a snake which, when aroused, will harm all within its reach.