Suppose he hears a word from him but is not sure whether he...

Suppose he hears a word from him but is not sure whether he abused or praised him. Yet he says, “No, he surely abused me.” Thus he takes it for corruption (trouble). He could have also said that it appeared to me like that but may be he did not abuse me; perhaps he has praised me. In case a man has no certainty and there is scope for the matter being otherwise he has no right to take it for granted that what he saw or heard was badly intended.

Even if you clearly hear a bad word you should imagine that perhaps he was not attentive enough, perhaps the poor person had become helpless. Maybe he did not recognize me. So much so that the Imam says, “Belie your hearing and your sight.”[^2] Even if you saw with your eyes and heard with your own ears but that person says: No, I did not say so. Then say: I heard it wrong, man makes mistake, but do not say: In my opinion you said so. Likewise man also makes mistake in seeing or observing things.

You cannot say: I saw it with my own eyes. It is possible that what you saw was confusing and you had misunderstood. Circle of fire and running of trees For example, if a ball of fire is rotated fast it creates an illusion and it seems there is a circle of fire. The fact is that there is nothing like a circle. Since the illuminating things revolve speedily, one image sent by the eye does not reach the mind before another image comes up. This creates an illusion.

Or, perhaps, you are traveling in a car or a train. If you look out, you see that the ground runs speedily and you imagine that your car or train is stationary. This is an illusion. So even if you have seen something yourself say: Perhaps I made a mistake in seeing. Do not imagine adverse possibility. Perhaps you have to repent afterwards when you know that the matter was otherwise and not as imagined.

He did not respond because he was deaf About thirty years ago there was an old gentleman known to me. I said to him, “Salam.” But he did not respond. I did so for quite a few times but the old man did not reply. I became uneasy and told myself, “When he is not responding to my Salam why should I go on saluting him?” That gentleman expired after some time. Then it was known in a meeting that he had become deaf a few years before his departure.

But since I did not know about it and as he did not respond to my salute, I imagined that he did that deliberately. So, in such cases, say: Perhaps, I saluted in a very low voice or perhaps his hearing is weak.