‘So what does it say then doc?’
Her eyes twinkled for a jiffy and
then the glow vanished. I probably was unable to conceal the melancholy
in my expression.
‘Don’t worry! We’ll come to that in
a minute, Sarah. Where is your husband today?’ I wished I didn’t have to
be the bearer of bad news. I wished I wasn’t in the gynecology clinic that
day. In spite of having years of experience of handling such sad situations,
it’s still difficult for me to remain untouched by them. My professional
innate guidance directed me to wait until someone close to her accompanied
Sarah.
‘Don’t ya worry doc. ‘E’ll be ‘ere
in a minute. Just went ta grab ‘is coffee.’
I felt as if Sarah was trying to avoid
the news as well, of which she seemed to have some idea by now.
‘There ‘e is! Ay’ John, doc. ‘as been
waiting fa ya.’ Sarah announced as soon as her husband entered.
‘Hi there John! How have you been?’
I welcomed him cheerfully, preparing to convey Sarah’s uterine cancer’s
news at the same time.
As words left my mouth, the couple
looked blankly at me and then at each other.
The silence in the room was as irksome
as I always found in these scenarios.
After a discussion of about 15 minutes, about prognosis,
chances of survival, further plans and a lifespan with only a 5 year survival
rate of 30%, according to the stage of tumor, I concluded my discussion
as I always made sure to do, by holding Sarah’s hand gently, looking into
her eyes and telling her firmly, ‘I understand its’ easy saying than doing
Sarah, but I would still advice you, my dear, not to take all the stress
upon yourself. Leave some worries to someone up there as well’. I gazed
towards the roof.
‘I try ta believe in God doc, bur
where is ‘e, ai?’ A long controlled tear rolled down her cheek whilst John
held her tight trying to conceal his own.
‘Why can’t I see ‘im? I‘ve never seen
‘im. I wish ‘e was there to stop so many other things goin’ wrong around.
People are dyin’ of so many problems, wars.’
At least Sarah said something on this
topic because in her previous visits, she never used to be interested.
John just nodded, gazing down, as if trying to pierce the floor with his
eyes.
‘Have you ever seen an atom or a nucleus,
or electron, Sarah?’ I didn’t want to prolong the discussion at this occasion
but wished not to miss the opportunity when hearts were tender, as well.
‘Ai?’ She rubbed her eyes. ‘But you do see the energy it produces in various
forms?’ I didn’t feel appropriate to wait for her detailed reply.
‘So look around yourself and you will
find God everywhere in His signs: the people, the sun, the moon, the trees,
the rivers, each and every thing is calling us to our Creator.’ John and
Sarah looked fully attentive with gloomy faces, and looked as if they returned
as losers from a long race.
It wasn’t the first time that I felt
that tenderness of hearts when calamity touched them. This is what Allah
has mentioned in the Qur’an:
When they are trapped in a sea storm, they call
their Lord for help, but when they reach the shore, they start ascribing
partners to Him.(10:22)
Why does this happen? Again, Allah says
because man thinks he is self-sufficient (Qur’an). But in this roller-coaster
of life, we do encounter turns where we feel that without the safety belt
of faith, we would easily stagger.
Why does the highest technology fail
at times? Why does it happen that after years of research, with millions
of dollars, when we find a vaccine for one strain of a deadly virus like
that of the human immunodeficiency virus (AIDS), a new strain develops,
bringing us back to step one, as if being amused of our state and shouting,
‘Go on then! Fight with your Creator, you silly people. He has created
me as a lesson for you: the secret is not that you keep listening to your
desires and expect solutions. You need to listen to His call and understand
why He is doing this.’
Who is controlling all this?
We may say: ‘Obviously, that’s God.
We are Muslims and we believe that’. But do we really? We do witness that
even non-believers cry out for Him, when touched by a tragedy, but this
is not what our Lord expects from us believers. He expects us to remember
Him, both in good and bad times. We never know what the next turn will
be like. That smooth looking pathway may change its pattern at the very
next junction. The fast traffic may face horrible congestion at the next
exit.
So don’t relax even when the sky is
clear and blue; thunder and rain may be around the corner. Do what you
have to, in this sunshine, before its dark.
The blessings of time and health are
the most forgotten and misused ones according to a saying of the Prophet
Mohammad (sws). Look around yourself. Come out of that comfy box of yours!
There may be so much reward awaiting you, by doing just a mere act of charity,
by helping someone in a hitch, by your kind words, by spending a few pennies
for the work of Allah – which may leave your pocket tomorrow anyway –
by inscription of some words of wisdom, by sharing the secret of life,
we have known through the Book of Wisdom, with others. We need this reward
for our journey to an interminable destination. And bear in mind, we only
have a few moments for all this.
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