July 1993

Many are those who stain others’ reputation out of envy. Their complex souls do not want to recognize the good deeds of others, for they love to be the only ones to shine. If they heard words of praise for others, they say: but… They prefer to be the only ones to manifest goodness. Therefore, they die in their isolation, for they could not have partners with whom they would share the goodness, the vision. In their deadly aloofness, they do not rejoice at the truth and they only wish to boast to show their achievements and take the credit. It is not by the love of others that they live, but by compliments.

They are surrounded by weak people, for they fear confrontation. Confrontation is when two faces meet, and when I recognize you and you recognize me. To recognize you means to expect the truth to be uttered by you, from your opinion, and to be willing to give up my standpoint if it proved to be faulty. If I gave up, this means you exist; and if you exist, this means I am not the only one on the scene.

A person who is envious in his mind and behavior will try to eliminate you. For this reason, envy has always been associated with rage, for screaming is one of the grades of the mind. I eliminate you with my voice. This is why the Jews were crying out when they were saying to Pilate: Let Him be crucified, let Him be crucified. You crucify the one you envy. You disrupt his work or you do not wish for a work for him. The more the envious person does this, the more he isolates himself. The Bible says about the death of the Lord that they “had handed Him over because of envy” (Mark 15:10). He had proved to the people that the Pharisees and those in charge of the Jewish community are worthless in the eyes of God. Thus, in the hearts of the meek, He represented the unity of the nation. And they ceased to represent the nation. This is why He had to die. If the envious person does not repent, he will undoubtedly die of envy, crumble from the inside and vanish in every spiritual aspect.

God’s wrath is because the Church has become the greatest place for envy, for its activity is prevented or hindered since they do not let you work. Nothing is as destructive to the Church as our envy for each other. They hinder you because they exclude all people except those followers who repeat their principles and stand up for them.

Salvation is only possible if God inspired the envious person so that he would realize that the world has enough places for him and for others, and that goodness is given to him and to others, and that every one of us has a different talent depending on the grace offered. The Church is the beauty of all when they are unified, and the productivity of all when they consult each other. The condition for this is modesty; it is this virtue that makes you value other people and prefer them to yourself. For envy is the result of superiority. And superiority is when you are content with yourself and think this is sufficient for the world. To feel superior and boast is to consider others as minors or incompetent, and think you can neglect them because of their ridiculousness.

We should cry for the envious person rather than make him cry, and offer him our deep prayers so that he opens his harsh soul. The tragedy is that he goes deeper and deeper in his hatred, and the second tragedy is that we leave him to his hatred, which means that we as well have put ourselves in isolation. Only prayers can remove the barrier of enmity and make you realize that the other person is as essential to you as your breath. The other person is your other lung. He teaches you to trust him and yourself, I mean this self that has reached meekness.

Translated by Amani Haddad

Original Text: “الحسد” – 18.07.93