Page 41 - True Wisdom Described in the Qur'an
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What Wisdom Brings With It
superior awareness. But the difference made by wisdom in this
case is that it notices details that intelligence can’t distinguish
and this gives the opportunity to analyse, take precautions, and
make timely decisions. For example, an intelligent and alert per-
son will realize that there is a burglar in his house by paying at-
tention to the sounds coming from the basement. A wise person,
on the other hand, is one who will take definite precautions and
bring lasting solutions to the possibility of a burglary before the
situation develops to this extent. He will have thought about all
the alternatives to the possibility of a burglar entering and
worked extensively on this issue. For example, he will set up a
sophisticated security system that will definitely prevent a
stranger from entering the house.
So, this is the ideal type of attention one should be capable of.
Awise person does not just cope with a dangerous situation as
it’s happening. He takes precautions before the danger begins to
develop, before he faces such a situation, even where many of
the relevant factors are not immediately obvious. After he has
determined these actual dangers, he takes definite precautions
in order not to be subjected to them.
A STRONG PERSONALITY
Awise person knows that all creatures alive or not, submit to
Allah and nothing ever happens in this universe without His
permission. His submission to and the trust he reposes in Allah
enable him to be fearless of anyone or anything except Allah and
thus enables him to develop a strong personality. Because he
knows that Allah controls everything, his behaviour towards
others or in different situations does not change. As he strives to
earn Allah’s approval and not that of other people, he doesn’t