PITY THE NATION of Short-sighted, Narrow-minded and Evil-oriennted Leaders!

A Prose-poem By Khalil Jibran

(Published Posthumously in 1934)

Pity The Nation

Of Short-sighted,

Narrow-minded And

Evil-oriented Leaders!

(M. Javed Naseem)

“Corruption does appear on land and sea

because of (the evil) which men’s hands

have done, that He may make them taste

a part of that which they have done,

in order that they may return.”

(al-Quran 30:41)

Man shows his ugliest face and the worst behavior of a beast when in pursuit of the worldly pleasures. But when he follows the path of righteousness in pursuit of the Divine pleasure, the angels bow in front of him. That’s his beautiful face. Unfortunately, that happens only occasionally. This world misses the compassion, love, tolerance, sacrifice and Jihad (struggle) for justice which are the qualities of real men.

Today’s man is selfish, cruel, hasty and self-conceited who uses others for his own benefits and interest. He has lost his honesty and sincerity, and has adopted diplomacy and hypocrisy to succeed in his material world.

Khalil Jibran was a Lebanese Christian poet and artist (painter) who later on migrated to the U.S. and remained there till his death. As per his wish, his body was brought back to Bsharri (Lebanon) – the place of his birth – where he was buried and a museum (Gibran Museum) was established.

The sensitive poet saw the chaos in the world, especially in the Middle East, after the First World War. Most of his poetic and artistic work was done in the 1920’s and 1930’s, in the Arabic and English languages. He died in 1932 and some of his poetry (Prose Poetry) was published posthumously in 1933 and 1934. ‘Pity The Nation’ is his most famous prose-poem.

“Pity the nation divided into fragments,

Each fragment deeming itself a nation.

Each fragment has its own short-sighted,

narrow-minded and evil-oriented leader.”

What a beautiful and true assessment of the present-day world! What Khalil Jibran faced in 1930’s, we are still facing it in 2019. The short-sighted, narrow-minded and evil-oriented leaders of 1930s are long dead but the new generation is even worse than them. This lot stinks because it is more corrupt and brainless! They are inept and illegitimate, therefore, they rely on the support of their powerful foreign masters. They’ll do anything to remain in power. They rule by lies and deception. The Almighty says:

“Confound not truth with falsehood,

nor knowingly conceal the truth.”

(al-Quran 2:42)

Politicians tell lies and make empty promises. A successful modern leader has to be a tactful liar too. The modern smart leader/diplomat is a hypocrite – that is ‘Munafiq’ in Islamic terminology. He is a person who pleases – but fools – both parties with his lies, deception and sweet-talk. Because of this injustice prevails in the world.

“Lo, Allah commands you that you restore

deposits to their owners, and if you judge

between mankind, then you judge justly!”

(al-Quran 4:58)

A nation should demand justice, equality and respect as its birth-right. There are moral values and civic laws that govern a society. In the absence of those values and laws, there would be chaos. It would be like living in a jungle. When people stop thinking or asking ‘how’ and ‘why’, they become a dead society. Such people are considered a herd of sheep that will follow even a dummy. Have you ever seen the modern hobby of the rich, the dog race? The dogs chase a dummy rabbit. They don’t even feel that the rabbit is a toy. People of the developing nations are being programmed like that these days. The leaders in those countries are installed by the foreign ‘special interest’ or Elite group. The ‘dummy’ runs the affairs, as he is told to, and the nation follows. The nations which don’t demand justice, don’t stand up against evil, and don’t fight for their own rights, they are as good as dead. Miracles don’t happen unless you try to make them happen. You have to make an effort.

“Lo! Allah changes not the condition of

a folk until they (first) change that which

is in their hearts .....”

(al-Quran 13:11)

In a society where ‘anything goes’, you cannot expect justice, respect or honesty. Nations like that are doomed. They don’t make any effort to change their lives for the better. They just sit back and wait for something to happen. These days the countries have the foreign armies on their soil to defend them. Vow! We did not learn any lesson from the history of nations. The people that cannot defend themselves have no right to freedom. Today, almost all Muslim countries in the Middle East have military bases of a foreign power. Their governments are not democratic and their justice system is based on injustice. Differing opinions are not tolerated; and the voice of the opposition is silenced. They never learned any lesson from the history. Allah says in the Holy Quran:

“We destroyed the generations before you

when they did wrong; and their messengers

(from Allah) came unto them with clear proofs

(of His sovereignty), but they would not believe.

Thus do We reward the guilty folk.”

(al-Quran 10:13)

The Middle Eastern leaders don’t want to hear anything about injustice they are promoting. They want their people to accept it as “God’s Will”. So, people pray to God to change their condition but they themselves don’t do any effort. What logic do we see in doing wrong and still expecting the blessings from Allah? It does not work that way. The saying goes: First deserve then desire. We can ask Allah for His help only when we are trying our best for a good cause. Khalil Jibran said:

“Pity the nation that raises not its voice,

Save when it walks in a funeral;

Boasts not except among its ruins, and will

Rebel not save when its neck is laid

between the sword and the block.”

We have exactly the same situation today. We are almost dead as a nation. We have no character, no dignity and no identity. We have politicians who sell their motherland to foreign masters only to get immigration status for his family. Sheikh Saadi of Iran said that you cannot produce a good sword from a bad metal; meaning that you cannot produce quality product from the low-grade raw material. Nations of the world are laughing at Muslim leaders and politicians. They are ridiculing the Muslim nation. And we can see it why! We have become a nation of the mediocre, inefficient, incompetent and dishonest workers. No wonder we are producing the same kind of leaders and politicians. Khalil Jibran says:

“Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,

Whose philosopher is a juggler;

And whose art is the art of

patching and mimicking.”

There is something called ‘self-respect’. We have lost it. It’s a hard-earned commodity. If we don’t respect ourselves, who is going to respect us? Nobody! Yes, nobody. And that’s what is happening today. It is out of fashion to talk about Allah, His Messengers, Islam and Muslims. People would leave your company if you start talking about the Quran, national integrity, honesty, justice, fair-play and equality. They take pride in being associated with Devil or America or Britain; even India, Israel or the wretched of the earth Afghanistan. Khalil Jibran said:

“Pity the nation divided into fragments,

Each fragment deeming itself a nation.

Each fragment has its own short-sighted,

narrow-minded and evil-oriented leader.”

There is no leader of the Muslim ‘Ummah’. No wonder it has become a herd of sheep. They are doing nothing to change their destiny. They are engaged in evil practices and are hoping for the blessings of Almighty Allah. They are all waiting for a miracle, for a Messiah. And the only Messiahs they are getting are the ones who are installed by their foreign masters. They come with great pump and show, only to leave with their tails between their legs.

“Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler

with trumpeting,

And farewells him with hooting;

Only to welcome another with trumpeting again.”

Most of the Muslim countries – especially the French speaking – have lost their identity. Their people try to mimick their Masters, but their masters don’t accept them as equal. And they themselves consider superior to their fellow countrymen. So, they are hanging in the middle, belonging to neither group. In fact they have lost their culture, their values and ultimately their identity. It is happening in Pakistan and India too. There are radio & TV channels, newspapers and magazines that are working day and night to destroy the ideology of those nations. They are even ridiculing the founding fathers of Pakistan and India. At the same time Europe and America are appreciating Iqbal, Jinnah and Gandhi for their role in re-writing the history of the Sub-continent. Funny?

Here is the complete translation of Khalil Jibran’s poem:

“Pity the nation that raises not its voice

Save when it walks in a funeral;

Boasts not except among its ruins, and will

Rebel not save when its neck is laid between

the sword and the block.

Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,

Whose philosopher is a juggler,

And whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.

Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting,

And farewells him with hooting;

Only to welcome another with trumpeting again.

Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years,

And whose strong men are yet in the cradle.

Pity the nation divided into fragments,

Each fragment deeming itself a nation.

(From my book, “A Wake-up Call”, published in 2010)

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