Life, while being lived, rarely offers us the leisure to pause and reflect. Responsibilities, liabilities, and the ceaseless rush of existence keep us moving forward. Only in the twilight of age, when we look back, do we recognize the mistakes we made, the wrong decisions we embraced, the misplaced relationships we nurtured, and the company we should have avoided. It is then that life reveals its deeper lessons, allowing us to redefine it with clarity and wisdom.
Dr. Arfa Syeda Zahra, the distinguished professor, educationist, human rights activist, principal, and public intellectual, stands as one of those rare figures who has redefined life not only for herself but for society at large. Her words carry the weight of experience, maturity, and intelligence. She reminds us that without confronting harm, one cannot truly understand benefit; without living life fully, one cannot grasp its patterns or mysteries.
Dr. Zahra has consistently critiqued the way modern life has shifted from values rooted in kindness, gentility, obligation, and humility to a sphere dominated by formalities and official ties. In her view, we have begun to focus less on the human being and more on what he or she possesses. A shift from inhabitant to habitation. A shift from inside to outside. Now frustration and fragmentation prevail in our lives. This observation resonates with W.B. Yeats’s haunting lines in The Second Coming:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre,
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the earth.
Indeed, a shift has occurred that has changed everything. Our focus, preferences, and duties have transformed. Unconditional love has given way to greed and selfishness; mercy has been replaced by cruelty; and the pursuit of aims has often justified ruthless means. We have knowledge but lack morals, houses but no families, wealth but no happiness. Luxuries abound, yet simplicity is absent. We are materially well-off but spiritually impoverished.
Virginia Woolf once remarked that “on or around 1914, human character changed.” Dr. Zahra, living in this age of transformation, observed with an indignant eye how human beings themselves were altered. She considers human being the fundamental component of our societies not his possessions. She often recalled the aftermath of Japan’s devastation during World War II. When asked how the nation would rebuild from rubble, the Japanese people responded: “We will build our country on human capital.” This, she emphasized, is the essence of true prosperity—humanity itself as the greatest resource. She also invoked Lord Mountbatten’s unsettling remark: “When I leave, I want to leave brown bodies with white souls.” For Dr. Zahra, such statements underscored the urgency of preserving human values and principles against forces that sought to erode them.
Dr. Zahra’s reflections were not confined to social critique; they carried a profound spiritual resonance. She often quoted Moulana Rumi’s parable of the man who longed to see God. God replied: “When you were lying on your cosy bed and a soaked man knocked on your door, it was me. When you saw an old man struggling to cross the road and did not help him, it was me.” Through such wisdom, she reminded us that divinity is not found in abstraction but in acts of compassion, mercy, and service to others.
Dr. Zahra lamented the radical shift in social life: open courtyards that once welcomed neighbours have been replaced by concrete fences, making the needy hesitate a hundred times before asking for help. The journey from interior to exterior has been stark. The interior—morals, simplicity, selflessness—has been pushed aside, while the exterior—possessions, appearances, status—has been glorified.
Yet Dr. Zahra herself resisted this tide. She never allowed such shifts to infiltrate her character. She remained steadfast in her commitment to interior beautification: etiquette, civics, knowledge, humility, love, and mercy. She held firmly to principles that form the core of human existence.
In every interviews, lectures, and public appearances, Dr. Arfa Syeda Zahra embodied the role of a conscience-keeper. She reminded society that prosperity without humanity is hollow, that education without values is dangerous, and that progress without compassion is meaningless. Her voice was indignant yet compassionate, critical yet constructive.
She urged us to remember that the true measure of a nation lies not in its wealth or power but in its human capital—its people, their values, and their moral strength.
To redefine life, as Dr. Zahra teaches us, is not merely to look back with regret but to move forward with renewed clarity. It is to recognize that the essence of existence lies in simplicity, humility, and love. It is to resist the lure of external possessions and cultivate the richness of the interior self.
Her life and words remind us that while the world may change, while greed and cruelty may dominate, there will always be voices that call us back to humanity. Dr. Arfa Syeda Zahra is one such voice—a beacon of wisdom in an age of confusion.
In paying tribute to Dr. Arfa Syeda Zahra, we honour not only her achievements as an educationist and activist but also her role as a moral philosopher of our times. She redefined life by holding fast to values that are timeless: kindness, humility, selflessness, and love.
Her legacy challenges us to confront our own lives, to recognize the shifts that have led us astray, and to reclaim the principles that make us truly human. In a world obsessed with possessions, she reminds us to rediscover the person. In a society that glorifies the exterior, she calls us back to the interior.
Dr. Arfa Syeda Zahra’s life is a testament to the truth that redefining life is not a passive act of reflection but an active commitment to values. It is a journey from exterior to interior, from possessions to principles, from selfishness to selflessness. And in that journey, she stands as a guide, a critic, and a redeemer of human character.
The writer is a columnist from sonawari bandipora Kashmir and can be reached at azaadbhat28@gmail.com.
