Attempts To Understand Life

Article: Attempts to Understand Life

By: Tahany Azzab

There are many attempts to understand human nature in order to facilitate dealing with people and living together peacefully. Some tend to liken humans to flowers, believing that each person represents a flower with its own unique characteristics and fragrance, blooming at different times in life. This metaphor is profound, as it highlights the positive influence people might have on others and is marked by gentleness, kindness, and beauty, instilling a sense of joy and hope.

Others compare humans to seas: some are calm, radiating tranquility and stability, while others are turbulent, loving challenge and strength. Both harbor secrets and deep emotions that may remain unspoken. Human nature, conditions, and moods fluctuate just like the sea, shifting between calm and storm.

The sea is considered a source of inspiration for writers and poets in the literary world; Ahmed Shawqi, well known Egyptian poet, described it as the cradle of wisdom, while others have used it as a symbol of greatness. Life itself resembles a sea voyage marked by adventure, mystery, experience, and exploration.

Intellectuals have also likened books to humans—a powerful metaphor that urges readers to delve deeply into content and understand it thoroughly, avoiding superficial judgments based on the cover. Books vary between profound, rare works of great value and those of poor content. This comparison applies to people as well: some delight the eye with the beauty and splendor of their attractive appearance, yet behind that beauty may lie bad character.

Others may appear simple on the outside, yet their essence is astonishing. Therefore, judging things by appearances may lead into falling in the trap of deceivers, manipulators, and the unscrupulous. Thus, essence is far more important than outward form.

As for us—the imaginative ones—we might invite you to let your imagination roam far beyond the familiar, into an intangible realm unseen by the eye, in an attempt to understand human roles and their place in life.

Look at the sun, positioned at the center of the galaxy, with planets orbiting it in defined paths, supplying them with energy, light, activity, and vitality. It represents the greatest among us—those endowed with innate leadership skills, as if they were created to teach us discipline and the proper completion of tasks. Their presence illuminates our lives and grants us warmth and strength.

However, there are moons, on the other hand, reflect the sun’s rays and do not shine on their own. They represent those whose faces glow with a light that fills our lives with beauty and tenderness; they are people of spiritual purity who revere love and spread it among others.

There are also the grounded realists, whose personalities are marked by firmness and stability like mountains. Emotions seem absent; for them, the concept of love is limited to providing a roof over the heads and sufficient food on the table. They understand the details of life well, as if they had been taught from a young age lessons in efficiently managing daily affairs. They excel at their work and act wisely in various situations, and therefore their marriages often last long, as they are the most capable of providing stability.

As for Neptune—the smallest planet and the farthest on the edge of the galaxy—it is a forgotten being that no one pays attention to, and the purpose of its existence is unknown. It represents a type of human being: quiet and silent, whose presence resembles a blast of bitter cold.

We do not grasp the reason for their existence, yet for some wisdom, if they were to disappear, the cosmic order would be disrupted, evil would prevail, and harm would increase. They are those who truly know God, the bearers of wisdom and the makers of peace. Power and prestige do not entice them; all they aspire to is to pass among us in peace, without causing harm or being harmed.

Through this analogy, we seek to connect the awe-inspiring celestial world with the human world that provokes curiosity and contemplation. God created everything with perfection: He created a vast universe that surpasses the comprehension of our limited minds, and He created the profound human soul with its spiritual and psychological dimensions that are difficult to fully understand. He created it balanced, yet prepared for both good and evil.

Thus, attempts to understand human beings remain mere endeavors, and in the end, we may discover that we have not understood anything yet.

- Tahany A.