“When one’s ego is touched,” an eminent
psychologist once observed, “it turns into superego,
and the result is breakdown.” Much the same
thing was said some thirteen hundred years back by
‘Umair ibn Habib ibn Hamashah. During his last
days this Companion of the Prophet Muhammad
gave some advice to his grandson, Abu Ja’afar al
Khatmi, part of which was about patience. “One
who does not bear with a small hurt from a foolish
person will have to bear with great harm,” was
what he said.
The gist of both these remarks is the same, namely
that the only way to avoid being harmed by others
is to keep out of their firing line as much as
possible, to keep as far away as one can from those
who show themselves to be potentially harmful.
Every human being is born with an “ego”. More
often than not, that ego is dormant. It is better to
leave it sleeping, for the ego can be like a snake
which, when aroused, will harm all within its reach.
It is a commonplace in any society for one to be put
out, and even aggrieved, as a result of someone
else’s foolishness or willful malice. Usually the best
way of avoiding great harm from mischief-makers
is to put up with initial hurt, for, if one does not,
one will set off a chain reaction in which things will
go from bad to worse. Instead of having to bear a
relatively small hurt, one will be subjected to much
greater suffering. And if one has not been able to
bear a pelting with stones, how will one fare when
great rocks descend upon one’s head?
Ref - The Moral Vision
- by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
