A sense of responsibility, not greed for power, makes one fit to lead

A sense of responsibility, not greed for power, makes one fit to lead

1985 12 December 18 A sense of responsibility, not greed for power, makes one fit to lead (106) When Abu Bakr was elected Caliph, he addressed the people. “By God,” he said, “I never had any greed or desire for power. Never, either secretly or openly, have I asked God for it. I have only taken it on for fear of friction; despite the fact that there will be no comfort for me in the caliphate. I have put a yoke on my neck which it is beyond my strength to carry; it is only trusting in God’s strength that I carry it. I would prefer anyone of you who is more fit than me for the task, to take it on.”

(Baihaqi, Hakim)

All the Heroes are Dead

1985 12 December 18 All the Heroes are Dead (251) Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), the celebrated American author, whose correspondence during his military career has been published in book form, participated in the war against Italy in 1918. At one point he was injured in battle and had to be hospitalized, during which time he wrote several letters to his relatives. In one letter he writes:

“There are no heroes in this war. All the heroes are dead. And the real heroes are the parents. They suffer a thousand times more. And how much better to die in all the happy period of disillusioned youth, to go out in a blaze of light, than to have your body worn out and illusions shattered.” (Life, June 1981)

What a gloomy, depressing picture of life is painted by these words.

Man seems to be born into this world only to disappear from it in a hundred years, more or less, worn out with old age. If this is all that life has in store, one should rather end one’s life in the hope - filled period of youth by taking a heroic plunge into the unknown.

It is only when we bring in the concept of life after death, that our old age as well as our youth assumes any significance. Separate the two, and there is nothing but gloom and despair to haunt us for ever. Divested of the concept of an after -life, worldly life loses all its significance. It becomes so inexplicable and mysterious, that life and death have no meaning.