Alexander The Great’s Three Requests

A story is told about Alexander the Great heading back home to Macedonia after his successful invasion of India.   His next plan was to conquer the Arabian Peninsula, which remained unfulfilled because on the way home, he stopped in Babylon to rest, where he suddenly fell deathly ill and died.  

When he knew that he will not live to see his home again, he called his generals to his bedside and told them, "I feel that I shall depart from this world very soon.  I have three requests which I want to be carried out without fail. 

• first,  I want my physician to help carry my coffin to my grave;
• second,  I  want the path leading to my grave strewn with the gold, silver, and precious stones which I have in my treasury;
• third,  I want both of my hands to be kept dangling outside my coffin."

The men wondered at Alexander's strange wishes.  Then, Alexander's favorite and most trusted general -- the one whom Alexander felt the closest to -- said:   "Sire, I will make assure that all your wishes are granted.   But can you please tell me the reason for your requests."

With labored breaths, Alexander  replied:  "In my short life, I've learned three important lessons, which I would like to share with the world. . .

• first,  your physician has actually very little power over the quality of your health and cannot save you from the clutches of death;   you are the only genuine and ultimate decision-maker as to the quality of health and life you want to have;
• second, the gold, silver and other riches which you accumulate in life are useless after death;  it is sheer foolishness and an utter waste of time to chase after and accumulate material wealth;
• third,  my hands dangling out of the coffin is to show  that  just as I came empty-handed into this world,  similarly, empty-handed I shall leave this world".

And with one last gasp,  Alexander died at the young age of 32.

-Contributed by Ralph