Question No. 3460 10 September 2026 Official answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) verified Content level: Intermediate

What Is Dormant Arrogance, and How Can We Fight It?

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Dear questioner, Master Ali Saei

Tracking code: #Q-3460

Question 2

Ustad Saei mentioned that there are two kinds of arrogance: active and dormant.

Dormant arrogance is pride that has not yet found the opportunity or circumstances to surface. It is like a sword still in its sheath, or a grenade whose pin has not yet been pulled.

Could you please give an example of dormant arrogance and explain how to guard against it? If pride has not yet become active or visible, how can we recognize it and confront it?
َّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحيمِ

Subject category: Ethics and Spirituality

The essence and first answer at a glance (60-word summary)

Dormant arrogance is a form of pride whose seed has entered the heart but has not yet taken root because the power, opportunity or circumstances to bring it out are lacking. When any of these factors grows stronger, dormant arrogance becomes active. For example, someone may not yet have faced a situation that invites comparison, or been influenced by beauty, ability, status, wealth, knowledge or the attention of others.

Answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat)

Teacher and researcher in the intellectual tradition of wisdom and the Ahl al-Bayt | Soroush Bamdadān Cultural Center

Cold arrogance is the same arrogance whose germ has entered the heart but has not yet become active. It lacks the strength, opportunity, or conditions to manifest itself. When any of these is strengthened, cold arrogance turns into hot arrogance.

For example, someone may not have been placed in circumstances that invite comparison; beauty, ability, status, wealth, knowledge, or attention may not have become predominant in their life, and other destructive impulses and corrupting influences may not have lent their support to arrogance.

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What Is Dormant Arrogance, and How Can We Fight It?

The essence and first answer at a glance (60-word summary)

Answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat)

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