Mental illness is called negligence
One day Socrates, the famous Greek sage, saw a man who was very upset.
Asked why he was upset, he replied:” I saw a friend on the way, I greeted him but he did not answer and he left selfishly and I was very upset by his behaviour”.
Socrates said: “Why are you upset?”
The man said in surprise: “Such behaviour is unfortunate”.
Socrates asked: “If you saw on the way someone who fell to the ground and was suffering from pain and illness, would you be upset with him?”
The man said: “Of course I will never be upset”.
Socrates asked: “How will you feel and what will you do instead of being upset?”
The man replied: “I will feel compassion and I will help him to a doctor or give medicine”.
Socrates said: “You will do all this because you consider him sick. Does man get sick only with his body? And isn’t the one whose behaviour is wrong mentally ill? “
Mental illness is called negligence, and instead of annoying and resenting, one should feel sorry for the one who does evil and is heedless, and help him, and give him a soul doctor and medicine.
Do not be upset or resentful at anyone and never lose your peace and know that whenever someone does something bad, he is sick at that moment.
Yes; we humans think that a patient is a person whose body is sick, while a person whose actions and behaviour are not correct is also sick, and sometimes such a disease is worse than a physical disease.
The one who is arrogant is sick, the one who is jealous is sick, the one who oppresses others is sick, the one who curses others is sick and…
If we see such people while trying to cure him, we must be patient and forgiving in the face of the ignorant behaviour of such people.
Allah considers one of the characteristics of the best servants of Allah is, to be kind to people who behave wrongly due to the disease of ignorance and says:
(25:63) The true servants of the Merciful One are those who walk on the earth gently and when the foolish ones address them, they simply say: “Peace to you”
Surah Al-Furqan 25:63
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) says: “Whoever forgives the mistakes (of others), may Allah forgive him, and whoever forgives, may Allah forgive him”.
(Nahj al-Fasaha, p. 734)
