Shun Arrogance

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

سَأَصْرِفُ عَنْ آيَاتِيَ الَّذِينَ يَتَكَبَّرُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ وَإِن يَرَوْاْ كُلَّ آيَةٍ لاَّ يُؤْمِنُواْ بِهَا وَإِن يَرَوْاْ سَبِيلَ الرُّشْدِ لاَ يَتَّخِذُوهُ سَبِيلاً وَإِن يَرَوْاْ سَبِيلَ الْغَيِّ يَتَّخِذُوهُ سَبِيلاً ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا وَكَانُواْ عَنْهَا غَافِلِينَ 
 

Al-A'raf (The Heights) - 7:146  

From My messages shall I cause to turn away all those who, without any right, behave haughtily on earth: for, though they may see every sign [of the truth], they do not believe in it, and though they may see the path of rectitude, they do not choose to follow it-whereas, if they see a path of error, they take it for their own: this, because they have given the lie to Our messages, and have remained heedless of them,"

 

Arrogance is a barrier to guidance - shun it

Bayazid Bestami, one of the greatest Sufi saints, is an example of one who shunned arrogance. Once while walking to the masjid for prayer, he saw a dog approaching him.  He thought of stepping out of the way, as if his clothes might come in contact with the dog, they might become impure.  Bayazid said that he heard the dog rebuke him which went something like this:

"O Bayazid, I hope your stepping away from me is not due to ignorance, for my fur is dry, and your clothes are dry, so coming in contact will not in any way disturb you or make your clothes impure. I really hope that it is not due to arrogance, for it has so happened that God put me in a dog’s body and you in a human body, and He could have easily chosen the opposite to happen!"

Bayazid, getting chided and guided at the same time, said that after this he had great reverence for dogs.

Some years later, he was walking with his students (all dressed up, on the way to Friday prayers) when they came to a ditch across which a log had been thrown to help people cross. When they were about halfway across,  a dog got on this log from the other side, upon seeing which Bayazid immediately got off in the ditch allowing the dog to cross.

His students protested:
"Shaykh, your clothes have become all dirty. Why did you do so? You could easily have chosen to shoo the dog away, or we could have done it for you."

He responded:
"These clothes can be easily washed with a little soap and water. Had I kept moving on, thinking myself superior to the dog, arrogance would stain my heart. How would I wash that?"