THE PRINCIPLE OF LIFE

Why does a person buy a car? For fast travel. The purpose of a car is to turn walking speed into running speed. But a car can only be called a proper car if it also knows how to stop. A car may look excellent, but if it has no braking system, no one would agree to buy it. The same rule that applies to travel on the road also applies to the journey of life. Only those people can succeed in life’s journey who know how to stop as well as move. Those who only know how to move forward, who never think in terms of stopping or pausing, are like a car without brakes. And a car without brakes will always end up in a ditch. Such a car is never destined to reach its destination.

If your nature is such that you argue with anyone who speaks against you, or you treat someone who does not meet your expectations as an enemy and start fighting him, then you are like a car without brakes. In such a case, you speak when you should remain silent, and you rush forward when you should hold back. The end of such a person in this world is nothing but ruin.

A wise person is one who saves his energy from being wasted in negative actions. He continues his journey without becoming entangled in the thorns along the road. In the language of the Shariah, this is called i‘raz (turning away, avoidance). And i‘raz is undoubtedly an essential principle of life. A person who has a clear goal, who is engaged in completing his plan, will inevitably adopt the way of i‘raz. He will always keep his goal before him. But those who have no set goal will never understand the importance of i‘raz. They will fight with others over trivial matters. They may think they are doing something important, but in reality, they are only wasting their energy.