For years, society has been experiencing a constant deviation of thought and an impropriety that has become more widespread every day, dominating almost all feelings and thoughts. Statements are exceedingly shameless, expressions overly aggressive, behaviors as mean as can be, demeanors utterly torn, and the feelings and reasoning that form the basis of this disorder as dark as what one would expect from scorpions. What are you supposed to listen to, whom can you trust, and which idea can you rely on? In this arena of quarrelsome souls—always fixated on criticism and destruction—even the most innocent thoughts and the most favorable plans and projects are sometimes chewed up between the merciless teeth of conflict and collapse, and the most sacred values are continually trampled underfoot.

What are the reasons that have caused people to lose altitude to this degree in terms of human values? What are the reasons that make us ready to prey on one another? If some are hoping to get anywhere with such impropriety, they are gravely mistaken; and if anyone is foolish enough to think that some lofty ideals can be realized this way, that too is sheer self-deception. Yet, how bitter it is that, for years, we have been through a succession of delusions and continued to make mistakes no one would have imagined. Moreover, we have compounded these mistakes by presenting what we do as great global achievements. So much so that claims of becoming a model for the world, reshaping the globe, or at the very least setting our own house in order, have become common fantasies of this period. But here we are: on one side stand broad-sweeping boasts, and on the other, a society worn down and caught in the grip of unrest.

Actually, amid such disorder, it is neither possible to improve the world’s map of thought, nor to turn our own society’s decline into advancement, nor to open new horizons for our people. In my view, from the thoughts of those depressed circles—each little more than delirium and convulsion—nothing will emerge other than chaos. One thing, however, is certain: this cannot give rise to any renewal. In fact, given that what has happened so far is an unmistakable indication of what is yet to come, it would be pointless to say much more on such a matter.

I do not claim to be analyzing a brand-new topic here; this matter has already been discussed many times in various circles and passed through the filters of diagnosis and assessment repeatedly. It has engaged the attention of many with bright intellects and powerful pens and has been examined through comprehensive surveys. It has been brought to the table on different occasions and discussed from different angles. However, none of these efforts have yielded favorable results to the expected degree—they have not. Even now, many people continue to squander their precious thoughts and intellect for acts of impropriety. They allow their knowledge, culture, courage, and logic to trail behind their emotions, and they nearly spend their lives in a constant struggle against human values.

While such individuals are already deficient in thought, empty in heart and spirituality, deeply inconsistent in reasoning, and devoid of wisdom and true knowledge, if they also possess additional vices—such as deceitfulness, ignobility, fame-seeking, and a weakness for position, status, and gain—it becomes impossible for them to follow any other course. Indeed, far from choosing a different path, people driven by unquenchable thirst and insatiable greed will persistently pursue the targets on which they are fixated, constantly seeking to satisfy this bodily hunger and thirst. Even if they occasionally rejoice in what they manage to achieve, more often than not they will writhe in regret over the opportunities they have missed. As they extinguish, one by one, the lofty sentiments of their souls—each a matchless gift bestowed upon humanity—they will continue drifting through the valleys of carnality.

Indeed, individuals who have lost their human logic and judgment to this degree—who have forfeited their conscience and the divine gifts tied to it, and who are impoverished in heart and thought— can in no way contribute to elevating the world or making it more livable, nor to the happiness of humanity; nor can they offer any benefit to their nations, let alone lead them toward new horizons. They cannot, because such people have never been able to sense their own inner depths or grasp the purpose of their existence. Furthermore, they have forgotten how to love, neglected respect, regarded virtue as a mere fantasy, and continually dreamed only of what they would gain, how they would gain it, from whom they would take it, and by which means they would ascend to the peak of prosperity. Even if, by some chance, they were to form an intention to do good, they would inevitably end up causing harm. For it has never been seen—except in the rarest of cases—that anything pure emerge from sullied souls and polluted dispositions.

Though humanity experienced deviations of thought and shifts of spirit many times before; the issue has never become a social calamity to this extent. This is because today’s human being often directs all intellectual power and reasoning toward serving the carnal self and its desires, while waging an unyielding war against truth and right guidance. Moreover, this is done with the conviction that their intellect and knowledge are sufficient for everything—and can suffice for anything.

In truth, I am not of the opinion that people today are more intelligent or more reasonable than those of the past. In a way, I even think that the so-called champions of intelligence and geniuses of reasoning in our age, when measured against earlier generations, display a thinner depth of thought and a narrower range of intellectual seriousness. Despite all the advantages promised by modern technology and scientific advances, the people of earlier generations—who did not possess even a tenth of today’s resources—were perhaps more capable, more competent, and more consistent.

Within their respective paths of thought and action—whether good or bad—each of these figures was of greater caliber and prominence in their own time. (This comparison is not meant to honor wrongdoing or tyranny, but to illustrate the depth, consistency, and clarity—however misdirected—of earlier forms of thought when set against the confusion of the present age.) Presumably, Cain was a more capable murderer than his modern counterparts; Nimrod, a more dignified despot; Korah, a bolder and more enterprising capitalist; Pharaoh, a more balanced bigot; Socrates, a more disciplined thinker; Leonardo, a deeper and more visionary artist; Shakespeare, a more imaginative and compelling author; Goethe, a more eminent observer of the human condition; Nietzsche, a more daring rebel; and Sartre, a more unreserved and uncompromising analyst of the self.

Yet today, neither the intellectuals who consider themselves completely free from superstition nor those devoted to spirituality and meaning, who believe they have grasped religion and metaphysics in all their depth, have achieved any success remotely comparable to that of their predecessors—despite all the modern means at their disposal. More than mere lack of success, both groups – the materialists whose reasoning is reduced to what their eyes can see and who seek everything within the material world, and the spiritualists who view themselves as tasked with reducing everything to abstract meaning, prove to be strikingly shallow in judgment, exceedingly indecisive in resolve and willpower, far behind those of earlier civilizations in regard for human values, and are exceedingly capricious in their whims and desires.

Each morning, they fall captive to one current, and each evening they become enamored of another sentiment; thus, always in flux, perpetually unstable. At times, they are atheistic and nihilistic; at other times capitalistic and liberal. Sometimes they are meek, bent double before powers they cannot overcome; at other times unruly and rebellious. Yet, in all cases, they remain unbalanced and without direction. It is therefore inevitable that such people will, at any moment, be swept away by a different tide and dragged into the unknown, or be crushed beneath the weight of some error. And no one will be able to save these unfortunate souls, scattered and reduced to nothing like autumn leaves blown by the winds of their dark fortune.

Presumably, those who can perceive this social derailment—perhaps better described as a kind of societal paranoia— with its looming future ramifications must have already begun to tremble at the thought. Yet no matter how much one trembles, the ideas put forward in the name of remedy and solution always circle back to doctrines like socialism, capitalism, and liberalism. Until the true center of the dysfunction and the real causes of these deviations are identified, I believe we will continue to revolve within this vicious circle, and society will never truly escape crisis.

Indeed, as society frees itself from political turmoil, it will drift into economic crises; as it overcomes military impasses, it will be dragged into administrative chaos. Within these suffocating “vicious cycles” that continually consume us, society will perish and crumble. If, in the coming days, actions continue to proceed with this same reasoning—or rather, this lack of reasoning—we will not make the slightest progress. Panels and conferences will inevitably return to the familiar dichotomy of “individual” and “state.” Debates on what to choose, a libertarian order or a statist system, a capitalist structure or a socialist administration, will never be surpassed. And afterward will come endless dialectics, endless logical games, until we finally see that we are merely tracing circles around our own egotism with so many years lost and possibilities wasted.

If you wish, let us now try to present some of the matters that humanity, over the past few centuries, ought to have addressed but, for various reasons, has failed to accomplish.

Despite numerous attempts at renewal over the past one or two centuries, societies have struggled to establish coherent moral systems rooted in their own cultural foundations and have been unable to develop and systematize sound metaphysical frameworks. They have not produced artistic visions capable of reflecting the inner world in relation to God, the universe, and the human being; nor have they succeeded in developing models of education and moral formation aligned with the deeper roots of their spiritual heritage.

At the heart of nearly every moral system lie three essential elements: sound belief, a well-established sense of freedom, and a deeply rooted sense of responsibility. All of these are closely connected to metaphysical thought. In a society where belief is rejected, individuals are deprived of their sense of freedom, and where responsibility is stripped from the heart, it becomes impossible to speak meaningfully about metaphysics. And without metaphysics, morality itself cannot survive.

When societies fail to develop a coherent metaphysical framework, and when individuals cannot shape their inner identity in light of deeper meaning, the result is inevitable. Over time, they lose their spiritual vitality and guiding beliefs, and eventually they struggle even to sustain their moral and cultural continuity.

Yet we ourselves have dried up the once-abundant sources of life that nourished us throughout history, and having done so, we turned almost entirely to reliance on borrowed ideas. So much so that the strange notion of nationalism we brought from all corners of the world and tried to impose on everyone, along with peculiar philosophies of life and distorted understandings of art that wound the spirit, have confused our collective memory. By extinguishing our own torches that had been shining for thousands of years, we surrendered to darkness, much like bats retreating from the light.

Now, what we need is not this or that person, nor this or that philosophy, but a vital prescription that can restore our lost spirit—one that will rescue us from the whirlpools of uncertainty and guide us toward a renewed love of truth, a renewed understanding of science, and a deeper mode of thought, all within the framework of our own moral foundations, understanding, and inherited wisdom. This prescription is drawn from metaphysical reflections distilled from centuries of lived experience, an otherworldly-oriented philosophy of life, and a voice grounded in Prophethood that speaks to the reality of God, the universe, and the human being. I believe that until we reclaim these lost values, it will not be possible for us to find our own style, determine our true position, or free ourselves from deviations of thought.