people living around us

‘Khuda wanda teray saadha louh bandhay kahan jaaiyain;

Yehan derveshi bhi ayaari ki sultani bhi ayaari.’

                                                                (iqbal)

In our day to day life we are surrounded by the people whose outside is fair but the inside rotten. They speak with their mouths high on behalf of God but do indeed nothing for Him. On the face of it they are innocuous, gentle, sweet tongued, obedient, compromising, reliable, noble, kind, harmlessly benign and what not. Mad dog bites one of these fellows. He must normally die of the fatal virus that is transmitted to him by the dog bite. Surprisingly it is the dog that dies. Hidden therein the fellow’s blood is the deadlier poison that kills the dog itself. Amidst the specter of chaos and confusion, ambiguities and controversies, lust and waywardness, sinfulness and impiety, pride and haughtiness, slavery and servitude, infirmity and hypocrisy, double-dealing and pretence, deceitfulness and greed, profiteering and miserliness and discontentment and what not people rear malice and rancor, wickedness and perfidy, treachery and mischief, but then with their couching-the-words ability, the soft tongue and the display of virtues, reform, virtue, mannerism, politeness, kindness and so on they are perfect -10 at  hiding their deadly venom.

Without any feeling of retribution people opt to commit venial sins. While defending, tooth and nail, their sins, they hate the truth like poison. These guys are sensitive to their own rights, but indifferent to the rights of others. They ignore their own faults as if they have none but at the same are preoccupied with the faults of others. While they give themselves too much leniency, they may cry out against the sin of policy. But then they can not abhor it but by virtue of a godly antipathy against it. Many cry out against sin in the pulpit who yet can abide it well enough in the heart, house, and conversation. They cry out against sin even as the mother cries out against her child in her lap, when she calls it slut and haughty girl and then falls to hugging and kissing it. Should these fellows come to know what they do is wrong perhaps they would never repeat it. But then like an ostrich they opt to be the sinners and therefore keep breathing every single breath full of sins.

When we (unceasingly) attempt to oblige the countless tin gods we in fact tend to become the servants of superstition and nonsense and as servants of the humans that are like us ourselves we pay obeisance to them and their worldly wisdom, laws and rules. The superficial knowledge and wisdom of these tin gods/demigods (to provide worldly provisions) impress us so much that we are ready to submit/accept them as our leaders, mentors, guides, role models and feeders and even masters. In the process what we do not realize is that these fellows themselves are not in fact on the right path.

People, of their own, define what is legitimate and what is not; what is lawful and what is not; and what has religious sanction and what is forbidden. As they are not clearly in the know of the exactness of their goals/objectives they fail to understand what is right and what is wrong. even taqwah like deeds  will all reveal their venom.

People that draw inspiration from God, live life as per His orders. The result is that the worldly (temporary) attractions do not appeal them. Their humanity becomes a tangible thing and they rule their life and not reverse. Unlike others worldly attractions do not lure them and they do not get mired. But when people take guidance from the other lesser mortals as to how to live life, they tend to show off/window dress our wares in thoughts and deeds. Innocent of spiritual and conceptual visions and living together like a herd of cattle in the same precincts and grazing in the same pastures they do not have any qualms to sell their faith and religion and attempt to doctor the two to achieve their ulterior motives. As they do not attempt to strive against wind and tide, they are zealous when religion goes in their silver slippers so that they walk with it in the street if the sun shines and people applaud them. In doing so if they mend their market, get good house, a good wife and far better customers to their ‘shops’ why should not suchlike people talk about principles which they know are for others only to follow, if they mean so. For them in their life principles have no place. They have acquired the art of getting, either by violence, cozenage, manipulating and maneuvering, flattery, lying or by putting on a guise of religion (juggling, cheats, games, plays, fools, apes, knaves, rogues, and that of every kind). In the Vanity Fair their merchandize includes houses, lands trades, places, honors, preferment, titles, kingdoms, offices, trappings, lusts, pleasures, cars, gadgets, power etc.