The difference between the lion and the dog

إن الجـواب لـباب الشر مفتــاح	قالوا سكتَّ وقد خُوصمت؟ قلت لهم
وفيه أيـضا لصون العرض إصلاح	والصمت عن جاهل أو أحمق شرف
والكلب يُخسى- لعمري- وهو نباح	أما ترى الأسد تُخشى وهي صامتة

They said you became silent and you were being argued with - so I said to them,

Verily the answer is a key to the door of evil.

And being quiet in front of someone ignorant or foolish is worthy of respect,

And in it also there is betterment for the protection of my affairs.

Do you not see that the lions strike fear in the hearts while they are silent,

While the dog is rejected, I swear by my life, and he is one who barks.

Imam Shafii was being shouted at by someone who didn’t have knowledge of what he was talking about, and the Imam  observed silence in the face of this adversary. Later on his students asked “why did you do this oh Imam?” and he replied with this poem.

He says that it is better for one to avoid argument with someone ignorant, as you can never win an argument with them. Also, if he were to engage in a debate with such a worthless person, he would have further incensed that person and caused him to launch into an ad hominem attack as well as opengin the door to slander and backbiting once the meeting was at an end.

And the Imam strikes a powerful analogy. The lion is revered and respected yet he rarely makes a sound, while the dog is seen as worthless in Arab culture and yet he is one of the noisiest animals.

This analogy is also useful for one who wants to adopt leadership positions. People often think that leadership means one needs to talk a lot. This is not true. In fact the opposite is often much more effective, as then you are listening to your subordinates and when you do speak, your words carry weight.