Chapter IX: Meditation
(1) Education: The first cause of pride is education as the learned take pride for their learning. The Prophet said: The danger of education is pride, a learned man easily takes pride owing to his learning. He thinks himself great on account of the excellence of learning and perfectness and holds in contempt other men. He considers others as beasts, illiterate and ignorant.
He believes that he is the most respectable man among them. A man, however, can know himself and his Lord by real education and know the dangers at the time of death. Though there are great dangers in education, real education however, increases God-fear, modesty and other qualities. The saint Abu Darda said:
The more a man is wise, the more is his responsibility. There are two causes for which learning begets pride. The first cause is that he does not learn real education with which God is recongised and which engages the mind in the next world duties. This grows God-fear and modesty. God says: The learned among the servants of God fear Him most. Except this, other learnings like medicine, mathematics, language, poetry, law etc. are technical education and not real education. Real education gives knowledge of god hood of God and slavehood of man.
The second cause is that vain arguments are made by education which pollutes the mind, changes the motives and breeds bad conduct. The sage Wahab cited an illustration of this learning, he said: Education is like rain which comes down pure from the sky. Trees, plants and leaves drink that water through their roots. That water then assumes different natures according to the different kinds of trees and leaves. Water increases bitterness in a plant which is bitter and sweetness in a plant which is sweet. Similar is the condition of education. People acquire education and change it according to their conduct and desires, for which pride in the minds of the proud and humility in
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the mind of the humble are generated. The man whose object of learning is to boast increases his boast by education. The man whose object is to increase God-fear increases his God-fear by his education. He knows that there is no necessity of proof as it is established well for him. For this God said to His Prophet: Make your wing modest for one among the believers who follows you - 26 : 26 Q. God says: Had you been unkind and harsh, they would have gone away from your side - 3 : 149Q. God describes His friends thus - they are modest to the believers but harsh to the unbelievers.