Envy, the Envious, and the Envied in Islam
If the envied person knew the
favor that the envier bestows upon him, and the blessing he grants him without
realizing it, he would surely rank him among his most loyal and sincere
companions. He would stand before him with the gratitude that the thankful
display toward their benefactors.
The one endowed with blessings
often remains heedless of them, unaware of their true worth, until the envier awakens him to
them through his resentment. The envier points him toward his own blessings by
belittling and criticizing them. Thus, the envier becomes a friend disguised as
an enemy, a benefactor in the form of a wrongdoer.
The Foolishness of the Envier
Nothing amazes me more than the
envier, he resents the blessings that Allah has Granted another, wishing that
not a single one of them remains, unaware that in his resentment and envy he
has, in fact, added to the blessings of the one he envies a new blessing
greater than all that he possesses.
The face of the envier is the
scale and measure of your blessings. If you wish to measure the worth of a
favor granted to you, cast news of it to the envier, and
watch him secretly. Where you see sadness and gloom upon his face, there lies
the beauty and brilliance of your blessing.
Among all the favors that Allah Bestows
upon His servants, none is smaller or of lesser significance than a blessing
without an envier.
If you wish your blessings to shine
and purify, set them upon the path of the envious, and cast them in the way of
the resentful.
If they attempt to belittle or disdain them, know that they have crowned you
with the title of “the envied.”
So rejoice in your life, and let your days pass swiftly.
If you wish to know which of two
men is greater in virtue, look to the one who shows more resentment toward the
other — who is more obsessed with belittling and defaming him.
Know then that he is the smaller of the two in worth and the lesser in merit.
The Eternal Punishment of the Envier
Allah has Decreed for every sin a
punishment that eventually befalls the sinner, bringing pain with it:
— The drunkard suffers when illness befalls him.
— The gambler when poverty struck him.
— The thief when the prison walls enclose on him.
But the envier’s punishment is constant, it never leaves him, not even for a moment.
He suffers at the sight of every blessing, for blessings are ever-present
realities, shifting only from one form to another, from one moment to the next.
So how could his pain end, or his torment cease, until his sight is
extinguished and his heart stops?
The Cure for Envy
Envy is a fatal disease of the heart. Yet, every illness has a cure.
Its remedy lies in the envier walking the path of the envied, striving to reach
the same heights of the blessing he covets.
Let him not waste his time in
resentment and slander. If he envies another’s wealth, let him study the means
by which it was earned and pursue that way.
If he envies another’s knowledge, let him learn.
If he envies another’s manners, let him cultivate good manners.
If he attains what he seeks, then
he is blessed; and if not, it is enough that he has filled the emptiness of his
life with meaningful pursuits,
instead of squandering it in destructive envy and consuming grief.
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