It takes extreme caution and awareness to find the light in the darkness that will illuminate the layers hiding the gem. Despite being underneath, it wants to be found out by the deserving eye, though not superficially. For most, it is a world of discouragement, ills, bad luck, and what not, but only a few know the real beauty of the darkness. Other aspects of life that are frequently overlooked are well woven into its fabric. It never meant always remembering, but it also didn’t mean completely ignoring it. It is there to rescue when pride and privilege spread their tentacles far enough to blind a person’s conscience, and after resuscitation, it even allows for a ray of hope to live life purposefully while maintaining its decency. Alas! We often call it more of a literary exercise than a firm truth, and why shouldn’t it be? Subtle and intricate matters are often hard to digest.
As it is normally perceived, the idea that no one has come out of the ups and downs of life fit and fine is a myth. Those who came were like brass turned gold, and for the sake of privacy, they never disclosed anything. And the myth continues to this day, perfectly and effectively. The same individuals reaped abundant benefits after witnessing its teachings and trainings; the irony is that this part of the story got swept under the rug. The light and shine of the irrelevant and unimportant made us blind to the relevant and important. We are prone to more sweetness than bitterness by nature and on purpose, a testing trait bestowed on us in order to check the logic of our logic, though we know lately that too much sweetness is often injurious to our health.
The worldly glitter is delusionary in nature. We may perceive it as a greener pasture but actually is barren patch though it is understood lately in life. We may feel dejected, underprivileged, cheated, unlucky, or impoverished at times, but instead of accepting these feelings as part of life, we exacerbate our circumstances by blaming our fate and, if not satisfied, blaming others. Leaving aside the damage we cause ourselves; we cause more harm by becoming a living example for others to follow in conditioning their minds to the pre-determined myth and mystery of how life becomes when one faces the darkness of life, and that is exactly where the shoe pinches.
We may have read or heard the saying, “It is not the distressing situation that determines the effect on ourselves; it is our approach that plays the main part in the game.” This approach to life’s incidents causes us to revisit our routines and figure out where we are going and where we should be. And there is no need to panic if one has to navigate his or her life through so-called “darkness” in order to get acquainted with the meaning of life. It is never meant to make us feel down or curse ourselves and do all the silly things that aggravate it further but yes to get the potent answers to our curious questions, get the concept of trials and tribulations cleared in our mind not to confuse ourselves again in future.
Indeed, human logic works on different variables, such as prior experience, learning from the environment, and upbringing, and only then does an action take place. If there is an error or ambiguity in any of these variables, we make an incorrect decision, which is usually the source of our avoidable suffering. Diffusion of thought into unrelated arenas; contradictory thinking patterns; an initial lack of knowledge about the things; and cognitive constraints limit one’s ability to behave rationally, and this restrictive inertia further prevents corrective measures after the truth is discovered. Call it our misfortune or wilful misconduct, we are still engaged in a rigorous intellectual battle over the existence of God, despite having clear proof.
Had it been the case that any bad moment of life is to be mourned deeply and everything else is to be forgotten, Islamic teachings would have taught us to mourn the death of our loved ones for an indefinite time, but they restricted the duration to three days only, even though the death of a loved one is the biggest loss one can have. The question of why death chose only that person is immature in and of itself, so mental math on it is automatically dismissed. Similarly, our inability to see through the wall is the true source of our anguish. We choose to see only what fits our temperament and requires less toil, despite the opposite being the actual case. There is an urgent need to first educate ourselves on the fact that life is more than just spending days and thinking about money and comfort on a daily basis.
Ignorance, a lack of motivation to see the other aspects of life’s hiccups, a lack of awareness about life itself, and, last but not least, faulty upbringings devoid of any logical teachings and experiences lead to crushing sufferings when life reveals its various shades, of which we have never heard or dreamed. It causes panic and strange behaviours, as if it was never meant to happen or is only happening to us. Again, awareness of life as described in Islamic teachings and its proper interpretation is somewhere lacking. Knowledge and patience do indeed chisel out the bluntness of our ignorance and obliviousness. It also makes us less prone to believe in things we’ve overheard. The only requirement is that it be obtained in its true sense.
The takeaway point is that we humans are slaves to our own logic. We question our existence in the garb of our pride. Knowing it is a paradoxical preposition, we then try to solve the question by using never-ending arguments and counterarguments. We will be reinventing the wheel indefinitely unless and until we accept the natural setting, its cause, and effect. Understanding the logic for knowledge is one thing; questioning its very existence is quite another, which should be avoided as far as our mental calibre is concerned. Rest; the dark phase, bad luck, and ill-fate are nothing more than human-made fables. We need to try to find the exertion of knowledge instead of making famous fables about it. It is simply LIFE-the sooner we learn its user manual, the better and more relaxing it will be. May the Almighty bless us all!
(Author is a Columnist and can be reached at [email protected])
