Self-conceit and Vanity

1:37:21

2024-07-25

470

This is another vice of the Power of Anger-a condition in which a man thinks highly of himself on account of some advantage, real or imagined. On the other hand, he fails to acknowledge the attributes of perfection of Allah, Who is the source of all things. A great number of traditions point out the evilness of this trait. One quotes the Prophet (S) as having said:

Even if you do not commit any sins, I fear that you may fall into something which is worse: conceit!

The evil products of self-conceit and vanity are: arrogance; forgetfulness; negligence of one's faults, and, therefore, failure to correct them; falling of the worth of one's deeds in the eyes of men and Allah; absence of gratitude for Allah's blessings, and thus risking their loss; failure to ask questions about the things one is ignorant of, and, therefore, remaining in ignorance; and finally, holding and proclaiming of incorrect and unfounded opinions.

In order to cure an individual of this disease, it is necessary for him to turn his attention towards Allah and to know Him. When he realizes that only the omnipotent Creator deserves worship and praise, and that he is nothing in comparison with the majesty of Allah, and that there is absolutely nothing which he may call his own, and that even beings far more superior to himself, such as the prophets and angels, are nothing in comparison with Allah, he shall awake to the fact that it is absurd to be conceited and vain, and that he must consider himself what, in truth, he is: an insignificant creature of Allah.

When man contemplates his humble beginnings as a sperm-drop, his certain end as a handful of dust, and the brief interval of his life as a wretched creature prone to disease and dominated and driven by lust and instincts, he will forget not only his vanity but his very self, and devote his entire being to the worship of Allah. The Quran says:

Perish man! How unthankful he is! Of what did He create him? Of a sperm drop. He created him, and proportioned him, then the way eased for him, then makes him to die, and buries him; then, when He wills, He raises him. (80:17-22)

And we have the following couplet from a Persian poet:

Don't boast of your riches, vigour and elegance,

Since one of them can be taken away in one night by thieves, and the other can vanish at a single stroke of fever.

It must be kept in mind that vanity and self-conceit may also be caused when one is favoured with such Divine blessings as knowledge, devotion, piety, faith, courage, generosity, patience, an honourable ancestry, beauty, wealth, strength, high position, intelligence, and so on. In order to avoid such an outcome, one must always remember one's weaknesses and shortcomings; such remembrance will help him to avert conceit.

The opposite of self-conceit and vanity is modesty, which is a most worthy trait that brings about edification of the soul and man's perfection.