Page 20 - Beauties for Life in the Qur'an

18 BEAUTIES FOR LIFE IN THE QUR'AN

The verses related to the Prophet Luqman (as)'s advice to his
son convey the reprehensible nature of swaggering:
Do not avert your face from people out of haughtiness, and do
not strut about arrogantly on the earth. Allah does not love any-
one who is vain or boastful. (Surah Luqman: 18)
In another verse, believers are advised to avoid walking in a
pompous manner:
Do not strut arrogantly about the earth. You will certainly never
split the earth apart, nor will you ever rival the mountains in
height. (Surat al-Isra': 37)
With these verses, Allah informs us that He does not like those
who are arrogant and reminds us to shun such behavior. We
must keep in mind that Satan's arrogance, which was mani-
fested by his claim of superiority to all other beings Allah cre-
ated, caused him to be banished from Allah's sight. Believers
who are aware of these evil qualities are unlikely to display any
of them.
No one likes to be around arrogant people, for who can enjoy
themselves around such people? Most people realize that a per-
son who swaggers and claims to be superior is, in reality, just an
ordinary person who has various imperfections and weak-
nesses. Consequently arrogant people, though suffering from
pangs of being superior, can never attain the goal of enjoying
prestige among the people and often are held in contempt.
The Qur'an also draws our attention to the fact that believers
must adopt a manner of walking that is not ostentatious or ex-
aggerated, as in: "Be moderate in your tread..." (Surah Luqman:
19). In compliance with Allah's command, a modest person
walks in a moderate manner and thus earns esteem in the sight
of Allah and other believers.