There are people who we know to be intelligent and some are just righteous. But does intelligence requires righteousness?
To answer that.
Aaidh Ibn Abdullah Al-Qarni wrote in ‘ Don’t be sad ‘ that he heard on BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) of the attempted the assassination of the playwright Najeeb Mahfooz, a Nobel laureate in literature.
As he was listening to the report, his thoughts returned to those books of Najeeb that he had read.
He was astonished by Najeeb – in spite of his
obvious cleverness, how did he remain ignorant of the truth – that reality transcends imagination and that everlastingness is greater than this transient life?
And most of all, that divine principles are more important and higher than human ones?
els then He, Who gives guidance to the truth, more worthy to be followed, or he who finds not guidance [himself) unless he is guided?) (Qur’an 10:35)
In other words, he wrote his plays from his imagination, using his prodigious ability to visualise, present, and inspire. In the end, however, he produced nothing but stories without a foundation of truth.
After reading his biography, I deduced an important principle: one cannot succeed by making others happy at the expense of one’s own happiness. It cannot be considered correct, never mind sane, to make others pleased with you whilst you yourself are sad and miserable.
Some writers have praised men of genius, not because they realized happiness and peace, but because they allowed themselves to burn on the inside in order to bring illumination to others.
The true genius, however, is illuminated on the inside first, and then he shows the way for others. He will build a foundation of guidance and goodness first of all for himself, and then for others.
The Hereafter and the world of the unseen – you will not find these themes in Najeeb Mahfooz’s writings.
What you will find though, is a world of imagination, vision and emotion; his works are alluring and so they became popular and successful. But where are the higher aims and noble messages one finds in great works?
To tell you the truth, you will find no such things in his books. I do realize, however, that Najeeb Mahfooz realized what he set out to do. In the words of the Qur’an:
To each – these as well as those – We bestow from the Bounties of your Lord. And the Bounties of your Lord can never be forbidden.) (Qur’an 17:20
Notwithstanding, it is not enough for one to make into reality what one always wanted: what is required is that one fulfils what Allah wants.
Allah says: Allah wishes to make clear (what is lawful and what is unlawful] to you, and to show you the ways of those before you, and accept your repentance, and Allah is All-Knower, All-Wise.
Allah wishes to accept your repentance, but those who follow their lusts, wish that you [believers) should deviate tremendously away from the Right Path.)
(Qur’an 4:26-27)
I cannot say for a fact who will enter Paradise and who will enter the Fire, except for the one who has been identified through revelation as
heading toward one or the other. That being the case, I can only judge people by their sayings and deeds.
The Qur’an informs: (But surely, you will know them by the tone of their speech! (Qur’an 47:30)
As an afterthought on the subject, what will one benefit if one becomes a king while his heart is perverse and full of falsehood? If talent and success do not lead one to salvation, what then are they good for?
