Summary
One of the greatest gifts you can give your future self is a book. It is more than the accumulation of information; it is an exercise in attention, reflection, memory and intellectual growth. From the Qur’an and beneficial Islamic literature to history and biographies, every page can become an investment in remaining mentally engaged, continually learning and growing throughout life.
Keep Turning the Pages
One of the greatest gifts you can give your future self is not found in a pill 💊, a supplement, or a piece of equipment.
It is found in a book 📚
Many people understand that muscles weaken when they are not used. Yet they forget that the mind is no different.
The brain was created to think, reflect, analyse, connect ideas, and learn. When it is regularly exercised, it remains sharper and more resilient. When neglected, it becomes more vulnerable to decline.
Reading does something unique. It is not merely the act of receiving information. It is the process of wrestling with ideas, making connections, asking questions, and allowing knowledge to reshape the way we think.
As Ezra Klein observed:
"Part of what is happening when you spend 7 hours reading a book, is you spend 7 hours with your mind on the topics in the book, grappling with them, drawing connections, having thoughts you would not otherwise have had."
This is why reading a book is not the same as scrolling through social media.
A forwarded message may inform you for a moment. A book trains your attention, strengthens your memory, deepens your understanding, and develops your ability to think.
Research continues to highlight this connection. Studies have found that older adults who engage in regular reading experience a lower risk of cognitive decline, while other research has associated lifelong reading, writing, and learning with delayed onset of dementia and stronger cognitive function later in life. Some studies have even suggested that mentally stimulating activities may delay dementia symptoms by several years.
If you are in your seventies, it is not too late.
Read the Qur'an with reflection.
Read beneficial Islamic books.
Read history.
Read biographies.
Read about subjects you never had the opportunity to study when you were younger.
Every page is an investment in your mind.
Every chapter is a gift to your future self.
The goal is not simply to accumulate information.
The goal is to remain mentally alive, intellectually engaged, and continually growing until we meet Allah.
A healthy body matters.
But a healthy mind matters too.
And one of the simplest ways to nourish it is to keep turning the pages.
Your brother
Sajid Umar
Location: 'somewhere en route to the hereafter'
16/12/1447 (AH) - 02/06/2026