The Epic of the Corruptor Who Thought He Was a Reformer

This reflection begins with the Qur'anic verse in which those told not to spread corruption on the earth reply that we are only reformers. Imad follows the corrupter who arrives as a rescuer with elegant promises, believes his own lie, and mistakes ruins for reconstruction and silence for approval, and he turns the verse into a mirror for every leader and every person.

﴿وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ قَالُوا إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ﴾"When it is said to them, 'Do not spread corruption on the earth,' they say, 'We are only reformers.'"

لم يبدأ الخرابُ دائماً بصوتِ المدافع.Destruction does not always begin with cannons.

بل بدأ كثيراً بخطابٍ أنيقٍ ووعدٍ جميل.It often begins with elegant speeches and beautiful promises.

فالمفسدُ لا يدخلُ المدنَ مرتدياً قناعَ الشر.The corrupter never enters a city

wearing the mask of evil.

بل يرتدي عباءةَ المنقذِ والمصلحِ والحكيم.He arrives cloaked as a savior, a reformer, and a wise man.

يبني من الكلماتِ قصراً أعلى من الحقيقة.He builds a palace of words taller than truth.

ثم يسكنُ داخله حتى ينسى الواقع.Then he lives inside it until reality

disappears.

يقولُ للناسِ إنه يزرعُ الحدائق.He tells people he is planting gardens.

بينما تتسعُ الصحراءُ خلفَ خطواته.While deserts widen behind his

footsteps.

ويتحدثُ عن العدالةِ كلَّ يوم.He speaks of justice every day.

بينما تمتلئُ الطرقاتُ بالمظلومين والصامتين والخائفين.While the roads fill with the oppressed, the silent, and the afraid.

كم من مدينةٍ هُدمت باسمِ التطوير.How many cities were destroyed in the name of development.

وكم من شعبٍ أُفقر باسمِ الإنقاذِ الاقتصادي.How many nations were impoverished in the name of economic rescue.

وكم من حريةٍ خُنقت باسمِ حمايةِ المجتمع.How many freedoms were suffocated in the name of protecting society.

وكم من كذبةٍ كبرت حتى صارت عقيدةً عند أصحابها.How many lies grew until their makers worshiped them as truth.

المشكلةُ ليست أنه يكذبُ على الناس.The problem is not merely that he lies to others.

بل أنه يكذبُ على نفسه أولاً.It is that he first lies to himself.

حتى يصدقَ الكذبةَ كاملة.Until he believes the lie completely.

فيظنُّ الركامَ إعماراً.He mistakes ruins for reconstruction.

ويظنُّ الخوفَ استقراراً.He mistakes fear for stability.

ويظنُّ الصمتَ رضاً.He mistakes silence for approval.

ثم تأتي الآيةُ كحكمٍ لا استئنافَ له.Then the verse arrives as a verdict beyond appeal.

﴿أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْمُفْسِدُونَ وَلَكِنْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ﴾"Indeed, they are the corrupters, but they do not perceive it."

فالحقُّ لا يحتاجُ إلى ضجيج.Truth needs no noise.

والنورُ لا يحتاجُ إلى شاهد.Light needs no witness.

والأرضُ تعرفُ من يخدمها ومن يجرحها.The earth knows who serves it and who wounds it.

والتاريخُ قد يتأخرُ في إصدارِ حكمه.History may delay its judgment.

لكنه لا ينسى أبداً.But it never forgets.

ولهذا ستبقى هذه الآيةُ مرآةً لكلِّ عصر.Therefore this verse remains a mirror for every age.

ولكلِّ قائدٍ ولكلِّ إنسان.For every leader and every soul.

تسألُ بهدوءٍ لا يرحم.It asks with merciless calm.

هل تُصلحُ الأرضَ حقاً؟Are you truly healing the earth?

أم تُفسدُها وأنت تظنُّ أنك مصلح؟Or are you corrupting it while believing you are its reformer?

بقلم المهندس المعماري عماد درويشBy Architect Imad Darouich · New York

For more on the self-deceptions that lie in wait for the heart, read Epic of the Ambush on the Straight Path and The Epic of the Trial of Satan on the Day of Judgment, both in the faith and spirit collection.