In order to understand the concept of justification of survival, I quote an incident from the well-known book “Masnawi” by Maulana Jalal ud Din Roomi (Rahmat’Ullah Alaihi).
Once a camel, bull and a lamb were traveling together and all three of them were faced with hunger. All of a sudden, they came across a small accumulation of grass. They were eager to eat the grass but were faced with the problem that quantity of grass was not sufficient enough for all three of them. If they had divided that grass into three equal portions, no one’s hunger could have fulfilled. On the other hand, it was difficult to decide that whoever of the three did the most deserve to eat the grass alone. In an attempt to resolve the problem, the lamb resumed the talk and mentioned the Hadeeth of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam that teaches the recognition of more rights for the people of older age. Through this he tried to prove that the one who is oldest of the three is more deserving to eat that grass. The camel and the bull asked the lamb about his age. The lamb replied boastfully that he used to graze along with the lamb that was slaughtered as a replacement for Ismail Alaihis Salam. The bull was worried on hearing the exaggerated statement by the lamb about how could he prove himself older. He finally got a point and exclaimed: “My dear friends! After Hazarat Adam Alaihis Salam was made to come down on this earth from the heaven, he started cultivating the land. One of the two bulls that were yoked to his plough had died while I am the other one still alive to face troubles.” The bull was quite happy on giving that exaggerated statement as he proved himself older than the lamb. He seemingly placed the camel in trouble who was expected to supposedly prove himself oldest. While they were waiting for the camel to reply, the camel raised the pile of grass above his neck, a height unreachable by the lamb and the bull, and said: “My dear friends! I neither have to argue nor do I need to repeat the history. Neither do I bother to describe autobiography and nor do I care about who is older or younger. I firmly believe in the principle that one should have the world recognize his power and strength in order to achieve any purpose or goal. The wisdom also testifies the correctness of this principle. So look at my huge body and high neck. You are trying to prove your right on this grass based on history of the past while I am proving my right based on my present condition. Who else cares about history of the past compared to the present situation? Your excellent history of the past cannot help you if you can not compete with me in my present situation.” The camel ate the whole grass right after this talk.
The same principle has been described by Dr. Iqbal in a poetical verse that means: “The person whose heart is desirous of sacrificing for the sake of truthfulness should develop strength and power within his dust-made body."
Therefore, whenever any individual, nation or society ignores the purpose of its life and thus is unable to justify its survival, the time always decides against it.
Once a camel, bull and a lamb were traveling together and all three of them were faced with hunger. All of a sudden, they came across a small accumulation of grass. They were eager to eat the grass but were faced with the problem that quantity of grass was not sufficient enough for all three of them. If they had divided that grass into three equal portions, no one’s hunger could have fulfilled. On the other hand, it was difficult to decide that whoever of the three did the most deserve to eat the grass alone. In an attempt to resolve the problem, the lamb resumed the talk and mentioned the Hadeeth of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam that teaches the recognition of more rights for the people of older age. Through this he tried to prove that the one who is oldest of the three is more deserving to eat that grass. The camel and the bull asked the lamb about his age. The lamb replied boastfully that he used to graze along with the lamb that was slaughtered as a replacement for Ismail Alaihis Salam. The bull was worried on hearing the exaggerated statement by the lamb about how could he prove himself older. He finally got a point and exclaimed: “My dear friends! After Hazarat Adam Alaihis Salam was made to come down on this earth from the heaven, he started cultivating the land. One of the two bulls that were yoked to his plough had died while I am the other one still alive to face troubles.” The bull was quite happy on giving that exaggerated statement as he proved himself older than the lamb. He seemingly placed the camel in trouble who was expected to supposedly prove himself oldest. While they were waiting for the camel to reply, the camel raised the pile of grass above his neck, a height unreachable by the lamb and the bull, and said: “My dear friends! I neither have to argue nor do I need to repeat the history. Neither do I bother to describe autobiography and nor do I care about who is older or younger. I firmly believe in the principle that one should have the world recognize his power and strength in order to achieve any purpose or goal. The wisdom also testifies the correctness of this principle. So look at my huge body and high neck. You are trying to prove your right on this grass based on history of the past while I am proving my right based on my present condition. Who else cares about history of the past compared to the present situation? Your excellent history of the past cannot help you if you can not compete with me in my present situation.” The camel ate the whole grass right after this talk.
The same principle has been described by Dr. Iqbal in a poetical verse that means: “The person whose heart is desirous of sacrificing for the sake of truthfulness should develop strength and power within his dust-made body."
Therefore, whenever any individual, nation or society ignores the purpose of its life and thus is unable to justify its survival, the time always decides against it.
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