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Shelley’s poem ‘Ozymandias’, it is said
that the traveller who is travelling in the silent desert
where it is impossible to see where it ends,
comes across to a statue
that has been half buried in the sand.
On the pedestal there were
the following lines written that were really hard to
read:
‘’My
name is Ozymandias,
The
King of the kings,
You, the supreme being,
Look at my works,
So that you would know your limits…’’
In
these lines written for the
King, the main theme is ‘’knowing his
limits’’.
We
can define the concept of knowing
the limits as the corners that all the individuals have in a
common field of thought
no matter they are young or old...
If,
the individual is accepting the fact that there are only
his rights (the things that he finds correct ) and
i
f
he does not accept any limitations for his rights, then that
means that s/he is going beyond his limits.
Also, in spite of all the warnings i f he does not accept
any of his mistakes and tries to be very domineering towards the
others, then in this case s/he would still be considered to have
gone beyond his limits.
From
time to time the indecisiveness of
a person can be considered as normal,
however in these states of dilemma going beyond the
limits is considered to be abnormal.
Earning
respect or loosing it is a matter related to
knowing one’s limits.
If
, all of a sudden
the thoughts hit the ceiling, then most probably there would be
a problem of assimilation and beneath it there would come out
the situation of not
knowing the limits.
All the human beings may have problems, contradictions.
There may also be differences of opinion, however all of
these do not mean that they should go beyond the existing
conditions, in other words that does not mean that they should
exceed their limits.
For
example, two people may not like each other, but in any case
they should be respectful to one another and should not go
beyond their limits.
If, they have some kind of
a meaningless behaviour, then it means that they do not
know their limits.
Sharing the same ideas, having the same opinion is something
else and a sentimental relation is another thing .
If , sentimentality (the feelings) have intervened to the
ideas, then it is most probable that the individual would go
beyond his limits.
On
the other hand, it is seen that some other states of mind that
seem to be contradictory to what has been told above are being
experienced. If
the fear to go beyond one’s limits is giving a
‘’stop’’ signal for
the works, the researches that the individual is capable
of doing, in short if this
fear is trying to
stop the individual from being active,
then this cannot be called as not knowing one’s limits.
This can only be the end-product
of the
individual’s personal fears and anxieties...
Such thoughts in the end create individuals
who are passive, who are not productive and whose
motto is
‘’let
the snake that does not touch me
live one thousand years’’
and brings along the aimless circumstances.
I
do not want to accuse anybody… However, I am saying these in
order to emphasize the mistake in the understanding of knowing
one’s limits. Therefore,
r my humble self thinks that
sufficient
benefit couldn’t
be obtained from
Hz.Mohammed (s.a.v) who was an ocean of science!..
The
human being has been chosen as a ‘’Caliph’’
by Allah and he doesn’t have to be disrespectful towards
others in order to manifest the qualities of being a caliph.
Being disrespectful is really meaningless.
However,
respect does not mean ‘’to
know one’s limits’’….
Bodrum-
July
10th
2001
http://sufizmveinsan.com
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