Artist’s impression of Genghis Khan
CHOOSE YOUR LAST WORDS CAREFULLY
Life’s beginning and end are more important than the middle
The controversial hanging of former President Saddam Hussein who shouted “Allah hu Akbar!” (“God is great!”) as he started dropping at his place of execution has brought to my mind the interest of my former prep school contemporaries in famous last words.
There is a religious aspect to this. Many major faiths including Islam and Christianity teach that, no matter how evil a person is, a last minute or even last second conversion is enough to justify an eternity of rewards.
For example, in the European tradition there is a story about a terrible baron who did the most awful things to people but when falling from his horse repented his rotten ways “between the stirrup and the ground” and thereby earned his place in heaven.
Islam encourages the Faithful to say the Kalima “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is the Prophet of Allah” just before drawing their last breaths, if that is possible.
The Hare Krishna temple in Soho Street, London lays great stress on the last moments of life. They go so far as to say that people should not die under the influence of general anaesthetics because they should be as fully conscious as possible when the soul leaves the body, perhaps on account of reincarnation or something similar.
Furthermore, there is a psychological aspect to famous last words as indicators of a person’s mental and possibly spiritual state at the very end. It is fairly well known that drowning men and perhaps others facing imminent death undergo speeded up biographies of themselves and survivors have attested to this.
Furthermore, there is the phenomenon of “near death experiences” which have received quite a bit of coverage including in the broadcast media, especially television. Essentially, the dying person usually says that he (or she) went down a tunnel with a bright light at the end and that, having emerged out of the end, entered a garden with former friends and relations welcoming them.
However, biological scientists reckon that the above can be attributed to the actions of endorphins in brains starved of oxygen when the lungs cease to supply the interiors of the skulls with that gas.
At any rate, humanity has always laid great importance on famous last words. Even the legal profession participates. For example, in the usual course of events, verbal wills are not acceptable in the eyes of the law; but verbal testaments of wills can be accepted when made by dying servicemen in wartime provided they were made in the presence of disinterested witnesses.
When I ‘phoned up members of the legal profession to gather their opinions on this subject one solicitor in Leeds said that he wanted me to mention Sir Winston Churchill’s words at the end of the second world war (not really famous last words) “Thank God for spreading good” and the words at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster during the thanksgiving service “We give humble thanks to Almighty God for our deliverance from the threat of German dominion” (not exactly famous last words either).
Although famous last words are usually associated with deathbed and similar scenes when life is at an end there are other examples such as the words of Churchill quoted above. But more of that later.
Here are two favourite end of life words:
"The ladies have to go first. . . . Get in the lifeboat, to please me. . . . Good-bye, dearie. I'll see you later."
At the turn of the 20th century, John Jacob Astor was the richest man in the world, owning over 700 prime Manhattan properties and serving as chairman for more than 20 different companies. After divorcing his wife of many years, Astor married an 18-year-old acquaintance, Madeline. To escape the resulting scandal, the Astors took a two-year holiday in Egypt and Europe. When Madeline became pregnant while in England, the couple booked return passage to New York on the gigantic, ill-fated, new luxury liner, Titanic. After the ship struck its famous iceberg (?), the Astors were ushered to one of the last lifeboats. As Astor started to enter, he noticed an approaching female passenger. Turning to Madeline, he explained that he must give up his seat, and bid her farewell. John Jacob Astor did not rejoin Madeline in New York for the birth of their son; he died, along with 1500 other passengers, when the ship sank.
"Let not my end disarm you, and on no account weep or keen for me, let the enemy be warned of my death"
Genghis Khan was the founder of the largest continuous land empire to ever be established, ranging from the Near East to the Yellow Sea. In 1226, at a relatively advanced age, he led his army on a campaign to punish the Tanguts for their refusal to provide him with auxiliary troops during a previous campaign. He fell ill as his forces approached the Tangut capital of Ningxia, perhaps - although accounts disagree - from infections of wounds inflicted on his genitals by a captured woman he had ravished. At any event, when it became clear that he was dying, he summoned his generals and sons to his bedside.
His sons arrived first and found their father deliriously raving that "My descendants will wear gold, they will eat the choicest meats, they will ride the finest horses, they will hold in their arms the most beautiful women, and they will forget to whom they owe it all." Eventually, he regained his composure and told his sons "It is clear to me that I must leave everything and go hence from thee." He then turned to his generals and began to give final guidance for the battle against the Tanguts. Before he concluded his speech, he instructed them "the words of the lad Kublai are well worth attention; see, all of you, that you heed what he says! One day he will sit in my seat and bring you good fortune such as you have had in my day." Following the khan's death, the Mongol army defeated the Tanguts, sacked Ningxia, and massacred all of its inhabitants.
My favourite epitaph is this for Robert Burns the Scottish poet:
“To the Memory of Robert Burns the Ayrshire Bard who was born at Doonside On the 29th of January 1759, and died at Dumbries On the 22nd of July 1796
O Rabbie Burns, the Man, the Brither And art thou goune - and gone for ever; And has thou crossed that unknown river, Life's dreary bound? Like thee, where shall we find anither The world around? Go to your sculptur'd tombs, ye Great, In all the tinsel trash of state; But by thy honest turf I'll wait, Thou man of worth. And weep the sweetest poet's fate, E'er lived on earth”
When it comes to farewells, how about this from Richard Nixon resigning from the presidency:
CHOOSE YOUR LAST WORDS CAREFULLY
Life’s beginning and end are more important than the middle
The controversial hanging of former President Saddam Hussein who shouted “Allah hu Akbar!” (“God is great!”) as he started dropping at his place of execution has brought to my mind the interest of my former prep school contemporaries in famous last words.
There is a religious aspect to this. Many major faiths including Islam and Christianity teach that, no matter how evil a person is, a last minute or even last second conversion is enough to justify an eternity of rewards.
For example, in the European tradition there is a story about a terrible baron who did the most awful things to people but when falling from his horse repented his rotten ways “between the stirrup and the ground” and thereby earned his place in heaven.
Islam encourages the Faithful to say the Kalima “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is the Prophet of Allah” just before drawing their last breaths, if that is possible.
The Hare Krishna temple in Soho Street, London lays great stress on the last moments of life. They go so far as to say that people should not die under the influence of general anaesthetics because they should be as fully conscious as possible when the soul leaves the body, perhaps on account of reincarnation or something similar.
Furthermore, there is a psychological aspect to famous last words as indicators of a person’s mental and possibly spiritual state at the very end. It is fairly well known that drowning men and perhaps others facing imminent death undergo speeded up biographies of themselves and survivors have attested to this.
Furthermore, there is the phenomenon of “near death experiences” which have received quite a bit of coverage including in the broadcast media, especially television. Essentially, the dying person usually says that he (or she) went down a tunnel with a bright light at the end and that, having emerged out of the end, entered a garden with former friends and relations welcoming them.
However, biological scientists reckon that the above can be attributed to the actions of endorphins in brains starved of oxygen when the lungs cease to supply the interiors of the skulls with that gas.
At any rate, humanity has always laid great importance on famous last words. Even the legal profession participates. For example, in the usual course of events, verbal wills are not acceptable in the eyes of the law; but verbal testaments of wills can be accepted when made by dying servicemen in wartime provided they were made in the presence of disinterested witnesses.
When I ‘phoned up members of the legal profession to gather their opinions on this subject one solicitor in Leeds said that he wanted me to mention Sir Winston Churchill’s words at the end of the second world war (not really famous last words) “Thank God for spreading good” and the words at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster during the thanksgiving service “We give humble thanks to Almighty God for our deliverance from the threat of German dominion” (not exactly famous last words either).
Although famous last words are usually associated with deathbed and similar scenes when life is at an end there are other examples such as the words of Churchill quoted above. But more of that later.
Here are two favourite end of life words:
"The ladies have to go first. . . . Get in the lifeboat, to please me. . . . Good-bye, dearie. I'll see you later."
At the turn of the 20th century, John Jacob Astor was the richest man in the world, owning over 700 prime Manhattan properties and serving as chairman for more than 20 different companies. After divorcing his wife of many years, Astor married an 18-year-old acquaintance, Madeline. To escape the resulting scandal, the Astors took a two-year holiday in Egypt and Europe. When Madeline became pregnant while in England, the couple booked return passage to New York on the gigantic, ill-fated, new luxury liner, Titanic. After the ship struck its famous iceberg (?), the Astors were ushered to one of the last lifeboats. As Astor started to enter, he noticed an approaching female passenger. Turning to Madeline, he explained that he must give up his seat, and bid her farewell. John Jacob Astor did not rejoin Madeline in New York for the birth of their son; he died, along with 1500 other passengers, when the ship sank.
"Let not my end disarm you, and on no account weep or keen for me, let the enemy be warned of my death"
Genghis Khan was the founder of the largest continuous land empire to ever be established, ranging from the Near East to the Yellow Sea. In 1226, at a relatively advanced age, he led his army on a campaign to punish the Tanguts for their refusal to provide him with auxiliary troops during a previous campaign. He fell ill as his forces approached the Tangut capital of Ningxia, perhaps - although accounts disagree - from infections of wounds inflicted on his genitals by a captured woman he had ravished. At any event, when it became clear that he was dying, he summoned his generals and sons to his bedside.
His sons arrived first and found their father deliriously raving that "My descendants will wear gold, they will eat the choicest meats, they will ride the finest horses, they will hold in their arms the most beautiful women, and they will forget to whom they owe it all." Eventually, he regained his composure and told his sons "It is clear to me that I must leave everything and go hence from thee." He then turned to his generals and began to give final guidance for the battle against the Tanguts. Before he concluded his speech, he instructed them "the words of the lad Kublai are well worth attention; see, all of you, that you heed what he says! One day he will sit in my seat and bring you good fortune such as you have had in my day." Following the khan's death, the Mongol army defeated the Tanguts, sacked Ningxia, and massacred all of its inhabitants.
My favourite epitaph is this for Robert Burns the Scottish poet:
“To the Memory of Robert Burns the Ayrshire Bard who was born at Doonside On the 29th of January 1759, and died at Dumbries On the 22nd of July 1796
O Rabbie Burns, the Man, the Brither And art thou goune - and gone for ever; And has thou crossed that unknown river, Life's dreary bound? Like thee, where shall we find anither The world around? Go to your sculptur'd tombs, ye Great, In all the tinsel trash of state; But by thy honest turf I'll wait, Thou man of worth. And weep the sweetest poet's fate, E'er lived on earth”
When it comes to farewells, how about this from Richard Nixon resigning from the presidency:
“I have felt it was my duty to persevere, to make every possible effort to complete the term of office to which you elected me. In the past few days, however, it has become evident to me, that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort. . . . I would have preferred to carry through to the finish, whatever the personal agony it would have involved. . . . But the interest of the Nation must always come before any personal considerations. . . . Therefor, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office.”
I tried getting a contribution from a member of the public by ‘phoning around but could not get a volunteer, possibly on account of the intimation of death which “famous last words” inspires in people. Perhaps it was also due to the fact that, owing to the lateness of the hour, I was ringing up North America – a part of the world where anything to do with death is anathema.
Whatever, bearing in mind the Muslim character of the majority of our readership here is an extract from the last sermon by the Prophet Mohammed:
“All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over a white - except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not therefore do injustice to yourselves. Remember one day you will meet Allah and answer your deeds. So beware: do not stray from the path of righteousness after I am gone.”
Perhaps that may have been at the back of former President Hussein’s consciousness just before the drop.
THE END
This article was published in the 1st February issue of the Bangla Mirror, the first English language weekly for the United Kingdom's Bangladeshis - read everywhere from the Arctic Circle to the sub-Antarctic.
