A friend of mine asked me to write something about 'life" ... what life is all about? Quite a heavy topic eh?

I scrambled & look into "Collins Consice Dictionary" ... there it is, "life" means: "the state or quality that distinguishes living beings or organisms from dead ones and from inorganic matter, characterised chiefly by metabolism, growth, and the ability to reproduce and respond to stimuli" ... Phewww! That's long, heavy & full of big words ... especially "the ability to reproduce""!!!! Try this, it also being simply defined as " the period between birth and death" .... which is very short and too curt!!!

Let us try absorb this poem @ "Semangat" by Chairil Anwar who viewed "life" as:

Semangat

Kalau sampai waktuku
kutahu tak seorang 'kan merayu
Tidak juga kau

Tak perlu sedu sedan itu!

Aku ini binatang jalang
Dari kumpulan terbuang

Biar peluru menembus kulitku
Aku tetap meradang-menerjang

Luka dan bisa kubawa berlari
Berlari

Hingga hilang pedih dan peri

Dan aku akan lebih tidak perduli
Aku mau hidup seribu tahun lagi."

The above poem was penned by him in March (Note: My birthday Month!!!) 1943. He sure "lives" till now ... his spirit that is.

The other source on "life" is of course from the verses of the Holy Quran ... I purposely touch on this is as the last reference so that it would "lasts" long in my mental faculty...

Firstly, Verses 5-7 Surah 22 [Al Hajj]:

" O mankind! If you doubt about the life after death, remember that We first created you from dust, then from a sperm, then from a leech-like mass, then from a morsel of flesh, partly formed and partly unformed, so that We may manifest to you Our power. We cause to remain in the womb whom We wish for an appointed term, and then We bring you forth as infants; then We nourish you so that you may reach your age of full strength. There are some of you who die young and some who live on to their abject old age when all that they once knew they know no more. You sometimes see the land dry and barren; but no sooner do We pour down rain upon it then it begins to stir and swell, putting forth every kind of beautiful growth in pairs. This is because Allah is the Reality: it is He who gives life to the dead and it is He Who has power over everything, and this is proof that the Hour of Doom is sure to come - there is no doubt about it; and Allah will raise up those who are in the graves."

Other related verses: Verses 28-29 Surah Al-Baqarah; Verses 26-44 Surah Al-Hijr on the creation of Adam; Verses 66-70 Surah An-Nabi.

There you are .... That's what 'life" is all about ... We don't live in an island though I'd love to live in one and just being engrossed with my own self .... Care to join me?

P/S; At about 10.30 PM , I received a text telling me that my old friend, Tn Hj Rozlan Halim passed away in Seremban. He's a great & good Planter ... Al Fatihah