FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S DESK

Prof Farida Khanam is an author, editor, translator, public speaker and former professor of Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Among her books are ‘A Simple Guide to Islam’ and ‘A Study of World’s Major Religions’. She has translated into English many books authored by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Currently the chairperson of CPS International, she is a regular contributor of articles to various publications. Prof Khanam has edited Maulana’s English translation of the Quran and has also translated his Urdu commentary on the Quran into English. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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I WAS IMPORTANT

MIR TAQI MIR (1723-1810) was an Indian Urdu poet and one of the pioneers who gave shape to the Urdu language itself. He is remembered as one of the best poets of the Urdu language. He wrote a verse that goes like this:

“Kehne laga ke dekh ke chal rah bekhabar, Mein bhi kabhi kisi ka sar-e-pur ghurur tha.” (Trans: It told me, “O ignorant man! Walk carefully, I once held a place of pride on an able body.)

The context of this couplet is that once the poet went to a graveyard, where his foot hit a dead human skull. He felt as if the skull that his foot had hit was in communion with him. The skull seemed to say that a person should never forget his reality, no matter how rich or famous he might have been during his life in the world. Everyone must leave the world empty-handed to return to the dust after death. All their pride and arrogance will vanish into thin air.

There is another incident about a gentleman who once went to a cemetery during a funeral and saw an inscription on a grave that said, “Main aham tha, yahi waham tha.” (I was important, this was the illusion).

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A successful person is one who thinks more about death than life and considers everything he receives as a gift from the Almighty

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Using life-support system, man makes great progress in this world. But he does not acknowledge the Bestower of all these blessings. As a result, he consciously or unconsciously comes to feel that he himself was the owner of the world he had created for himself. But when old age or death comes, all his glory disappears as if it had never existed.

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan writes, “In the prime of his youth, a person passed away. The first time I met him, he appeared perfectly healthy and fit. Later, he was diagnosed with cancer. Despite treatment, the disease progressed, and he became bedridden. In the final stage, he had turned into a mere skeleton. In those days, whenever someone visited him, he would say, ‘Don’t think about me; think about yourself. Be grateful for having a healthy body. You eat, you drink, and you walk on the ground. All these things are God’s blessings. He can take away this blessing whenever He wants, and then you will be left with nothing.’ When a person receives a healthy body at birth, it appears that this healthy body belongs to him. Therefore, he takes it for granted without realizing that this healthy body was entirely a gift from God. He should acknowledge this gift; he should bow down before God. This is the test of life.

A successful person is one who thinks more about death than life and considers everything he receives as a gift from the Almighty. Such a person has succeeded in the test. On the contrary, the person who does not acknowledge God and forgets about death is the one who has failed the test. For one person, there is eternal success, and for the other, there is eternal failure.”