| If good befalls you, it grieves them, and if an evil afflicts you, they rejoice at it; and if you are patient and guard yourselves, their scheme will not injure you in any way; surely Allah comprehends what they do. [Holy Quran 3.120] |
| We think that our occasional outbursts of anger are not likely to cause much harm, but we err when we think thus. A small spark is enough to set a whole forest on fire. Just one word uttered in anger could have serious consequences. Often, we fuel a person's anger, instead of trying to calm down the angry person. We fan the flames, and if a man is angry with someone, we feed him more tales about the other person. An angry mob on the streets is like a herd of raging elephants. The mob can do more harm than the elephants. If a person is angry, we should not aggravate the man's temper, but we must try to calm him down. One who calms down an angry man is like one who saves another man's life. But one who feeds a man tales about others and makes him angrier is akin to a murderer. The angry man not only makes others unhappy, but is destroyed by his own anger. Anger is a result of our pride. We think that we never make mistakes and that the fault is always someone else's. That is why we lose our temper with others. But we must realise that we all have our faults. No one is perfect. Even if someone abuses us, we must not lose our temper. We must be like the coconut tree. Even if we do not use absolutely pure water to irrigate the coconut tree, does this affect the quality of the tender coconut water? Do we use water from which all impurities have been removed to water the tree? Yet, it gives us sweet coconut water. Likewise, even if someone hurts us with their words, we must not retaliate, but speak to them sweetly. |
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