Monday, June 13, 2022

Heaven with the righteous is defeat with the wicked

There is a proverb in Bengali that in English goes like this: “A man is known by the company he keeps” (“সৎ সঙ্গে স্বর্গবাস অসৎ সঙ্গে সর্বনাশঅথবাসঙ্গ দোষে লোহা ভাসে”). It shows the importance of having a good friend in our lives and the impact of bad company.

A human being is a social animal. It is the nature of a human being to stay in a group. If we want to live in a society, we have to communicate with all kinds of people. Like good people, there are bad people too. But humans are not born evil. Human character is stigmatized because of the environment, situation, and the company he keeps. 


The greatest quality of a human being is his or her character. There is a saying, “The crown and glory of life is character.” One can achieve the greatest respect by the virtue of one’s character. So, you will have to develop yourself through a good company, not a bad one. There is a popular Bengali proverb, "Heaven with the righteous, and ruin with the wicked." So, we will have to scrutinize the person before accepting him as a friend. Mark Twain said, “A person’s friend is his biggest asset.”

Rabindranath Tagore said, “Just as roses are a special kind of flower, a friend is also a special kind of person.” But sometimes, a man’s friend, instead of becoming an asset, becomes a cause of danger to him. A good friend will help you to achieve your biggest success. Similarly, a bad friend will utterly destroy your life. It is because every person is influenced by the behavior and character of his or her surroundings. Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Sm) has a great quotation on this matter.

If you stay with good people, you will be benefited somehow. On the contrary, if you stay with bad people, you are bound to suffer. He (Sm) gave a beautiful example in one of his hadiths. He said, “The difference between a good friend and a bad friend is like a perfume seller and a forge blower in a blacksmith shop. The perfume seller either will offer you something free of cost, or you will purchase perfume from him, or you will have a nice smell by default. On the contrary, if you stay close to a forge blower who is working near a furnace, he either will burn your clothes, or you will have to smell its repugnant smell.” (Sahihul Bukhari, Hadith No. 5214).”

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