My Dear Friend: When you made the mistake you began to think the world had turned into a heap of mud or ashes and lost all its charm. You look at things now in a way to suit your current state of mind. You have become frustrated because of your failure. Your mistake now hounds you so you have lost your sense of direction and thought. You view everything through blurred vision.

Although it is only one mistake you think your whole life has been ruined. You label yourself as a defeatist and carry the mentality to everything you do. In fact your letter helped me realize that my life was a series of mistakes. If I were to be put off, at the very least, by one of my failures, I would now be a secondhand car dealer, a brick seller at Bab Sharif in Jeddah, or loafing around in the London tube.

How in the world could you presume, when you failed only once, that you were burdened by all the crimes in the world, as though you were responsible for the famine in the Horn of Africa or for Israel not withdrawing from the Golan Heights?

You have been unjust while yours was, in fact, a minor mistake. On the other hand, I forgive myself when I commit any crime against myself. But I have never forgiven myself when I have done something wrong to others. Therefore, be realistic and don’t blame yourself any more, because you have not harmed anyone else.

Now pull yourself together and repair the damage. Don’t depend on anyone else. You have to do it yourself. Go back to your country and tell your father, brothers and wife what you have done without hiding anything. Be frank! If you lie to them it will only confuse you and make matters worse. Instead of a single mistake you would be committing many more.

You have to realize that life stands on both right and wrong. If everything people did were right, we would be living in paradise. Life is an argument between right and wrong. It is a struggle between good and bad. It is also a battle between justice and injustice. We strive to side with the right, the good and the just. Also understand there is no battle without defeat or mistakes.

I’m sure you will be successful in your problem. You may slip once or many more times but always make sure you always take the best path. Thank you.