There are two aspects of the ego — the positive and negative. In collective life, be it within the family or in the wider society, it always happens that people face experiences that prick their egos. On such occasions, if a person can control himself — if he can properly handle the issue of ‘ego management’ — he would have used his ego, as it were, in a proper manner. But if his ego is provoked and he lets it affect his entire personality, he will create immense problems for himself, and for others, too. He will have failed in the art of ‘ego management’.
The best thing in life is modesty and the worst of all is arrogance. Modesty is the best and arrogance is the worst.
According to a hadith: Copy Arabic text One who adopts modesty will be raised in status by God. (Musnad al-Shihab 335)
The hadith also says: One is arrogant will be disgraced by God. Copy Arabic text (Musnad al-Shihab 335) These statements have been derived from the Quran and Hadith.
I have also adopted this principle in life: modesty is the best and arrogance is the worst. I was once at a place which was struck by a storm. I observed that a tall tree got caught up in the storm and was thrown on the ground. But the smaller plants around didn’t fall down. The smaller plants were unaffected, while the tall tree fell down when the storm struck. I told my companions that this was a demonstration by God. In this world, modesty pays while arrogance is of no use. The tall tree was stiff and unbending. It symbolized arrogance. It remained standing, unwilling to bow down. What happened when the storm struck? The storm tore it down. The tree which earlier stood upright was thrown on the ground. This was a result of arrogance. At the same time, there were a number of small plants nearby. They bent when the storm came. When the storm came from the east, they bent westward. When the storm came from the west, they bent eastward. These plants symbolized modesty. Their modesty saved them, while the tree's arrogance led to its fall.
