THE WORD OF GOD

At every moment, man is advancing towards his death. If a man does not make the best of the time still available to him, he will finally face total destruction. In order to be successful, a man has to exert himself, while for failure he has to do nothing. Failure is itself rushing towards him. A venerable gentleman said that he understood the meaning of this chapter of the Quran from an ice vendor who was shouting in market, ‘O, people! Have mercy on one whose assets are melting away!’ On hearing this, the gentleman said to himself that just as the ice melts and reduces, similarly the lifespan given to man is fast passing away. If the existing opportunity that life affords us is lost in inaction or in evil actions, this is man’s loss. (Imam Razi, Tafsir Kabir). To utilise time properly in the present world, one needs to adopt three courses. Firstly, that of Faith, i.e. consciousness of Truth or reality, and its acceptance. Secondly, virtuous deeds, i.e. doing that which is required to be done as a matter of religious duty and abstaining from what is sinful. Thirdly, advising people about Truth and forbearance. This follows on such a deep realisation of Truth that the concerned person becomes its preacher. THE BACKBITER In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Woe to every fault-finding back-biter, who amasses wealth, counting it over, thinking that his wealth will make him live forever. By no means! He shall surely be cast into the crushing torment. Would that you understood what that crushing torment is like. It is a Fire kindled by God. Reaching right into the hearts of men, it closes in on them from every side in towering columns. (104: 1-9) If a person has some difference with another, he can settle it through argument. But it is not proper for him to denigrate the other person, defame and make him the target of allegations. While the first course of action is legitimate, the second is not. Those who resort to calumny do so because they think that their worldly position is safe and strong. They think they are not going to lose anything by levelling baseless allegations against another. But this is utter foolishness. The fact is that their doing so amounts to jumping into a pit of fire—a pit of fire from which there will be no escape. o