Lessons from Nahjul Balagha [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

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Sermon
232

SERMON 232

Causes for difference in the
features and traits of people

Dhilib al-Yamami has related
from Ahmad ibn Qutaybah, and he from Abdullah ibn Yazid
and he from Malik ibn Dihyah who said, "We were with
Amir al-mu'minin when discussion arose about the
differences of men (in features and conduct) and then Amir
al-mu'minin said":

They differ among
themselves because of the sources (l)
of their clay (from which they have been created). This is because
they are either from saltish soil or sweet soil or from rugged
earth or soft earth. They, resemble each other on the basis of the
affinity of their soil and differ according to its difference.
Therefore, sometimes a person of handsome features is weak in
intelligence, a tall statured person is of low courage, a virtuous
person is ugly in appearance, a short statured person is
far-sighted, a good-natured person has an evil trait, a person of
perplexed heart has bewildering mind and a sharp-tongued person
has a wakeful heart.

(l).
Amir al-mu'minin has ascribed the differences in features and
characters of people to the differences in the clay from which
they are created and according to which their features are shaped
and the skeletons of their characters are formed. Therefore, to
the extent that their clay of origin is akin, their mental and
imaginative tendencies too will be similar and to the extent by
which they differ, there will be a difference in their
inclinations and tendencies. By origins of a thing are meant those
things on which its coming into existence depends, but they should
not be its cause. The word "tin" is the plural of
"tinah" which means origin or basis. Here
"tinah" means semen which after passing through various
stages of development emerges in the human shape. Its origin means
those constituents from which those items are created which help
in the formation of semen. Thus, by saltish, sweet, soft or hard
soil the reference is to these elementary constituents. Since
those elementary constituents carry different properties the semen
growing out of them will also bear different characteristics and
propensities which will (eventually) show forth in the differences
in features and conduct of those borne in it.

Ibn Abi'l-Hadid has
written (in Sharh Nahj al-balaghah, vol. 13, p. 19) that
"origins of tinah" implies those preservative factors
which are different in their properties as Plato and other
philosophers have held. The reason for calling them "origins
of tinah" is that they serve as an asylum for the human body
and prevent the elements from diffusion. Just as the existence of
a thing hinges on its basis, in the same way the existence of this
body which is made up of elements depends on preservative factors.
So long as the preservative factor exists the body is also safe
from disruption and disintegration and the elements too are immune
to diffusion and dispersal. When it leaves the body the elements
also get dispersed.

According to this
explanation Amir al-mu'minin's words would mean that Allah has
created different original factors among whom some are vicious and
some are virtuous, some are weak and some are strong, and every
person will act according to his original factor. If there is
similarity in the inclinations of two persons it is because their
original factor are similar, and if their tendencies differ it is
because their original factors do not have any similarity. But
this conclusion is not correct because Amir al-mu'minin's words do
not only refer to differences in conduct and behaviour but also of
features and shape and the differences of features and shape
cannot be the result of differences in original factors.

In any case, whether
the original factors are the cause of differences in features and
conduct or the elementary constituents are the cause, these words
appear to lead to the negation of volition and to prove the
compulsion (of destiny) in human actions, because if man's
capacity for thinking and acting is dependent on "tinah"
then he would be compelled to behave himself in a fixed way on
account of which he would neither deserve praise for good acts nor
be held blame worthy for bad habits. But this hypothesis is
incorrect because it is well established that just as Allah knows
everything in creation after its coming into being, in the same
way He knew it before its creation. Thus, He knew what actions man
would perform of his free will and what he would leave. Therefore,
Allah gave him capacity to act according to his free will, and
created him from a suitable "tinah". This tinah is not
the cause of his actions so as to snatch away from him his free
will but the meaning of creating from suitable tinah is that Allah
does not by force stand in man's way but allows him to tread the
path he wants to tread of his own free will.