 God gives us an opportunity to change our moral character. So that means that you as a human being, you can work on yourself to make your personality a gentle personality. But then the Imam says something different in the following phrase. But then the Imam says, وَمَنْ كَرُمَ عَنْصُرُهُ لَانَ قَلْبُهُ وَمَنْ خَشُنَ عَنْصُرُهُ غَلُظَ كَبِدُهُ But then the Imam says, if your stock is noble, your heart will be gentle. What does that mean? That means if you have good genes that allow you to be gentle, you will be gentle. What is your essence? The family background that you have, وَمَنْ كَرُمَ عَنْصُرُهُ From which family do you come from? The Imam here is telling us about the significance of genes. Genes play a major role in defining your personality traits. Absolutely. If someone comes from a family from parents who are gentle, who are kind-hearted, who are humble, chances are this person will also have tendencies to be humble, to be kind-hearted. Now, if you come from a family background that's aggressive, parents who are aggressive, chances are these children will have built-in tendencies to be aggressive. So, what is the Imam, a.s., telling us here? In the first statement, the Imam says, work on yourself. Make yourself gentle with people. But then the Imam says, well, it really goes back to your source, to your genes. Now, genes, my dear brothers and sisters, more and more science is confirming to us that genes play a big role in defining our personality traits, our attitudes, our behaviors. You know, there are so many behaviors that you acquire through genes. Interestingly, even these days, scientists are studying what is called the crime gene. Subhanallah. Upon examining the DNA and the genes of criminals, they are finding that there is a gene that actually pushes people to commit crimes. This doesn't mean that they're justified. No, it just means that they have the struggle. They really feel pushed towards crime. Yes, research it. It's called the crime gene. Scientists are actually trying to study this crime gene. What is it? How does it work? To what extent does it encourage a person to commit crime? Genes play a very important role. Now, one can state, wait a minute, that's not fair. I did not choose my parents. I did not choose my family. How is it that Imam al-Sadiq, al-Salam, says, it's my genes that play a role in determining whether I'm a kind person or not. The Imam al-Salam, in these two phrases, he is reminding us of the very important relationship between nature and nurture. We've all heard about the debate, right? Nature versus nurture. Which is it? The Imam al-Salam in this hadith says it's actually both. It's nature and nurture. There are certain qualities that you have been programmed into. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has created you with a set of personality traits. Tendencies. We cannot deny that. Have you seen some people who have a tendency to get angry quickly? To rage, to fume. They're short-fused, right? There's actually something built in. They have that internal struggle. It's not that someone taught them to be that way. No? Sometimes you see little kids. Little kids at the age of one, two, and they're just angry. Well, that was programmed into them. So on the one hand, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala creates a set of qualities in you. But on the other hand, you have a role to change that. And that's your test in this life. I tell you, one of the biggest challenges we have in this life is changing our akhlaq. Changing our personality traits. It's one of the biggest challenges we have. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, yes, he may have created you with a tendency towards anger. Maybe that's true, but why? To test you. That's how you're tested. Will you manage your anger? Will you restrain your anger or no? Knowing this in itself is very important for a lot of people. Because a lot of people, when they have some negative qualities, some negative personality traits, oftentimes you find them losing hope. They think they're bad people. Islam says no. If you find that you have some negative qualities, it doesn't mean you're bad. That's not who you really are. You're a human being and Allah honored you. These are just elements in your personality that are there to test you. Be mindful of this test. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will reward you for struggling. A person who is naturally angry, if they suppress their anger, their reward is much higher than the one who's naturally calm. Because they have to struggle and that is their struggle in their life. Sometimes Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala creates you for certain moments in your life to see your reaction, to see how you react towards other people. This is part of our test. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us certain genes, absolutely. But how is that compatible with this justice? It's there to test the human being. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us the tools to allow us to pass this test. It's very difficult. It's our biggest challenge in our life. But if we work on ourselves, it is possible. Another point that we can conclude from this narration by Imam al-Sadiq, a.s. Is that if you see people and they're struggling with certain personality traits, don't take it personally. Because oftentimes we do take things personally, right? If someone is a little bit rude to us, we take that personally. Just remember that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has created certain people with certain tendencies. And maybe this person struggles with this negative quality of being rude. It's not that they deliberately are being rude. It's built in. That's part of their nature. And they need to struggle, of course. They need to overcome that. But do not take it personally. Understand that they are going through challenges. Try to see the humanity in them. And hence, we have a beautiful hadith from Imam Ameer al-Mu'mineen, ibn Abi Talib, a.s. In which he states, The Imam says, If I can see one good quality in you, that is fixed in you, that is firm, then I will tolerate you. And I am willing to overlook all those other good qualities that you don't have. If you just have one good quality, let's say this person is a generous person. This person has generosity. The Imam A.s. says, Tolerate this person, accept this person. Even if this person doesn't have other good qualities, as long as this person has one good quality, see the goodness in them. You see how the Ahlul Bayt view people? But we people, what do we do? If someone has 99 good qualities, and one bad quality, what do we do? We blast that person, we destroy their personality, we focus on that negative trait, right? That's what we do. But Imam A.s. says the exact opposite. The Imam says if you have 50 bad qualities, and you have one good quality that's fixed, your firm on that quality, the Imam says I'll tolerate you. The Imam says I'm willing to overlook all those other qualities that you don't have. You see the Rahma of the Ahlul Bayt? How Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala trained them to even deal with other people? How the Imam A.s. teaches us to look at the bright side of people. Focus on that. Don't be distracted on what people don't have. Be concerned about what people do have and their personality traits and their character.