Way of The Seekers — Page 90
90 THE others. 4. By identification of faults by opponents: One can go one better. One should know what faults one’s enemy finds in him and proceed seriously to check up if those faults are really found in him or not. This would bring to one’s knowledge quite a few faults of which one was not aware before. Similarly, one could also check up on the virtues which one’s enemies acknowledge for not un-often, even an enemy cannot help acknowledging one’s merits. 5. Best method of self-appraisal: The best and most im- portant method to be fully posted about virtues and vices is to study the Holy Quran. When the reader comes across the vices from which the earlier peoples suffered, he should reflect and consider whether he himself does or does not also suffer from them. Also when the Holy Quran mentions a virtue, the reader should check up whether he has that virtue or not. There is another great advantage of such a study. As it proceeds, all virtues and vices will gradually unfold themselves, one after the other. This is not possible otherwise. We cannot think of every virtue and vice all at once. Also, recitation of the Holy Quran gives rise to fear of God which should help the pursuit of virtues and avoidance of vices. When Knowledge of Evil Fails to Uproot Evil: Some Suggestions. The foregoing guidance is for those whose souls have not become rusted with evil. But what about those who know something to be evil, yet cannot give it up! For instance, they do not offer prayer even when they know that not offering prayers is a vice. Or, they commit murder even when they are convinced that murder is a vice. No detailed answer to this question is possible in this brief discourse. It could not be set down adequately even in a book of ordinary size. It is a vast subject. I can, therefore, mention only a few points bearing on the problem. Such a person should accept the fact that rot has set in his