AVOIDING THE USELESS
To Achieve the Useful
THE Quran advocates a purposeful life. It exhorts people not to indulge in useless talk or useless activity. On this subject there is a particularly apt verse in the Chapter Al-Muminun (The Believers) of the Quran. Its translation is as follows:
Successful indeed are the believers, those who are humble in their prayer; and those who turn away from everything vain. (23: 1-3) Human pursuits fall into two categories—worthy and unworthy.
A worthy pursuit is one which leads to positive results and an unworthy pursuit is one which leads to no result at all. A true believer is one who has before him a specific target, which makes him selective. He therefore makes a point of always selecting that kind of activity which is worthy and avoids that which is unworthy. It is this kind of person who will be rewarded with success by God Almighty.
Before taking any action, the believer must assess its possible result. He must anticipate its consequences. His response to any situation must be rational and well-considered and not just an emotional outburst. This principle includes all kinds of human expressions and activities like thinking, discussions, reading, dealing, association, shopping, travelling etc. A believer must adopt this kind of behaviour in every aspect of his life, both in word and deed.
A wise man always differentiates between a positive response and a negative reaction; between a realistic approach and an emotional approach. He invariably adopts a result-oriented policy.
It is a fact that we are on this planet earth for a limited time. Our life span being so very short, we cannot afford the luxury of wasting time and energy; we have to be very prudent. We have to select only such targets about which we can say with certainty that in the end they will yield the required result. No excuse in this regard is acceptable.
When you use your mind, use it on healthy subjects; when you speak, say whatever is good for you and good for others; when you are going to take a step, examine all the relative aspects. If there is any possibility that your step will prove to be counter-productive, then refrain from taking it.
A wise man always differentiates between a positive response and a negative reaction; between a realistic approach and an emotional approach. He invariably adopts a result-oriented policy. Jumping into things without assessing the result is a habit that only fools can afford, for fools rush in where angels fear to tread. A wise man cannot afford this kind of involvement.
‘Useless’ means ‘without any result’ and whatever has no result is pointless and liable to be thrown into the litterbin. Even animals follow a result-oriented path. How much more so must human beings then be conscious of doing result-oriented things?
If an honest person indulges in useless activities, his conscience will go against him. Before facing others, he has to face up to his own conscience and there are very few who can do that. Conscience, working as an internal check, is a moral keeper for every person. Conscience never fails and if you pay heed to it, you will save yourself from going astray. Follow your conscience and you will surely develop into a divine personality.
No steam or gas ever drives anything
until it is confined. No Niagara is ever
turned into light and power until it is
tunnelled. No life ever grows until it is
focused, dedicated, and disciplined. There
is but one law of nature, which applies to
both animate and inanimate objects. It is
that there is a price to be paid for every
end in life; without paying that price,
nothing can be achieved.