To think of the end and the goal means to limit what one wants, what one aims at, this limitation is necessary for reaching the phase of fruitful thinking. Of course, limiting what one wants is not an easy matter. The backward nations and people do not know what they want or more precisely, they can hardly know what they want. The feebleminded individuals, and even a great number of intelligent people, do not limit their goals, and some of them can’t even do so at all. But peoples and nations are dominated by imitation, so they generally do not exhibit any through examination of notions. Consequently, erroneous concepts and incorrect information spread among them. Hence, they rush in life without limiting any end. So their thought remains fruitless. To be fruitful, thought should be used to achieve some end.

The goal differs from man to man, and from nation to nation. The nation’s goal is to rise up. The goal of the advanced notion it to obtain all types of satisfaction; the primitive people’s goal is to go on maintaining the conditions under which they live; the advanced people’s goal is to ameliorate their conditions and to bring about the necessary change. The feebleminded individual’s aim is to satisfy his organic needs. The intelligent peoples goal is to improve the type of satisfaction they are using. Thus, aim and goal differ according to people and their standard of thinking. Bu whatever the aims and goals of the people and individuals are, patience in realizing them and seriousness in pursuing them are needed, especially with respect to near sought aims and easy fetched goals. The satisfaction of hungers, is an easy aim even if it is not near. Therefore, the capacity of being patient of it, though variable, is nevertheless owned by every man. If man wants to eat, or seeks peace, he can win these goals even if he belongs to the general public. But if one wants to progress, uplift his people, improve his position, or uplift the place of his nation, he ought to have patience and engage in serious pursuit. This is obviously not within the ability of every man. One may begin to follow the way but he may not achieve the goal as he suffers from toil and loss of patience. But even if he does not get tired or lose patience, he may proceed, move on, yet never achieve any goal because he is not serious in his pursuance.

Individuals are more capable of patience than peoples and nations because their vision is clearer. Obviously, the association of people weakens their power of thinking and enfeebles their faculty of reasoning. The vision of one person is generally, stronger than that of two and as the number of persons increases so vision decreases. Therefore, it is unsound to plan far reaching goals for people, because they usually do not set up out to realize them, and if they do move on, they neither do so seriously, nor do they get to the point. For this reason, it is necessary that the goal which is set up for the people be near and realizable so that if it is realized they move on to another goal, and so on. Because the group is nearer than the individual in seeing the possible and less capable of enduring great difficulties, it cannot make out of it a goal. Yet what is actually possible is that which people can see and set on to realize. But in general people are able to see that which is intellectually possible is possible in reality.

The goal of thinking should be limited, and the end of action should be visible to both sight and insight; it should also be intellectually and actually realizable, otherwise it ceases to be an appropriate goal. And if individual’s thinking and action should aim at an end, peoples and nations should pursue ends too. But to be sound, the end should be short sought, because the nearer and more realizable the end is, the better. True, peoples and nations are not expected to plan their goals for themselves, but these peoples and nations have ideas diffused among them. They adopt opinions and hold beliefs. Moreover, they are dominated by goals due either to their ideas, opinions and beliefs, or to their life experiences, or to their state of deprivation or satisfaction. Goals are designed for them either to get rid of deprivation or to better the type of satisfaction they employ.

Finally, what should be drawn attention to is the differentiation between end, and ideal. An ideal is the fine end, and the only condition for an ideal is to set out for obtaining it. It is not necessary for an ideal to be actually realizable, but it should be mentally so, because an ideal is different from end, although it is itself an end. But the difference between an ideal and an end is that the latter must be known before an action is done to achieve it. It must be known during its pursuit, and perseverance should be displayed until it is really won. In contrast, the ideal is merely observed during thought and action, and all thought and action are used for its achievement. For example, to please Allah is the highest ideal of Muslims. Some Muslims may consider entering into paradise or avoiding the fire as ideals; but these are not termed ideals because they are ends which precede ends. An ideal, though being the end of ends, is not followed by any end. And the end of ends which is not followed by any end is the satisfaction of Allah. Although an ideal is the end of ends, there is yet no end beyond it, and the end of ends, is obtaining Allah’s favor.