“The finest souls are those who gulped pain and avoided making others taste it.”
This quote by Nizar Qabbani struck something very deep inside – not just the immediate picture of a kind person that it paints in our minds – but the number of ways this quote can be interpreted.
It is the universal truth that nobody, absolutely nobody on this Earth, is able to escape the brutal claws of pain – it may vary in magnitude, yes – but it has been greeted by every person alive or dead.
Pain is like the testimony of human beings, testimony of being alive. The core of being a human is the necessity to feel emotions, and while emotions vary – you cannot know happiness without pain, you cannot understand smiles without tears. Both co-exist with each other.
What it does to each person, however, can be polar opposites. This pain can sometimes create the monsters out of people, and sometimes it can ooze out the sweetest nectar produced in the heart of mankind. Is it upto us, then? How we let pain affect us?
Now, there can be many interpretations of this quote – depending upon which relationship you focus on. But here’s another kind I think it would feel most rightly attributed to-
The pain endured by the parents; and their willingness and stubbornness to avoid letting their child feel the same pain. Breaking the generational trauma. This is not to blame – no – mostly, when parents are inflicting their trauma on their children, they do not even realise it. It has been so deeply engraved in our minds- that its hard to differentiate or recognise. But being conscious, learning deeply about yourself, and most importantly – ACCEPTING. Acceptance of the fact that we have been carrying a lot of pain, from generation to generation, and it is our duty to break that chain.
This life inevitably hits every person – but imagine how much easier it would be for the generation to come, if we collectively decide to step aside from this path carved by our past generations, and help create individuals who, when look back at their childhood and upbringing, are filled with nothing but love.
Gulping the pain, at last. And refusing to let our children taste it. Can you imagine such a world? I can.
Artwork by Reza Afshar
Nizar Qabbani (1923–1998) was a renowned Syrian poet and diplomat, celebrated for his passionate and revolutionary verses exploring love, politics, and Arab identity. His eloquent and emotional poetry left a lasting impact across the Arab world.
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