The Significance Of Being A Talib-e-Ilm — A Seeker Of Knowledge
College life perhaps is another hardship when you have ADHD, but that didn’t stop me. It helped me to evade many other unwanted struggles during that time. Though, in my humble experience, I believe college education is not what it seems to be — we should clarify on that regards to what the pros and cons of one can substitute.
I too remember the time when I applied for college, it was persuaded by my dad; he wanted me to join a “top tier” university, although my experience said otherwise. And so I did, and well it wasn’t as expected as everything is so much exaggerated — your dream school would be where you learn.
Well, time to wake up folks, it’s a dream but if you start working now, maybe you can make it happen.
In my case, the dream got shattered on the first day. It later became increasingly hard day after day. As the workload would pile up, and I would find it difficult to connect with the teachers as they would neither connect nor convey proper information.
I felt like a needle in a haystack — lost forever. Things became tougher as the semesters went by. But I never let those things affect me though my peers, on the other hand, did contribute to my mental health decline as the stress I experienced was beyond repair.
My colleagues, classmates were not the best kind either. I have come across all kinds of pupils in my college years. The users, and abuser kinds as well. That kind of made me lose hope in education as a whole. I became much distant, from everything and everyone — A wise decision at that time.
I would usually sit in during recess or breaks alone in the school grounds under the shades of trees, away from the hustle and bustle of college life.
I had a few places where I would just sit quietly and observe. Nature was perhaps one thing that made sense — it was the only thing that gave me joy.
A calm sensation flowed as I would sit there, some time afterward more people started joining me there. It became a known place on my campus where you cut off from the stress. They could see and feel what I felt from afar. They rejoiced in nature as well.
What is life meant to be? when you are searching for “Ilm”?
Is it the peace that one finds during hardships or the process of finding peace that matters. Ilm perhaps is the word described as the knowledge that improves life. It is a word of Arabic descent.
“Ilm” is a foundational word of all knowledge that improves human understanding and human life.
The one who searches it is called “Talib” — it is an Arabic word that translates to someone who seeks Ilm. A seeker of knowledge, as you may.
To learn and to improve upon themselves. They seek the truth that mends another and doesn’t poke the truths that cause chaos. A pupil of everything life offers and beyond.
A Talib is anyone, who seeks answers. It is believed that a child, when born, becomes a Talib, as they start to walk, learn, and speak — their journey of seeking Ilm continues till the day they part ways with life.
My journey of being a Talib was put to the test when I was surrounded in yet another hardship of education. One that I have fought for more over than a decade. Still going strong, I believed with the perspective of being a Talib — I was able to learn the systems of college education in a much harmonious manner.
I understood the framework and applied it to building my skills. One such skill that I developed was the art of negotiation and facilitation. One can learn this skill with ease, during college as you interact with people. Especially your professors and peers whom you have to sometimes convince over a clause that they actively deny.
You have to courteously administer change slowly, with words that move them and spread understanding among them. We learn this when we actively participate in classroom discussions. When we interact with our teachers, and with each course we pick up — each teacher we are taught from and interact with, our skills get polished.
Outside, this can help us in various ways like business and sales. When we learn the art of negotiation, we can easily influence others. As well as making their day, people tend to become tender when they are shown kindness.
We all require warmth in our life, and if we can show ourselves, love — we definitely can show another the same with the utmost dignity and respect.
One of the many things in life, I learned during college was that the end reward is just a bonus. It is the process that helped me thrive.
Failure, and its process is what matters in life. To make mistakes is to learn, to forgive one’s self is to aim for an impact — because you can see the big picture of what lies beyond that apology — an opportunity.
Though my journey is a long one, I’d rather take the hardest way known possible than to work for an easy win unless the situation demanded it.
Everything I was able to understand and further extend upon was through this perspective of understanding fostered through hardships. College life may have been a long journey for me. Though it has been rewarding in ways I never thought possible. I never really intended to rush in the first place.
There was a time where I did give up, and I have. But giving up and quitting are two different scenarios altogether. You could give up on one dream, but weave another — one that you can achieve. It takes courage and mettle for one to make a decision to forfeit when everything is on the line.
A battle lost today will be a war won tomorrow.
Survival is necessary — live to see another day. It makes sense if you keep putting in the work and trying your best. The rest will follow, slowly sometimes even after the storm has passed that you will realize the “how”, “why” it happened?
Being a Talib gives you an endless stream of hope regardless of losses gained. Remember, even losses are results that you can further improve upon. A loss, is an opportunity to further extend your reach — if you don’t lose always question what you did wrong and right that made it happen?
In that process lie the secrets of knowledge, waiting to be unearthed, mined, and implemented to improve the lives of everyone and yourself. Be willing to make things happen, even if they are small — if you fail to succeed, you can always start a new journey from scratch.
I did start my journey of college education again from scratch of 2 years twice as strong, and ten times more resilient than the last. Even then I ran into problems, but this time I saw them as opportunities rather than obstacles.
The mindset of a Talib is what you should strive for. The thing you should search for is Ilm whereever it may lie — find it.
The journey of a Talib who is the seeker of knowledge(ilm) is perhaps one of the greatest of voyages one can take. I intend on making the best of everything that comes my way for better or worse — I will make it happen.
Thank you for reading.
