Reclaim your youth

In Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities (1812-1870), a line appears whose meaning holds: "More important than scientists' search for ways to prolong human life is the search for ways to make it happy.' Yet the human drive has always been, and remains, a feverish pursuit of longevity in general, and of youth in particular. Even now, so many elderly people still murmur: "If only youth would return, just for a day.' The predicament of human existence lies in this: A moment in time neither pauses nor repeats itself. The very moment in which you are reading this sentence will end the instant you finish reading it, and slip into the past. The train of a lifetime moves at a single, unrelenting pace, sparing no event, however significant. What if the human mind could not merely halt the wheel of time, but reverse it? What if a woman of 60 could return to 30, or an elderly man's years could renew themselves so that he might walk again among his grandchildren, young once more? On Aug 21, 2026, Al-Jarra magazine published an investigative report titled: "The Age of Ending Old Age Has Begun, Scientists Begin Human Trials.' The report notes that every human cell carries DNA, and that "the body uses a complex system of markers and signals to determine which genes are switched on and which fall silent.' What preoccupies scientists is reprogramming the cell's function, without erasing its identity altogether. A close look at how we live today reveals that many of the practices we now take for granted were, not so long ago, mere dreams. Nothing proves this more than social media platforms, the vast reach of telecommunications, and, most recently, artificial intelligence, with its growing capacity to stand in for human effort across so many domains of life. The question that lingers in my mind is this: If scientists manage to restore the human body to youth, what becomes of the mind? How do we resolve the paradox of a woman carrying the allure of youth in her body while her thinking still moves within the wisdom of 60 or 70 years? What will become of a retired, elderly man, once his body's vigor and vitality return to him, while his outlook on life remains fixed at 70? And, ultimately, how can we reconcile a young body with an ageing mind? A simple glance around us shows that a great many people already live their youth burdened with a wisdom that outpaces their years, while, conversely, a large portion of humanity now lives a prolonged adolescence that never quite matches its actual age. I return to Dickens' idea: That more important than prolonging human life is the search for what makes it happy, especially since, in our Arab world, so many people fit the saying: "Forced from the mother's womb straight to the grave,' never having tasted happiness, nor lived a single genuine moment of joy. To the world, I ask: Please, think of my happiness, not the length of my life. For what use are extra years, if not one of them is lit by a single, true moment of joy?