Why Revenge Makes You Lose

Think well before taking revenge, for you too shall suffer the vengeance of others.

Video Transcript
Video Transcript

We take out a monthly journal called Al-Risala.  Al-Risala means The Message. There is a 2-3 line quote on Al-Risala's title page. Some years ago, one of the quotes on the title page was Before taking revenge, know that revenge will be taken in return for revenge. There was an incident behind this quote. When this quote was published, there was a Muslim who lived in Basti. He had got a bus permit from a politician. The Muslim had given money for the bus and the politician brought the license for the bus. Both decided to have 50-50 share of profits. When the bus began to function, it brought in profits. Since the legal owner of the bus was the politician, he usurped the rights of bus ownership. He took all the profits from the bus for himself. Instead of dividing the profits equally, the politician took all the profits and gave the Muslim nothing at all.

The Muslim who had put in money became very angry. He wanted to take revenge.  He had decided to kill the politician. He was filled with rage, as he had put in money but the politician seized all the profits. He decided to kill the politician. When he was burning with the fire of revenge, Al-Risala had been published at that time. He received the journal which read: Before taking revenge, know that revenge will be followed by revenge. When he read this, he was jolted. This was something new that he had read. He had never learnt about this from people around him nor did he ever think about it himself. He came to know that revenge will be followed by revenge. He asked himsef: If I killed the politician, would his children forgive me? His sons would kill me next.

This person came to me. I said if you kill that man, will there be a full stop? He took away your money and seized your bus. You didn’t put a full stop here. So if you kill someone, will his children put a full stop there? His sons will kill you. They will take revenge for their father. His sons will never leave you alive. He realized that if he took revenge, the matter wouldn’t end. Revenge will follow revenge. It would never end. If I put an end to his story, my story too would end. I advised him to change his way of thinking. I asked him if he had any money left. He said he had put in a lot of money to buy the bus. Now he had some 25,000 left. I asked him to forget the money he had lost and begin a small business with the remaining 25,000. I advised him to not think about the past and be patient over it. He understood my advice and accepted it. He began a new business with 25000 rupees. I met him again after two years. His 25,000 rupees increased manifold and now he had many vehicles. Earlier he was in dispute over a single bus. But now he had many vehicles owing to success in business. This is the miracle of patience and forbearance. If he had not been patient and killed the politician, then the politician's sons would have killed him. Bloodshed, anarchy, violence would have followed. There would have been no gain.

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QURANIC VERSES1:7
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