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ATTRACTION AND REPULSION IN THE HUMAN WORLD

In the present context, by "attraction" and "repulsion" we do not mean to talk of sexual "attraction" and "repulsion", which being a special subject is not relevant here, it is rather a subject independent in itself. In fact, here we mean those attractions and repulsions which operate among human beings in sociological life. In human society, co-operation also plays a part which is based on community of interests, but that too is beyond our venue of discussion.

Finer instances of friendships and fraternities, and feuds and animosi­ties are expressions of faculties of attraction and repulsion peculiar to man. These attractions and repulsions may be based either on compatibility and resemblance or on spite and antagonism In fact we must try to find out the basic cause of attraction and repulsion in homogeneity and contrariety, as the philosopher's debate finally evolved the dictum "homogeneity is a cause of integration". Sometimes two persons attract each other with a desire to make friends and companion; and they do so impulsively. This impulse emanates from some sort of homogeneity. But for similitude and homo­geneity, they would not have attracted each other and would not have been keen to make friends. As a general rule, intimacy between two individuals is evidence of existence of some homogeneity and similitude between them.

In the Second Volume of "Masnavi", we find a sweet story about a crow and a mill-hopper: A sage saw a crow having befriended a mill-hopper. Both of them would sit and fly together. The two birds were from two different feathers: the crow having neither the complexion nor the physique of the mill-hopper, it had rather no resemblance with the latter. The sage was astonished to see a crow in the company of a mill-hopper. He went close to them and on scrutiny found that both of them were lame:-

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The sage said I have seen,

In dialogue a crow with a mill-hopper,

I was astonished to observe their conduct,

I tried to find a common value between them,

I was all the more stunned and astonished when I reached them

I saw for myself that both of them were lame.

Their being single-footed brought the two birds, each from a different feather, to flock together. Men also, in the same manner, as they do not offend each other at random, do not befriend each other without a common reason. Some believe that the root of attraction and repulsion lies in necessity and succor. Man is born deficient and dependent; therefore, he perpetually strives to make up his deficiencies and cater for his lacking. These objectives can be achieved only when he enters into alliance with a group and permanently merges in a society. With this contrivance, man benefits from one formation and avoids harm from another, and we find no rebellion or recalcitrance in him except that ripened in the warmth of instinct of self-preservation. In this view of the matter, the biological elements and natural structure have blessed man both with attraction and repulsion, so as to invigorate him to struggle for what he feels is beneficial to himself and to avoid what he finds opposed to his cherished objects, and to be indifferent to whatever is neither harmful nor advantageous to him. In reality, attraction and repulsion are two fundamental pillars of human life. And if these faculties are impaired, the whole life is disturbed, and the disturbance will be proportionate to the degree of damage caused to the faculties; the result would be that he who had the potential to fill up the vacuums would absorb others, and not only will fail to fill up the vacuums but will also aggravate them. He would earn peoples' apathy and would be reckoned just as a stone beside.