Fath al-Rabbani

Benefits: … “Boasting about lineage”—what is meant by this is to declare the virtues of one’s forefathers in order to prove oneself superior, and to say with pride and arrogance that “I am the son of such-and-such scholar, such-and-such brave man, such-and-such doctor, or such-and-such wealthy person.” In this, the excellence belongs to someone else, while the boasting is being done by another. The point is, if someone’s grandfather was a great person, what excellence does the grandson have in that? He should strive to develop such qualities within himself and live his life with humility and modesty. Both reviling lineage and boasting about ancestry are two misfortunes found in our society; through these, incompetent and ignorant people try to prove their own greatness and remain content. One day, I heard a well-educated man saying, “We are those people whose maternal uncle was seated by such-and-such nawab on the same chair or position where Asif Ali Zardari was seated.” This was at a time when Zardari was just an ordinary wealthy man. The question is, if someone is made to sit on Zardari’s seat, how much greatness does the one sitting actually attain? This is a decision that must be left to the judges; after all, what right do nephews have to boast about this? “Seeking rain through the stars”—we have already discussed this at the end of ‘Chapters of Seeking Rain’ (Abwab al-Istisqa’).