The Precipice

The Precipice

1985 12 December 10 The Precipice (482) Today he came to see me unexpectedly, at an odd hour, and he did not even accept the offer of a cup of tea. He said, “I have to reach home soon. My wife must be waiting for me.” And then, in a hurry, he started his scooter and set off. Barely half an hour later, the telephone bell rang. It was his wife. In a greatly agitated tone, she stammered, “Your friend....” I could hear her sobs and cries, and the meaning of the sentence could be guessed. Putting the receiver down hastily, I rushed to her house. Having said goodbye to me he had reached home, but while climbing the stairs he had stumbled and fallen down. Some people carried him upstairs and the doctor was immediately called, but he could only declare him dead.

When he rode off on his scooter, he had apparently set off for his home but, in truth, he was heading towards death. This is not an unusual event. Such events take place every day and in all kinds of places. On 26 May, 1979, a big jet plane took off from O’Hare airport. Shortly afterwards it crashed, and burst into flames. All of the 271 passengers were burnt to death. This particular accident happened with a small number of people, but such is going to be the fate of all human beings. All men who are on the move are actually heading towards death and destruction. Death is closer to man than life itself. Everyone is standing on the verge of death. Everyone is in danger of having come to the end of his period on earth and of being taken off at any moment to the next world from where he will never come back. Then his existence will be one of either eternal hell or eternal heaven.

When a blind man comes across a well on his way, everyone knows that the greatest thing at that moment is to warn him of it. How strange it is that the whole human race is standing on the brink of the most dangerous precipice, yet one never feels the need to give warning of it. When a servant of God gives a danger signal, far from being appreciated he is ridiculed and labeled a traitor. He is accused of wanting to lull the nation into the comfortable sleep of cowardice, of trying to dampen the spirit of holy war among the Muslims, of wanting to shift the emphasis from real issues. He is vilified as being not the messenger of life but of death and doom. Humanity stands on the brink of a precipice, but people are so disinclined to look in front of them that they have illusion of being safely at home. People are heading towards death but are happy in the thought that they are advancing on the journey of life.