Thinking of Death in the Views of ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī and Irvin Yalom

The present study aims to consider thinking about death in the views of ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī and Irvin Yalom, using the descriptive-analytical method of research. Some of the results indicate that while Yalom, just like some other existentialists, believes that death marks the end of the human life, he holds that thinking about death bestows meaning and value upon life. For Yalom, a major factor that alerts human beings about (their own) death is to be involved in or have a close encounter with death, time, careful consideration of dreams and individual fantasies, artificial aiding tools, and the like. Among the practical treatments of the death anxiety are creation of a work of art and being around those who are about to die. For ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabāʾī, what perishes with death is the physical dimension of human beings, and what survives and moves form one realm to another is the psychological dimension. In his view, the universe comes from God and is under his direction and power.