Allama Dr. Iqbal Understanding the Concept of Life and Death -Raihan Uddin

Allama Dr. Iqbal nominates the death as the dawn of human lifetime, and the receptive span of lifetime is the morning. He has mentioned in one of poems “you understand the death ending of life, oh fool! Yet, this is the evening of life, and that is the eternal morning of life.” Iqbal has said something very concise and profound in a manner that seeks your special eye on it. It is not anything to read like a poetry stanza; rather, it has a massive intellectual and spiritual attachment to human consciousness. Whatever is found at a cause of long philosophical horizon travel of quest for meaning of life, Iqbal has expressed all at all within a few verses.
Whether people are about to be ingredients of Modern capitalistic society or they are about to have humanly livelihood, depends significantly on the approach people are going to take towards understanding the verses. It is not an extravagance to say about the verses this way or other.

However, Iqbal here mentioned the crystal clear perception of life and death that not only Muslim but also all human being should consider with great consciousness. The direct and sophisticated answer of what death means and what life means is provided. To contemplate the internal and external reflection of the simple lines, people do not necessarily need to have superb intellectual caliber or philosophical excellence. Whilst, two important ingredients must have in common to all which are free mind and a deep sensitivity about typical livelihood.

Firstly, we are supposed to contemplate what free mind or state of emancipated mind is and how it functions at the same time before understanding the life and death because it has inexorable relation to one another. We are not acquainted with some very familiar propositions that we often come across. Importantly, we misinterpret them in some way or other. When we listen the phrase “free mind”, we presumably think it to be something completely detached from religion or religious influence. Those who have minimum sense of philosophy they would easily recognize that this sort of perceptions are solely derived from Enlightenment and post-protestant movement. Further, modernism and post modernism has backed it a lot more. However, the history of philosophy indicates that the feasible, implacable, and relevant understanding of ‘free-mind’ has within the classical religious tradition. In the very beginning of civilization, only religion did propose the convincing answer to the quest for these conceptual understanding. Comprehending the nature of mind, the way it functions and connects the materialistic ingredients of human body towards soul has utmost significance to understand what actually free-mind means.

Human mind follows a very natural equation that is the common inclination of accepting truth-good-beauty. Here, in the equation, every proposition requires a massive intellectual discussion on Its own, yet we are avoiding it for fear of getting the article size extensive. To explain concisely what the equation signifies, we are supposed to concentrate on the chronology which demonstrates, in nature, what is truth that must be good and that obviously leads to the ultimate beauty. Thus, if the natural equation exists in the state of mind and nothing is forcefully penetrated to constraint functioning its stuff, the mind stays free; otherwise it cannot be called free-mind despite having completely detached from religion or religious doctrine. On contrary, there is another equation that is keeping the mind away from detrimental elements simultaneously existed in the nature which are “false-bad-absurd.” It means that mind always regrets to accept what is false and what is false that must be bad and that is the ultimate source of absurdity. Thus, mind can be said free if it follows the natural equation strictly.

Secondly, the word, Sensitivity, seeks an especial attention to analyze. We have originated the society and civilization through the course of time in need of sustaining our existence and we continuously endeavoring to reach on its apex. The outcome of constant effort on developing the civilization is on our glance. The cultural construction, destruction, and reconstruction has occurred. In the course these continuous ordeal change, the whole globe has gone through a chain of complete change. Having all of that, whereas, the Death remains inexorable and unchanged in human life. The concept of birth and death remains still unamending.

Human Being lives on the surface of world for a certain span of time possessing freewill of action. After that, he has to die. Interestingly, human being are completely ignorant of the two margins of their life; before coming to the world and after departing the world. People only can have the knowledge of span between two lives. However, the ignorance can be overcome by only the strong sensitivity of the nature of life and world and by the self-submission towards the nature.

Now, an important question to raise is what the reality of life and world is actually. The straight answer is the eternal intention to retain oneself beneath the shadow of a superior entity. To think oneself inferior before someone has the majestic power to control the world and one can feel safe under his bow. If you can understand the receptivity that you belong and the omnipotence the superior entity carries as well you can submit yourself to that superior entity, you shall be blessed with the acquainted with the reality of life. Furthermore, this crystal clear understanding leads to grow a great sensitivity.

Finally, if we are curious to grow a free-mind and sort of sensitivity in ourselves, the treasure of knowledge and understanding of life and death would be anticipated to our inner self.
Iqbal, in his verses, talks about this ultimate truth and ask people to surrender towards it. Similarly, Jalal-Uddin-Rume declares the same message that, “Lose yourself, Lose yourself, when you lose yourself, you shall discover yourself.”

To summarize the precise discussion, the perception of life and death is the first thing to contemplate before all. Otherwise, wandering the modern complex material world, you will kill your mind and destroy sensitivity which ultimately leads your life to be meaningless and your death to be solely infertile. You would think that death is the solution of this sort of meaningless life, yet this the beginning of another perpetual life.

The author of this article is studying in the Department of English, University of Dhaka.