TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE

One type of person speaks little but accomplishes a lot. The other speaks extensively but does very little. The first is genuine, while the second, although in human form, has a non-human personality in its human-like shape.

During the Emergency in India (1975-77), Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was the President. A Muslim man from Uttar Pradesh approached him and said, “The police have arrested my brother under the MISA law and imprisoned him, although he is completely innocent.” Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed noted the brother’s name and address and sent the man away. He thought that Fakhruddin Sahib had not paid much attention to his plea. However, when the man traveled by train and returned home, his brother had been released and was back home.

The story was that after sending the man off, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed instructed his secretary to call the collector of a specific district and inform him that a person with this name was in his jail, and the President had inquired about his well-being. When the collector heard this, he became frightened. He thought the person he had jailed was an important figure, which is why the President was asking about his well-being. So, he immediately had him released from jail.

A gentleman from Delhi once told me, “I have connections in English newspapers. I can help Muslim youths find positions there. But, unfortunately, they don’t seem interested.”

Later, I met a young Muslim man who had completed his M.A. in English and was also hardworking. I sent him to the aforementioned gentleman. The man wrote a letter for him, without naming the addressee, stating:

“I am not personally acquainted with him. You may take his résumé and assess him according to your own test.”

Needless to say, the young man did not make use of this letter.

In life, what you do matters more than what you say. Being quiet and action-oriented makes a person valuable. Conversely, talking a lot and doing little makes a person worthless, both in the eyes of others and in the eyes of God.