ভূমিকা
A forbearing person, in the face of ill treatment by his family, friends and other people, exhibits patience for the sake of divine pleasure. The reality of forbearance is when a person, despite having the power and ability to extract revenge, pardons the person who has caused him harm and injury; we read in the supplications: “O’ Lord!
Your grace is (too) expansive and Your forbearance is (too) immense that You should punish me for my deeds and disgrace me for my sins.” Since the significance of a true believer more than anyone else, thus, it is imperative for him to exhibit forbearance in the face of troubles and inconveniences of the foolish ones, for if he were to stand up in confrontation with them, it would be tantamount to adding fuel to the fire and only serve to aggravate the issue.[^3] The Nuisances of the Pigeon-Fancier Sheikh Abu ‘Ali Thaqafi had a neighbour who loved pigeons.
His pigeons would perch on the roof of the Sheikh’s house and in order to make them fly away, he would fling stones at them, an act that caused disturbance and inconvenience to the Sheikh. One day, the Sheikh was sitting in his house reciting the Noble Qur’an, when the neighbour hurled a stone at the pigeons. The stone struck the Sheikh on his forehead, injuring him and causing blood to flow down his forehead.
The Sheikh’s companions were overjoyed and spoke amongst themselves: “Tomorrow, the Sheikh is bound to complain to the governor of the city and we shall soon be relieved of the pigeon-fancier’s nuisance.” The Sheikh summoned his servant and instructed him to bring a long branch of a tree.