Al-Amn Magazine

et’s first acknowledge that eloquence doesn’t necessarily reflect a person’s character, especially in our time when truth and falsehood are blurred, masks are prevalent, and hearts remain hidden behind them, revealing their true nature until the opportune moment arrives, allowing them to emerge unadorned. To navigate this complex situation, perhaps you should adopt a method tried and tested by many: ignoring certain events, people, or statements. In fact, you should train yourself to do so, making what could be called «intelligent ignoring» a way of life and a method of interacting with others. If you are truly concerned about your mental well-being, you shouldn’t dwell on every aspect of your relationships with friends or acquaintances. Not all of them deserve your attention. When Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may God have mercy on him, said, «Nine-tenths of well- being lies in overlooking faults,» he meant this very point. It means not dwelling on details, but rather skipping over anything that might make you stop and reconsider. Some mistakes deserve a chance, while others deserve nothing but to be forgotten. Therefore, you should create a small pit in your life to throw away the mistakes of your friends. However, you must stay away from this pit and not allow it a place in your memory, because returning to it one day only revives old wounds and reminds you of a past that should never return. He who forgives mistakes forgets them forever. Al-Mutanabbi attempted to express these meanings, but in a way that some might find somewhat hurtful, when he said, «The fool is not a leader among his people, but the one who feigns ignorance is the leader of his people.» What we want to express in one simple way is that honesty is the key to maintaining healthy social relationships. It’s not about being my friend, but about being honest with me. Because fair-weather friends are like billiard balls; they scatter with a single stroke. Some friends shine brightly, while others fade into obscurity. Life changes, and relationships are often reborn, perhaps because their pit of mistakes has become overflowing, and it’s time for you to dig another to bury new ones. In short, overlook your friends’ mistakes if you want the friendship to last. Make their pit of mistakes bigger, because who knows, perhaps they’re doing the same to you. b i n d a i n a@b a t e l c o . c om . b h Maj. Gen. Mohammed Bin Daina The art of I nte l l i gent i gnori ng L youshould createasmall pit inyourlife tothrowaway themistakes ofyour friends LASTWORD