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There is an ongoing warfare between
good and evil in this world. Sometimes, good wins the battle; and sometimes,
evil rocks the field. Impalpable and hidden the fight may be, we do feel
it, take part in it; and ultimately build up or devastate our fate in the
Hereafter. At the outset, there is no difference in this regard among those
who are sent down to the earth to participate in this fight. This is so
maintained because they all are well equipped with an understanding of
good and bad; and also with an internally correcting mechanism, conscience.
However, if they are observed with a keen eye, one is astonished to see
that there is as much a difference among the creation of God as between
day and night. There are some who humble themselves and open their hearts
to all that is good. And there are those who feel ashamed to face the lower
position of humility and thus always prefer to stand as higher as they
can. This difference is not God ordained; rather men of choice and freedom
yield to the desires of their inner self and wish never to be exonerated.
Since they, of their own accord, prefer to be enslaved to what is low and
immoral, Allah leaves them to wander blindly on in their contumacy. In
short, an evidently clear difference between both pockets comes to be observed
even in this world, which shall be made amply visible and apparent in the
world to come.
Thus, two attitudes lead ‘those who err’ to two different destinations. Haughtiness and conceit cause the wrong doers to fall in the frightening pit of hellfire; humility and willingness on their part to acknowledge their mistakes enable them to attain the forgiveness of Allah and enter a place that is all peace and serene. Humility is indeed a great virtue. This is what helps a person obliterate the very possibility of committing a full error as making a mistake is half error and stubbornness not to accept it is full. The Almighty Himself has stressed the need to turn back to Him however gross an error we may have made because there is no fleeing but to Him alone. He has exhorted us to get off the evil path as soon as we become conscious; and then seek His forgiveness. The promised reward would be as fabulous and wonderful as to amaze the true believers:
The picture that springs to mind of the believers who are the subject of the above verses is that they are those for whom their mistakes are not simply some errors committed. When they err, they feel torn apart. They feel hurt deep down within their soul as if it is ripped to pieces. Tears wet the ground while they keep crying in prostration. In short, they remain restless until they feel a heavenly peace dawned upon them to be sure that they are forgiven. It is they who are promised that their bad deeds shall be replaced by good deeds:
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