Negative Capability?

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John Keats described Negative Capability in one of his letters as following:
Negative Capability, that is when man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason-- ...
Today, I was taken aback with my own reaction towards certain apparently insignificant happenings. I felt a certain kind of sorrow at the shifting of certain inanimate objects around me. Is it not natural that we do shift things around? It is just that at times we imperceptibly develop such a strong and subtle attachment with things and people around us that we are not even conscious of their place and significance in our lives. They become a part of us. It is only when these things or people leave their assigned places, that we come to realise how much they mattered to us when we did not even take note of them. This, for me, is a mystery. Why is replacement necessary when one has no desire for it. Replacement, as life tells us, however, is necessary. So what do we do when we are unable to find the real thread to which all these mysterious happenings are attached? We stay quiet. And patient. And wait. This reminds me of a line from Hesse's Sidhartha. When he was asked about his qualities and achievements at one point in the story, he said, "I can think. I can wait. I can fast." And this precisely was "everything" for him! Does not sound like going with the postmodern social ethos? :) I can understand. Anyway, what I am trying to point out is the significance of sabr - patience. So there are mysteries that a human mind is unable to comprehend; the best thing to deal with the pangs of "incomprehensibility" is to wait - practice patience. I firmly believe that once one is able to do that, there comes a time when the mysteries do get resolved. After all, inallaha ma'as-saabireen!

Comments

Uni said…
Very true. We're a nation of impatient people. We want results, and fast. Life ain't a Google search query. Things aren't going to take 0.47 seconds and return us what we desire...

This was a good reminder for everybody going through everyday trials - JazakAllah for it.
1:20 AM
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