365bet娱乐

Dr. M. SAFDAR ALI BAIG
Lecturer, Osmania University, Hyderabad

Many great thinkers of the East and West have contemplated on the reality of 鈥淢an鈥�, his mysterious and unlimited mental and spiritual powers, his Godly qualities and his overwhelming capacity to conquer and dominate the forces of Nature.

A detailed study of human beings has led thinkers to differentiate men from Supermen. Many great thinkers have entertained the concept of a Superman. A brief study of the history of this concept would be very interesting.

Nearly a thousand years before Christ the great Greek poet Homer presented a kind of Superman in his famous national epic, 鈥淥dyssey鈥� in the character of Odysseus.

The Greek philosopher, Plato, speaks of the need for Supermen. Society needs, he says, 鈥淲ise men鈥� to lead humanity in the right way, to dominate and help it. Plato maintains that this task should be entrusted only to those who have great capacities and who will perform it with the utmost care, sincerity, efficiency and devotion; whose characters are high and ideals lofty; who are learned and organised and are men of high moral and intellectual qualities. They should be men, says Plato, having right behaviour, quick and rational understanding, courage, self-control and firmness of purpose. They should not have personal interests and should not misuse their powers. They should devote themselves wholly and solely to humanity. They should be strong, active, spirited, daring, brave and not power-intoxicated. Above all, Plato says, should be philosophical by nature and metaphysicians. For, he thought, only such people can have a clear understanding of good and evil, and can lay down the rules of behaviour and set up moral standard for humanity. Plato鈥檚 concept of 鈥渨ise men鈥� is more or less the concept of a Superman.

Another old greek thinker, Diogenese also sought his Superman on this earth but could not find him. There is an interesting story about this cynic philosopher, which speaks of him in broad daylight roaming about in the streets of the city, with a lighted candle in his hand. When a man asked what it was that he was seeking with the help ofa candle in broad daylight, he said, 鈥淚 am seeking a man.鈥� When the person asked 鈥淐an鈥檛 you see a man by daylight?鈥� He replied, 鈥淣o. Even in this sunlight I cannot find a man.鈥� By this 鈥淢an,鈥� perhaps he meant a Superman.

The Italian poet, Dante, has also expressed his idea of a Superman in his famous poem the 鈥淒ivine Comedy JJ in the character of Ulysses. Tennyson has also represented this character with some additions. His Superman says:

鈥淚 cannot rest from travel: I will drink

Life to the lees; all times I have enjoyed

Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore and when
Thro鈥� scudding drifts the rainy Hyadas
Vext the dim sea: I am become a name
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of men
and manners, climates, councils, Governments,
Myself not least, but honour鈥檇 of them all;
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch where Thr鈥檞n
Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end;
To rust unburnish鈥檇, not to shine in use!
As tho鈥� to breathe were life.

Tennyson says that a Superman should follow knowledge like a sinking star, beyond the utmost bond of human thought. He goes on:

鈥淒eath closes all, but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.鈥�

The great German philosopher Nietzsche says, 鈥淚 teach you the Superman, Man is something that is to be surpassed.鈥� He continues saying, 鈥淲hat is the ape to man? a laughing stock, a thing of shame. And just so is man to the Superman, a laughing stock, a thing of shame. Once were we apes, and even yet man is more of an ape than any of the apes.鈥�

According to Darwin man is a developed form of an ape, and according to Nietzsche Superman is the developed form of man. He says that Superman is a lightning which has come out of the dark cloud-man. He is the meaning of the universe. Common people cannot understand him. They think all men are equal and say that there are no higher men, we are equal; man is man, before God. Although these are men who know nothing better on earth than to lie with women.

Nietzsche鈥檚 Superman sees the abyss with an eagle鈥檚 eye and with the eagle鈥檚 talons grasps the abyss. He hates seeing his Superman on a bed of flowers. He abhors seeing him weeping, sad and sorrow-stricken, standing stiff, stupid and stony, like a pillar. He loves seeing him in dangers, hardships, thunders and storms, on the highest pinnacle of victory and success. He loves seeing him laughing and dancing. His Superman 鈥済iveth wings to asses, milketh the lioness; is an unruly spirit, which cometh like a hurricane.鈥� He is a laughing storm, which blows dust into the eyes of all the melancholic. He says:

鈥淚f ye would go up high, then use your own legs. Do not get yourselves carried aloft, do not seat yourselves on other people鈥檚 s and heads.

鈥淭hou hast mounted, however, on horse-? Thou now ridest briskly up to thy goal, well my friend! But thy lame foot is also with thee on horse-.

鈥淲hen thou reacheth thy goal, when thou alightest from thy horse-: precisely on thy height, thou higher man then wilt thou stumble.鈥�

Nietzsche was an atheist, he says that God is dead and that for his Superman God was the greatest danger. In his well-known book 鈥淭hus Spake Zarathusthra鈥� he says, 鈥淣ow, however, this God hath died! Ye higher men, this God was your greatest danger.

鈥淥nly since he lay in the grave have ye again arisen. Now only cometh the great noontide, now only doth the higher man become Master!

鈥淕od had died: now do we desire the Superman to live!鈥�

His Superman not only believes in the 鈥渨ill to live鈥� but he believes more in the 鈥渨ill to power鈥�. He has no faith in morality and higher ethical values. He does not believe in goodness and virtue, but in strength and power in the struggle of life. Nietzsche says that good and evil are but relative terms. He argues that only a powerful man is a true picture of high morality. He holds that the desire of power is the only aim and the real value of life. His Superman has no sympathy with humanity. He believes in dominating and squeezing the blood of the weak. He repudiates justice, believes in breaking all the laws and condemns benevolence. He considers kindness to be a product of a weak mind, and sympathy the outcome of an unhealthy mentality. He defines Christian morality as slavish philosophy.

The great mystic of Islam Shaik Muhyid Din-Ibnul 鈥楢rabi believes that the Superman is the most perfect embodiment of God鈥檚 attributes. In fact he says through the Superman only God knows himself, for the Superman is the manifested consciousness of God. He is the highest and most venerable creature God has ever created. He is the soul of the universe, and the highest expression of God鈥檚 creative faculties. He deserves to be called the 鈥淰icegerent鈥�, and the 鈥淚mage鈥� of God.

The great Islamic thinker Abdul Kareem Jeeli in his famous book, 鈥淎l Insan-al-kamil鈥� (perfect man) says that the Superman is a mysterious universe in himself. He is the outward phase of God, and the Supreme being in the universe.

Dr. Iqbal believes in man鈥檚 vicegerency of God, and says that man has come to the earth to conquer the universe, to govern the forces of Nature and to constitute the kingdom of God on earth. He exclaims:

Naib-e-Haq dar jahan boodan khush usth,
Bar anasir hukmran boodan khusk usth.
Bar anasir鈥︹�︹��

(It is a happy task to deputise God on earth, and dominate the forces of Nature.)

He says that man has overwhelming capacities and mysterious, spiritual, mental and physical powers to conquer, control and dominate the force of Nature. He expounds man鈥檚 鈥渆go鈥� as follows:

Khudi sher-e-moula jahan uska saed,
Zamin uski saed aasman uska saed.
Zamin uski鈥︹�︹��

(What is man鈥檚 鈥渆go鈥� a tiger, and the universe its prey. The heavens are its prey and the earth is its prey.) He believes that wisdom is an extraordinary gift of God.

Hur khaki-o-noori pa hukoomath hai khirad ki,
Bahir nahi kuch akhle khudadad ki zud se.
鈥︹�︹��Bahtr nahin鈥︹�︹��

(Wisdom rules the universe, nothing can escape its sweep.)

With the help of this mysterious power man can conquer the universe, and subject it to the will and desire of his self, to suit his own purpose. Iqbal says, 鈥淚f man does not conquer the forces of Nature they would conquer man, and he will remain at the mercy of Nature.鈥�

Conquest of the universe is the first duty of man, but Iqbal鈥檚 conception of a Superman is more sublime. Iqbal鈥檚 Superman does not confine himself to this. He conquers even God. He absorbs the ultimate Reality in his own 鈥淪elf鈥� and feels oneness with God. To reach this goal, he struggles bitterly and attacks violently the devil inside him as a leopard attacks a deer. He is God-intoxicated. He is an embodiment of sublime morality and high ethical values. He is the most perfect embodiment of God鈥漵 attributes. He creates higher values. He cannot kneel before any force or power except God.

Hur ke haq bashad chu jan undur tanush,
Knum na gardud peesh-e-bathil gardanush.

(One who carries truth in his breast cannot kneel before falsehood. )
, He conquers wealth, but is not conquered by it. He believes in struggle as the secret of life. In the struggle of life he does not attack anyone except in the service of God, for he knows:

Hur ke khunger bahr-e-gair Allah, kasheed,
Teg-e-oo鈥� dar seena-e-oo鈥� aarmeed.

If there be one who does not draw his sword only for God鈥檚 sake, his sword penetrates his own breast.)

He uproots the fear of worldly powers from his heart, as it is an obstacle in his way to his goal. He believes that fear is the source of all evil and creates meanness, cowardice, deceit, hypocrisy and flattery. In short he fears no power except God鈥檚.

Iqbal鈥檚 Superman is brave and courageous, but kind, sympathetic, benevolent and broad-minded. He is an iron-man with a sympathetic, throbbing heart. Greatness and beauty combine in his nature. He speaks softly and struggles hard. He has a pure heart in war as well as in peace. His life is a blessing and not a curse. He is a saviour of humanity. He does not believe in the strong fetters of destiny and breaks them by sincere and constant effort and goodness. He shapes his own destiny. The secrets of the universe are unveiled to him and he reaches that dignified stage where God would do nothing by Himself without consulting his will. Thus he conquers the will of God and his word becomes the word of God, his eye the eye of God and his life the life of God.

The great dramatist of the twentieth century, George Bernard Shaw, in his preface to 鈥淢an and Superman鈥� says, 鈥淲hat is really important in man is the part of him that we do not yet understand. Man does desire a Superman. His least incompetent general is set up as Alexander. His king is the first gentleman in the world; his pope is a saint.鈥�