What goes up would always come down. Man is made from dust and he will be returned to dust. Allah the Exalted has created man in stages, as and when time passes man takes a different form, both physically and mentally. It starts with birth, then early childhood, then later childhood, then adolescent, then youth, then adulthood, then old age and then finally death.
Two ayahs in the Qur’ān help us understand as to how Allah would reverse the personality of the individual. Allah says in the Qur’ān, “And he to whom We grant long life We reverse in creation; so will they not understand?” (Qur’ān 36:68). Allah also says in the Qur’ān, “Allah is the one who created you from weakness, then made after weakness strength, then made after strength weakness and white hair. He creates what He wills, and He is the Knowing, the Competent” (Qur’ān 30:54).
When a person gets old he displays similar characteristics which he displayed during his childhood. Some of the characteristics are falling down, losing teeth, being very stubborn, being physically week, speak senselessly, become a burden, urinating in clothes, not able to walk fast, not able to cross the road, forget the way back home, asking things again and again, pushed on a chair with wheels, are unable to stand and walk without any help or support of others, are fed by others, etc.
As a child, the powers of mind and body are still underdeveloped. As man grows, they grow, and certain moral qualities, such as courage, daringness, the will to conquer, unfold themselves. In extreme old age these are again obscured, and a second childhood returns. The back of the man who walked proudly straight and erect is now bent.
Childhood and youth and old age have all been created by Him. It is dependent upon His will that He may create whomsoever He pleases weak and whomever He pleases strong. He may give death to whomsoever He pleases before attaining manhood and whomsoever He pleases in the prime of youth. He may grant a long life and yet keep in sound health whomsoever He pleases and bring to a wretched, agonising old age after a brim-full youth whomever He likes. Man may live in self-conceit and arrogance if he so likes, but he is so helpless in Allah’s powerful grip that he cannot change by any artifice the state that He may place him in.
When a man is born, he is in a very weak state. Then gradually he gathers strength and reaches youth. He becomes strong and powerful. Then this strength is gradually taken away from him, therefore, in old age he again becomes weak. This change of man from one state to another, and his helplessness in his own case is the clear proof of the fact that it is His Lord who created as He wills, and passed him through whatever stages He wills.
Man is impetuous by nature, in the sense that he gets involved in the present so much that he forgets the past and the future. This habit leads him to many serious problems. When he is young, his strength is at its peak, and he does not care about anyone in his over-weaning pride. He finds it difficult to remain within limits. In order to warn people, this ayah gives a complete picture of the strength and weakness in human life as they come and go by. It is pointed out in the ayah that man starts his life in a state of weakness and ends it with similar weakness. It is only in the middle of his life that he gains strength for a short period. It is in his own interest that he should keep in mind the impending weakness while he is still strong, and does not forget how he achieved strength gradually from the state of weakness.
In our physical life we see how strength is evolved out of weakness and weakness out of strength. The helpless child becomes a lusty man in the pride of his youth and adulthood, and then sinks to a feeble old age.
The physical downfall of man which occurs naturally is sufficient to open his eyes. The failure of the powers, one after another, after having enjoyed full strength, is the proof of the fact that man has no power over his own strength or weakness that he may feel proud. All the powers that he enjoys are given by his Creator. He takes them away whenever He wills.
The abject old age in life means very old age, when man’s energies fail and some people reach such a stage that they are not aware of what they are doing and their memory also becomes week. Allah will diminish the energy and faculties of man in old age and can take away these faculties from men at any time at any stage. If man contemplates on his capabilities from this aspect then he cannot feel proud over his strength, capabilities or achievement, and he would bow before Allah. Man should always remember that at the end of life he returns to the same state of weakness with which he had started life in this world.