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Spirit of Islam Issue 35 November 2015
On the verge of
death, all the
splendours of
the world appear
meaningless and
worthless.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF DEATH
Prepare Your Provision
T
HE renowned conqueror, Alexander ‘the Great’, said on the
day he died: “I wanted to conquer the world, but death has
conquered me! It is a pity that I could not derive from life the
solace that is accessible even to a commoner!”
Towards the end of his life, Napoleon Bonaparte gave vent to his
feelings of frustration and disappointment thus: “Frustration was a
crime to me, but today, I’m the most frustrated of men on earth. I was
hungry for two things: power and love. I acquired power, but it soon
deserted me. I searched for love, but I never found it. If what I have got
from life is all that there is to it, human life is meaningless, as its end is
nothing but frustration and destruction.”
The Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rasheed ruled over an empire the size
of which was so vast that it was said that the sun never set on it. But
during his final days, he said: “I sought solace
throughout my life, but in vain. I have lived a
life full of anxiety and torment. Not for a single
day have I been at ease. Now I have come to
the verge of death, the grave is waiting to
devour my body.”
This is the end of every human being. But
everyone ignores his end. When the Caliph Al-
Mansur Abbasi approached his end, he said:
“Had I lived a little longer, I would have set
such empires ablaze as caused me to deviate
frequently from the path of truth. In truth, one good action is far better
than a whole empire. But I realised this truth too late, and death has
me in its clutches.”
Most of the ‘successful’ men of this world have breathed their last
overwhelmed with the feeling that they have been the greatest of
failures. Were man to experience such feelings in his prime, he would
be utterly transformed.
On the verge of death, all the splendours of the world appear
meaningless and worthless. Yet, while man lives, he is so engrossed in
them that he finds no time to delve deeper into the realities of life. He
leaves behind a world which he has lost, and beyond him is a world for
which he has made no preparations.