IT'S ONLY WORDS...

Once there was a man and his wife. The man used to say to the wife," Go jump into the lake.. go and jump down the bridge... go and die la!" each time they had an argument. When queried, he gave the excuse that he had said them in anger, and that he didn't meant those words he uttered. He claimed that he still loved the wife.
However, it was not so with the wife. After tolerating the verbal abuse and being patient for many years, she finally left him. He was devastated. He could not believe when she told him that the hurtful words he had uttered during their 13-year marriage[without apologies to her afterward], had contributed to its breakdown.
He regretted his actions but it was too late.
It took him a long long time to recover from the divorce and be happy again.

Harsh words break no bones but they do break hearts.

The Malays have a saying, "terlajak perahu boleh diundur, terlajak kata buruk padahnya."
To say something wrongly will bring harmful results, so always guard your tongue especially when speaking to your loved ones. Some people are very polite to their friends but careless when talking to their family members.

The tongue plays an important role in a person's life, as the body warns the tongue, "Fear Allah concerning us for we are dependent upon you. If you are upright then we are upright and if you are corrupt then we will be corrupt." [Sunan at-Tarmizhi, Mishkaat and Riyaadh as-Saleheen]

The responsibility of the Muslim regarding what he says is mentioned in the Qur'an:

"Not a word does he utter but there is a watcher by him ready to record it"
[Surah Qaf 50: 18].

The Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, said that a pious man from Bani Israel use to see his fellow man always committing sins. One day the pious man swore to the sinner: "By Allah, He will never forgive you." Allah was displeased with what the pious man said because only Allah knows what is our destiny, whether someone will end up in Paradise or Hell. Because of this, when the two men died, the pious man was punished and put into Hell and the sinner was forgiven by Allah. [Sunan Abu Daud]

image: http://openreflections.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/the-power-of-words.jpg