In the final analysis, wisdom and understanding are the only things worth striving for. There are other achievements and considerations no doubt; some of them, up to an extent, being genuine needs of life. When they are considered life goals however, the resulting disillusionment can be a handful for serious-minded individuals.
The fact that many people fail to get over their preoccupation with clothes, cars, fame, property and such till their last day cannot be denied. But thoughtful people almost always recognize the limitations of such possessions– their utilities notwithstanding. While they are not necessarily indifferent to such things as by-products of their efforts; they are convinced that they are hardly worth making the prime motivation for their life’s work. It is ideas, not material things, that rouse the passions of contemplative men. For them, what ultimately matters is insight, intellect and understanding; or– in a word– wisdom.
Apart from the fine arts, few things can be more exhilarating than understanding of the facts of life– the knowledge of things like the motions of planets and electrons; seasons, crops and trees; the biological processes of growth and decay; and how engines work. So much for everyday life. Such are the realities of existence however, that life can be tragic in the extreme. In fact, it is devastating beyond comprehension for everybody at one time or another. The only thing that can possibly render it bearable with some grace is an understanding, not of atoms or galaxies but, of the nature of life and death itself; of the bigger picture, so to speak. Understanding of the kind of things classical literature, higher poetry and divine texts make their subject, that is.
The Quran declares wisdom an abundant good that God grants to whom He chooses [2:269]. As usual, the critics routinely confuse themselves and others by taking it to mean that wisdom is something distributed around arbitrarily by a capricious deity. It is an invaluable gift of God, yes. But it hardly means that man plays no role to deserve it. Those who find it hard to wrap their heads around the idea are advised to think of necessary and sufficient conditions for something. A man making a point of thinking things through, especially those matters that directly concern his conduct, fulfils the necessary condition for acquiring wisdom. God’s sanction, without which the former would be pointless, comprises the necessary condition. Such is God’s justice and mercy, however, that anybody who sincerely and persistently strives for wisdom does end up getting it [29:69].
A thoughtful individual treasures God’s mercy and appreciates that things could so easily have been different. An indispensable part of wisdom, then, is humility stemming from a feeling of genuine thankfulness. A vain individual could be many things; but wise would certainly not be one of them. Appreciation of the bigger picture helps a man stay on an even keel when things are rosy as well as when they are not going so well. He avoids the two extremes of being vainglorious and boastful in the one case and being depressed out of his wits in the other. In a complex world where so many things– good as well as bad– are out of a man’s control, could anything be more precious than this recognition of his place in the grand scheme of things!
By no stretch of the imagination does that imply that a mortal could ever be immune from lapses in judgment or errors of argument. It merely means that an individual is not selective– choosing to be thorough in his deliberations in some cases and pretending to be quite otherwise in others, depending upon what suits him in a particular situation. Instead, he does his best to be consistent in his approach. He considers individual matters as applications of broader principles, not on a case-by-case basis depending on his mood or what is convenient or expedient at any given moment. No conception of wisdom can be such that does not include consistency as its cornerstone.
When somebody is perceptive and humble enough to value the gift of understanding, he can hardly help feeling that the more he is thankful for it the more gratitude he owes God on account of being able to appreciate and thank His favours. For a wise man appreciates the fact that not everybody has that gift. (Some would get it in due course of time; others might never do.) Not only is he thankful to God therefore, but he is also kind to others. No doubt, there are occasions that demand a stern and inflexible response– and he is equal to it at the time of asking– but those occasions are rarer than people imagine. The default state of a wise man therefore is kind, considerate and benevolent. Kindness alone may not suffice for a man to qualify as wise; but it can be said without fear of contradiction that a grudging, angry and unkind man cannot possibly be wise.
Returning for a moment to thinking things through, by no stretch of the imagination does that imply that a mortal could ever be immune from lapses in judgment or errors of argument. It merely means that an individual is not selective– choosing to be thorough in his deliberations in some cases and pretending to be quite otherwise in others, depending upon what suits him in a particular situation. Instead, he does his best to be consistent in his approach. He considers individual matters as applications of broader principles, not on a case-by-case basis depending on his mood or what is convenient or expedient at any given moment. No conception of wisdom can be such that does not include consistency as its cornerstone.
