The Glorious Quran is indeed thefinal word of Allah, a guiding constitution rather a divine illumination blazing the physical and spiritual corners of the entire mankind. This divine book was revealed upon the Prophet of Islam Muhammad (PBUH) from time to timeto admonish and polish human civilization. The motive of a man’s creation in this transient world is to let him live according to the Godly principles and test his abilities and endurance from time to time. As Quran rightly sums up in Surah Al-Baqarah (Chapter 2, Verse 155) “We will surely put you to trial by involving you in fear and hunger and by causing loss of property, life and earnings. And give good tidings to those who remain steadfast in these trials...”
Life according to Quran is not the bed of roses rather it is a bed of thorns where every inclusive conscious is bound to suffer by one way or the other. Sufferings of life according to Quranic teachings vary from person to person irrespective of caste and creed. Some suffer due to abject poverty, while others suffer due to financial crunch, ill-health and death of their blood ones etc. The element of wail and groan is thus common among the netizens of the world despite cultural, religious including linguistic differences etc.
Human civilization is as old as the world itself and philosophers across the ages have interpreted life according to their own understanding. Western philosophers too have interpreted it accordingly. Existential philosophers like Jean Paul Satre opine that man is thrown in this world as a diseased animal with which he is out of key. He is bound to face trials, tribulations, oddities and miseries. While as absurdist too find meaninglessness and purposelessness in life.
Quranic principle above all is balanced, pure and authentic. God’s ultimate creation plan is to testify the human race and that is why He subjects them to various forms of trials and tribulations from time to time. Miseries and hurdles are thus an inalienable part of human life. It is pertinent to mention that once a bereaved woman approached Gautam Buddha and implored him to bring her dead son back to normal life. Buddha- in order to instruct her about the universality of human suffering directed her to fetch a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no person had died. The wailing woman while moving from pillar to post couldn’t procure the required stuff & finally came to realise the inevitability of human suffering. Sufferings finally culminate in death as Ghalib puts it,
“Qaid-e-Hayat-o-Band-e-Gham Asal Mein Dono Eik Hain
Maut Se Pehle Aadmi Gham Se Nijaat Paye Kyon!
Ghalib sees no distinction betwixt life and suffering. He got completely fractured and punctuated by various adversities of life. He lost all seven of his children in their infancy, saw his patron Bahadur Shah Zafarsent to die in exile by the British. Moreover, he was a witness to the massacres that followed the 1857 revolt, and struggled with poverty throughout his life. As a result, his poetry is tinged with a melancholic air.
Prophetic teachings too act as a clarion call beforehand and inspire us about the disgruntled nature of human life. The holy teachings guide and motivate us to make best use of our potential and time before life renders oneself crippled and crestfallen. Ibn Abbas (R A) reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Take advantage of five before five: your youth before your old age, your health before your illness, your riches before your poverty, your free time before your work, and your life before your death.”
The matter of the fact and irony of the situation is that people who are being labelled as the crown of creation stumble to realise the purpose of their creation. They keep on appeasing their inner call of insatiable fleshy and carnal desires by hook or by crook.Humandesires are indeed unlimited. Humans keep on hankering after fame and wealthand utilise their efforts tirelessly to achieve their materialistic goals. They keep on aspiring to top the social hierarchy. Finally they sink in the dark quagmire of death without fulfilling their dreams. The desire to live in a rambling house, roam in a luxurious car, cherish sweet delicacies, live a long life turns out to be a mirage as death brings wheel of life to a grinding halt. Death curtails them and they are bound to meet gloom and despair as with every passing iota of time humans approach to their final destination. The context rightly reminds one of H W Longfellow's didactic lines from the poem“A Psalm of Life”
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

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