DEATH

May peace be upon you.


I lost a friend to cancer two days ago. I visited him a few weeks before his death. I haven't seen him more than 20 years and seeing him for the first time after all those years in a hospital bed felt awkward. He was surrounded by his family and friends. Obviously he was loved. I felt like a stranger.

After his funeral, my old friends and I had an informal reunion. We were from the same class in college. As we sat together in the dimly-lit restaurant eating 'murtabak', reminiscing our younger years and feeling blessed with our present life, I could not  help but look around....which one of us will be next?

Death seems to pick us one by one. Last year two of our colleagues passed away suddenly only months apart. I was in total shock when my first friend died. I thought she was too young to die. She was vibrant and jolly and the sweetest person you could ever meet. The reality is, death does not discriminate whether you're young or old, whether you're a nice person or not. 

Face it...everyone will die. Someday..somehow. The prophet Muhammad [peace be upon him] said the cleverest of men is the one who always remembers death. The reason is what Professor Morrie said in the book 'Tuesdays with Morrie' written by Mitch Albom "...To know you're going to die, and to be prepared  for it at any time...."

People who are prepared for death, will look at life differently. They will be more involved with their love ones, with life itself. They will try to do good deeds to everyone. They will feel blessed for everyday they wake up alive.

 As what Professor Morrie reminded us, "Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live".