Can we see or appreciate the light, without the presence of darkness?
Death is indeed a protector of life. If one has to never face a death, would one live life with any meaning? – If, we don’t have any deadline, would targets be, would they matter, would we even try to do anything? If everything we love – lives forever, would one ever struggle, would one make sacrifices? – If there’s no concept of death, would species keep evolving? And if one would leave evolving, then won’t death encompass every being so that there won’t be any life anymore??
Truly, it’s the very death that makes us realize the value of life – how to live, how to become better, how to make lives of others better – so in long-term also better is our own life and life of whatever we leave behind. What remains a point of life, if it comes without surety of death? Death makes life relevant.
It is a death of previous elements that make a place for new ones… and hence the life grows. What’s a death – if not the one in which what dies just melts into an essence, loosing its form but allowing new forms to emerge, making a place for new interactions to take place. Perhaps, that’s why they say dead is not actually dead, but just transitioned.
Things we come to know as immortal and undead are stuck in a place where they can’t grow anymore – their very strength (presumed) is their flaw. Perhaps, that’s why wise writers and philosophers never wished what they leave behind to live forever; No true hero or warrior every wished to be idolized – to be cherished to remain forever.
Yet one thing that’s truly immortal and still growing is “Life”, and only thing that keeps it on the hook is its very antonym “Death”.
Look at this very moment, for if it won’t die, would we – by self – push ourselves to move into another?
– This article is a reflection over the bits about “death” in a wonderful piece: “The Outsiders” written by Miss Maria Imran. It’s her mentor who said: “Death is a greatest protector of the life.” 🙂
Serenades of a dreamer... 
The last para. Very true and ironic. One thing though, we know that life would have no meaning without death, but maybe you should add more about how exactly it “protects” life… I find the thought very intriguing. Death as a protector of life.
Moniba, thank you for your pensive reflection… 🙂
I think, I tried to imply in article how death “protects” the life. To protect something means to care for something and to not let it come in harm’s way. When one understands death and its inevitability or life’s sensitivity to the death, one begins to care for life more. “Life” begins to have a meaning, purpose, liveliness, forethought, learning and unlearning phases from exposures and experience. We don’t become rigid enough to deprive it of some experience, neither become too careless to loose it for the sake of one. If that’s not protection, then what is?
All this thanks to the very concept of “death”.
Scientifically death itself protects life, as in every life, there are other forms of life as well, like cells that grow and die in their cycled time – as they grow, they help us to survive, but if they don’t die making a place for new ones, we can’t survive. Similarly in business, companies survive because they kill many ideas that don’t work, that’s how they can focus on application of new ideas and worthy stuff. In medicine, old formulas and procedures die, for new disruptive ones to take their place, should there be no death of old ones, protection of life from new phenomenons won’t be possible. In every aspect of existence, when something dies and it helps something else to emerge, to sustain, to grow and survive, death is indeed protecting some “life”.
Should we remove “death” out of the equation, we see no protection exists anymore, because there’d hardly be anything to protect, everything would freeze in state of toxicity, staleness or abundance. Now, we won’t call that “life”, would we?
Though I know you’ve high standards, I hope this is adequate. 🙂
Well-explained. Suicide is death. Don’t you think people use that as protection ‘of’ or ‘from’ life too? Only then… it becomes forbidden death.
Suicide is an untimely death by self-inflicted harm, it’s something totally uncalled for, that’s the primary reason why it becomes forbidden. In that manner I think, it becomes a destroyer of life, rather than a protection. Yet, there’re some missions we know as suicidal, yet we participate in it, to protect something greater – perhaps, a life that we consider more worthy then ours, we ‘sacrifice’ a life for life better – so in that case it is a protection. Like what Aitzaz Hussain did, without any indoctrination, without any influence, just an act of courage to save other innocent lives at stake.
But the later case of ‘sacrifice’ as we know walks on a very thin edge of what’s ethical and what’s not. There are questions like: How do you decide which life matters the most? Is ending your life by your self an only solution?
You’re right. But the act of suicide, even though forbidden, is a protector and destroyer, both. In a way. A person who commits suicide, protects life’s sanity. It’s a weird way to look at it, and it shouldn’t at all be encouraged, so i’ll just stop right here.
“Nor can a soul die except by Allah’s leave, the term being fixed by writing…”
(Qur’an Al-Imran 3:145)
What Allah establishes here is: Death has an appointed time. There is no death before death. Hence the simplest explanation to her mentor’s maxim: “Mout zindagi ki sab se barri muhafiz hy.”
All of you people talking about death, trying to scare me 😦 The article is very good and Maria’s post was the best that has sparked a new thought in the minds of everyone reading her. I agree to your thoughts and Sarosh’s comment, both. Mout zindagi ki sab se bari muhafiz hay…..Mout protects life…protects life from itself and hence at the fixed time, it stops protecting and life is eaten by it. It is the scariest protector but a perfect one.
Very true.
If everything we love, lives forever – there won’t be a point living. Or sacrificing, struggling, or evolving. There won’t be ‘life’ anymore…
Death makes life relevant, gives a reason to step ahead, to leave behind what’s not. But the dead aren’t dead. I really like how you’ve explained the whole of it.
And thank you. For doing it again.
🙂