From the time that a human being leaves the innocence of childhood, and begins the journey towards what is called adulthood he is faced with a complex and deep mystery. He finds within himself a thousand disconnected and incomplete clues that promise somehow to bring him answers. He finds a storm of conflicting pieces of evidence; he finds others intruding on his investigation, pulling him this way and that way, and leaving him torn and confused. He becomes restless, because the mystery is himself, and until he finds himself he will find no peace.

Society has no time to know him, nor is it interested in knowing him, it simply builds a set of models: boxes into which a 'personality', a cliché or a type is squeezed. It simplifies things for him, it takes one or two of the thousand clues and exaggerates them; completely ignoring the others. It wants to stop this investigation, and attempts to stop indenepndent thought altogether. These perfect templates have already been made, he needs simply to choose one and he will become comfortable. 

It wants him to be the place in which he lives, it wants him to be the colour of his skin or the amount of money he earns, or what he wears, what he drinks, what he eats, what he listens to and even how he chooses to cut his hair. It wants him to forget the vast potential inside him and to take on the external labels of this world as his identity. It wants him to be the guinea pig for others' experiences with life, a recycling bin for others' ideas. It defines him artificially, it limits him, imprisons him and controls him. As long as he knows the box into which he fits, he has been processed, completed and trapped.

Yet he is a willing and submissive victim, because he sees this as the solution to his mystery. He longs to be defined, because that will calm the storm raging within himself, it will stop the bitter conflict that keeps him awake at night and presents him with difficult questions that he cannot find answers  to. Even better, to be defined attaches him to others who have been similarly defined. Now he belongs, he has a set of rules and conventions to follow, a set of cheaply acquired ideas to defend with exhausted cliches and meaningless gestures. Now he has something to gather for, something to scream about in a group buzzing with the effects of adrenaline (or alcohol). It is a thin thread that keeps them all together, but he holds on, even though it burns his hands.

All the while, though, there is a quiet whisper from some dark corner that tells him that he is only fooling himself. He couldn't care less about what he shouts about at these exaggerated gatherings, his friends are fake, the ideas are not his and will never become his- and his hair and clothes are ugly. He ignores this irritating whisper and tries to drown it out by telling himself bigger lies, by trying to prove to himself in more extreme ways that this is his true definition. The whisper only grows louder though, until it becomes a scream. His self begins to accuse and chide him.1 His intelligence can no longer bear the insults it is receiving, and his soul can no longer survive the fire he is exposing it to. He wakes up to himself, and either tells himself a new cruel lie whose light will fade sooner than the last, or he goes to search for something true, something real.

He has dismantled himself and thrown pieces of it in dark corners to rust. He has taken other pieces and exaggerated them, tried to carve them so that they will fit into these ready-made boxes that are waiting, but the pain has become intolerable. These pieces were not made to be dismantled and manipulated, they were meant to remain together, forming a smooth and flowing whole; all of it heading in one direction. They were meant to create a beautiful unison and interact with one another. The flaws and weaknesses of the personality were meant to be fought and overcome, not exaggerated and boasted of as 'beautiful imperfections'. The strengths and talents were meant to be harnessed and developed, they were meant to be fed by the fight against the flaws, not eaten away by them mercilessly.

He was given existence and then given a potential to fulfil. The flaws and strengths were all gifts, the former to be fought and controlled, the latter to be harnessed and channeled. This is his ration, and when he fulfils his potential, he solves his mystery, and becomes who he is. First, though, he must break the boundaries and limits imposed on him, he must take charge of the investigation and look deep within himself. He must reject all the excuses and justifications prepared by the powers of simplification He must reflect on himself and give it a thorough examination, he must step outside of himself and analyse it, and then he will see all the answers.

To do this, he must not be afraid to doubt. Doubt takes man from the plastic comforts of conformity and places him in a vacant and lonely wilderness. Some lose hope and remain forever to rot in this wilderness, but many are driven towards knowledge and then certainty by the fear that they may be stuck here, walking in circles forever. But these new certainties bring with them new and more subtle doubts, and these too have to be fought. Slowly, though, the pieces come together and man begins to find himself. The talents blossom because now they have a purpose and direction, and the weaknesses wither away, because there is no longer anything for them to feed on. Man becomes calm, certain, inspired.

The certainties he found have led him to the greatest certainty- the greatest Truth. They have led him to know his source, and his destination, they have led him to know what he is and why he is. He is tranquil now, and he fights his new battles equipped with a foundation that is immune from destruction. He is on a path towards an Aboslute and Perfect destination. Every step on this path is a trial that teaches him something new about himself, and  it is this new-found  knowledge that carries him through the next and more difficult trial. These trials are  necessary obstacles if he is to know himself and know his aim. They are the stimuli that bring together all those disconnected clues and tie them together, they are the field on which the mystery is solved. This is where man comes to master his flaws and his strengths, this is where he begins to think, where he achieves wisdom, until slowly his self becomes completely certain, and returns from whence it came.²

1-Surah Al-Qiyamah, Verse 2
[75:2]”Nay! I swear by the self-accusing soul.”

2-Surah Al-Fajr, Verse 27-28
[89:27]”O soul that art at rest!
[89:28] Return unto thy Lord, content in His good pleasure!”