Chapter IX: Evils of Pride and Vanity
PRIDE AND SELF-PRAISE
The Prophet said: Pride is My shirt and greatness is My garment. I destroy one who takes something out of them. He also said: There are three destructive things - miserliness which is obeyed, passion which is followed and self-praise. So pride and satisfaction owing to self-praise are bad and destructive diseases of mind and such a mind is greatly diseased and object of hatred to God.
SECTION 1
CONDEMNATION OF PRIDE
QURAN - God says: Soon I shall turn away from My signs those who take pride unjustly in this world - 7 : 16 Q. God says:
Thus God seals the hearts of each proud and oppressive person - 50 : 35 Q. God says: they prayed to be victorious and every proud and boastful man was destroyed - 14 : 15 Q. God says: God does not love those who are proud. God says: Those who turn away from My service out of pride will soon enter Hell being disgraced. There are many verses of pride in the Quran.
HADIS: The Holy Prophet said: He who has got in his mind pride to the weight of a mustard seed will not enter Paradise and he who has got in his mind faith to the. weight of a mustard seed will not enter Hell. The Prophet said: God will throw Hell over- the face of one in whose mind there is the slightest pride. Once Hazrat Solaiman addressed the birds, beasts, animals, and men:
Go out in procession. Two lac men and two lac beasts joined the procession. The wind was taking them upwards. He rose to such a height that he heard the sound of Tasbih of angels in the sky.
Then he got down to the bottom of the sea. Then he heard advice from heaven: If the least sign of pride was found within the mind of your friend Solaiman, he would have been destroyed in the bottom of sea before he rose upto sky.
The Prophet said: A long neck will have two ears to hear, two eyes to see and a tongue to speak. It will say: I have been entrusted with three persons - every proud and insolent man, every man who worships others along with God and every maker of pictures. The Prophet said: Paradise and Hell once
250 The Book of Destructive evils Vol-III