Chapter V: Oneness of God and Trust in God
MAN'S ACTION IS SUBJECT TO FOUR CONDITIONS- CD To know as profitable the earning of what is not in one's possession, (2) to hoard a profitable thing. (3) to remove an injurious thing which has not yet come such as to save oneself from thiefs, beasts and injurious things and (4) to adopt means to remove and impending danger like taking medicine to remove a disease. So the actins of man are not outside these four things- earning a profitable thing to preserve it, to remove an injurious thing and to adopt means to remove a danger. From the above, three kinds of things arise-(l) what is absolutely necessary according to the laws of nature. (2) what is necessary but not absolutely necessary and (3) what can be done more in less time.
(1) What is absolutely necessary-To give up what is absolutely necessary according to the natural laws of God is not God- reliance, such as to give up food, water and air. When you are hungry and food is placed before you it is not God-reliance to give it up. This is against law of nature. Similarly if you do not cultivate land and hope for crops or if you do not cohabit with wife but still hope to have a child, it will be madness and not God-reliance. It comes from knowledge and mental state.
Knowledge consists in the fact that God gave you food, hand and teeth, and mental state consists in the fact that you must believe in the actions of God.
(2) What is necessary but not absolutely necessary. For instance, one leaves a town and goes to deep jungle without a
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 215
companion or without food and arms. Without these necessary things, there is chance of losing life. This action goes out of illegality on two conditions -(1) One condition is that he can go without necessary food if he has got the habit of remaining without food for several days.
(2) The second condition is that one is habituated to live on eating grass, leaves and similar things. These acts are not God- reliance. The saint Ibrahim Khawas used to take with him in journey needle, scissor, rope and bucket and say: It does not harm God-reliance.