Say someone hires a taxi and, at the end of his journey, is asked to hand over fifty rupees for his fare. Now, if the passenger has only fifty rupees in his pocket, he is likely to argue that the taxi driver is quoting too high a fare. He does not, after all, want to be left with an empty wallet. However, suppose he has five thousand rupees in his wallet, he will not argue over a mere fifty rupees. He will just pay whatever fare is demanded and go on his way.

The possessor of great wealth will not argue over mere trifles, whereas a man living in straitened circumstances will have to be careful about every rupee he spends. When a man discovers God, it is as if he had suddenly inherited great wealth, and he becomes the biggest-hearted of all human beings. On the other hand, the man who remains distant from his Maker can have no knowledge of this spiritual wealth and, therefore, remains mean-spirited in his dealings with others. The possessor of spiritual wealth develops the capacity to put up with untold losses in this world. Magnanimity becomes the hallmark of his behaviour, as all traces of petty-mindedness vanishes from his per­sonality. His is a generous spirit and a sublime nature.

It is this quality, which has been attributed to the Prophet Mohammad: “You are truly of a sublime character.” (Quran, 68:4). What does this “sublime character” con­sist of? It is the capacity always to be guided by high moral principles, and never to act merely on the basis of the treat­ment one receives from others. A sublime character does not react violently in an adverse situation, nor does it in­dulge in vengeful retaliation. This is what is known as being ‘a man of principle.’ It was this type of human being that the Prophet Mohammed urged his followers to become when he warned them not to become imma’a. By imma’a he meant one who made a point of returning good for good and evil for evil. The Prophet told his followers that they should instead form the habit of being good to those who were good to them, while refraining from wronging those who had wronged them.

The same theme was taken up by the Prophet on another occasion when he said that the finest character out of all the inhabitants of both this world and the next was that of one who forged stronger ties with those who severed their ties with him, who gave to those who denied him and who forgave those who wronged him. The “sublime charac­ter” mentioned in the Quran has been interpreted in the same vein. One Quranic commentator says that we should “show forgiveness, enjoin justice and avoid the ignorant” as has been commanded by God in the Quran (7:199). A sub­lime character then has the capacity to show forgiveness in a situation where revenge might normally be sought; it spreads the message of good-will and justice wherever hate and oppression have taken root, it simply by-passes situa­tions in which there is needless entanglement in disputes.

Source: Islam As It Is