They will say: Who shall bring us back? Say: He who brought you into
existence the first time (17:51).
The point is that if the second life appears strange, so should be
the first. Life is a mystery and, since it once emerged from not-being
into being, it may conceivably do so again. If God has the power to
create, He certainly has the power to recreate as well. The Qur’an
uses the terms “first make” and “second make” in connection with
this life and the life after death. The body enables the self to
participate in the spatio-temporal system, but is not essential to it.
The body may die, but the self lives.
It will be worthwhile to make a distinction between immortality
and survival after death. Whereas every human being is assured of
survival after death, immortality is reserved only for those who have
attained a high stage of self-development. It is these who are
capable of continuing their ascent to higher planes. As they enter
heaven (jannah) a new vista of development opens before them.
Development continues after death, but only for those who have
made a start in this life. If man has seized the opportunities for self-
realisation that this life offers, he can climb loftier heights in the
hereafter. If not, he finds himself in the state termed jahannam (hell)
in the Qur’an, where the next step cannot be taken.
VI. ImmortalityAs we have seen, men who are admitted into heaven (jannah) can
continue the process of self-realisation, and what is called
immortality is conferred on them.
Therein shall they taste no death except the first death (44:56).
They do not die again but this does not mean that they will live
eternally. Immortality is not eternity. The Qur’an says of those who
have entered jannah, that they “shall dwell therein, so long as the
heaven and the earth shall endure except what Allah shall please – a
gift unfailing” (11:108). Eternity may not mean an infinity of
temporal points. It may designate a state outside time, a scale of
timelessness. It would be wiser to abstain from speculating about
things which lie beyond our experience. All that we can say on this
point is that God alone is eternal.
The Self of Man and Its Destiny 86