Page 92 - Faith: The Way to Happiness

FAITH: THE WAY TO HAPPINESS

they can hold a powerful position by becoming rich or achieving a
status in which those around them will look up to them.
For example, a person who believes in the power of money to
achieve anything he wants, does everything he can to acquire it.
H o w e v e r, he continually ignores something very important; spiri-
tual strength. Spiritual strength depends on the closeness of a per-
son to Allah. People who live in the community of the ignorant can
sink into a hopeless and pessimistic spiritual state at times of the
slightest difficulty no matter how strong they are in material terms
and because of this they lose whatever joie de vivrthey possess.
e
As a result of losing their zest for life and the will to succeed,
nothing remains of their strength and resistance when they face dif-
ficult situations. Naturally, this spiritual loss of strength is reflected
in a negative way in their lives, their actions and their behavior. As
they cannot find within themselves the strength and willpower to
go anywhere or do anything, they develop a lazy and impotent na-
t u re. They avoid making any effort and always set their faces
against any activity which could benefit them. In fact, they feel no
desire to do anything very much even if it might be to their advan-
tage because of this oppressive weariness and lethargy.
We can compare the state of these people to that of somebody
very old. Even if they appear young, because of this lack of strength
their low spirits cause them to behave like elderly people. They have
aged not physically, but spiritually. For an elderly person, loss of
s t rength, tiredness and the need to rest regularly are perfectly nor-
mal. Sometimes, though, we even see elderly people who are dy-
namic and active just like youngsters. This is because even though
their bodies have aged, their spirits remain active and dynamic. The
people we are talking about are the exact opposite. Although they
may be young, they have fallen into the state described above and

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