Page 78 - True Wisdom Described in the Qur'an

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TRUE WISDOM DESCRIBED IN THE QUR'AN

their past experiences which they may be able to use in the fu-
ture. Because they cannot appreciate the value of the means
they have to hand, they cannot take sound precautions to pre-
vent possible dangers.
Let us list some of the accidents and dangerous incidents that
come about as a result of the imprudence of one who doesn’t
use his mind:
Athoughtless person tries to figure out how to use new
equipment by experimenting with it, instead of using the man-
ual or learning from someone who is acquainted with it. He
doesn’t see anything wrong in the rough handling of fragile
parts or fiddling with buttons he doesn’t know the use for on
electronic items, such as a stereo set, or on a delicate device such
as a computer. For this reason, he usually breaks brand new
equipment without ever using it.
He doesn’t see any harm in giving a child small pieces of
plastic, which he can swallow, to play with. He begins to think
of the inappropriateness of this behaviour when the child starts
choking and needs to be taken to the hospital.
Athoughtless person tries to carry furniture made up of two
or three pieces in one go and generally drops them all, half way.
He cannot calculate that these need to be carried one by one.
Athoughtless person cannot imagine the damaging effect the
sun will have on the human body. He harms his skin by staying
out in the sun for longer than necessary, and sometimes even for
hours on end. Because of the sun, his skin begins to swell up and
deep wounds appear on his skin. He becomes nauseated and
has a headache. Although he experiences these troubles every
summer, he repeats the same mistake the next summer because
he doesn’t draw on his wisdom.