Friday 23 October 2020 | AL HAKAM
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Where stars descend Chapter 8 (Blessed time) Part II
Asif M Basit
One afternoon, I sent some documents to Huzooraa which were rather extensive. The papers were sent to Huzooraa in the daily correspondence that gets presented every afternoon. After a very short period, I received a phone call from the private secretariat that Huzooraa had been through the file and that I should come and collect it. When I went to collect the file, which was more of a bundle of papers, I found that Huzooraa had been through it thoroughly and then added a lengthy note at the end for guidance. At various places in the file, Huzooraa had made corrections. Thus, one day, when another such file had to be presented to Huzooraa for guidance, I endeavoured to not leave a single typo lest I cause him any discomfort. I went through the document many times over and asked others to do the same so as to ensure that there was no such error. I sent the file in the morning and received it that very evening. On top of the file, Huzooraa had written a long comment. He had been through the entire document and had not corrected anything. I thanked God for enabling me to send the document without any errors and thus, not causing Huzooraa any discomfort. To relive the joy, I went through the file once more. But this time, I found that towards the end, ےھتhad been corrected to یھتand this had somehow been missed. Huzooraa graciously corrected this mistake. As Huzooraa had corrected it with a pencil, therefore I was unable to spot the correction initially. This, however, suggested the meticulousness with which Huzooraa had read each word. Returning to the subject of Friday Sermons and how and when Huzooraa finds time to prepare it, I was fortunate to once witness a spectacle of how Allah has blessed Huzoor’s time. Everything in Huzoor’s office is placed in a certain order so that Huzooraa can easily and quickly access them. I have seen Huzooraa refer to the electronic dictionary to his right many times, to either find the definition of a word or to enquire about the correct pronunciation of a word. For instance, Huzooraa once said: م اتہک وہں ہک ہبطخ ی م ارثک اینپ رقت�ی روں ی ی م ب ی�ان وہےن وایل � ی ہ ارگن�ی ابوتں یک اگجیل رکےت ی زی م اس ےک ےئل ظفل ہتپ ےہ؟ ر�۔ “I often urge everyone in my speeches to revise [jugali] everything that is said in my Friday Sermons. Do you know what this word [jugali] is in English?” I replied that I did not. Huzooraa explained that jugali in English is “cud”. Huzooraa then searched the dictionary for this word, played its correct
pronunciation and read out its definition. Huzooraa added, “Look, the second definition given for this word is exactly what I said. Even in English, it means ‘to think or talk reflectively.’” Although there are many other dictionaries in Huzoor’s office, I have personally seen Huzooraa refer to this one. I have also witnessed many a time now how Huzoor’s pen will be writing continuously without any breaks, but then at times Huzoor’s pen has dried out and without a pause, Huzooraa will either pick up another pen to keep up the momentum or swiftly open his drawer, pick out a new cartridge and replace the old cartridge with the new one. Huzooraa will all the while carefully listen to what I have to say and provide guidance too. I have observed those cartridges being picked out from the same drawer, in the same place. Never is even a second wasted in such moments due to everything being placed in a specific location. Allah the Almighty vouchsafed to the Promised Messiahas that his time would not be wasted. His responsibilities have been handed down to his Khulafa and thus, their time has also been blessed in this manner. A few years ago, upon receiving approval for an official audience with Huzooraa, I woke up on the day of the mulaqat with a terrible cough. I was apprehensive to attend the mulaqat and see Huzooraa in this state. However, my mulaqat had been approved and I could not miss it of my own accord. Therefore, I turned up at the private secretary’s office and requested the private secretary to inform Huzooraa that although I was present, I was suffering from a severe cough and was apprehensive to see Huzooraa in such a condition. The private secretary conveyed my
message to Huzooraa and as he exited Huzoor’s office, he gestured for me to enter. As I entered, Huzooraa said, “Work doesn’t stop.” With that, Huzooraa turned around, opened a cabinet and graciously handed me a packet of lozenges. Very lovingly, he said, “Take this. It will kill some germs at least.” The cough that had made it difficult for me to complete a sentence had now somehow been suppressed and thereafter, was quickly cured. A few years ago, when, due to a change in climate, Huzooraa had been suffering from a severe cough, Huzooraa turned around and got himself a lozenge out from the same cabinet. Huzooraa graciously gave me a lozenge too. Thus, everything has been placed in such a manner that it does not waste a single second of Huzoor’s time. There are many interesting anecdotes related to the television placed opposite Huzoor’s desk and how it saves Huzoor’s time. In previous chapters, I have narrated incidents to do with this television and the DVD player linked to it, in light of how some MTA programmes have been checked on this television, as and when Huzooraa so wishes. When I was once instructed to play an MTA programme on Huzoor’s television for the first time, I had not a clue what to do; how the television switched on, how the DVD player functioned and how the DVD tray opened were all unknown to me. There were neither any remote controls nearby to operate them, nor could I find any buttons to help me in that predicament (even if there were, in those moments, I probably still would not have been able to operate them). I turned around and noticed that Huzooraa had opened two drawers to his right to search for the remote controls. Huzooraa then instructed, “Switch it on”, to
which I assumed that Huzooraa wanted me to play the programme with the remote control. Huzooraa extended his hand, but immediately said, “No, I will operate it myself from here. I have set it according to my preferences. I don’t want you changing the settings, otherwise my time gets wasted.” Every time after that, when I have played an MTA programme for Huzooraa, I have noticed that he picks out the same remote controls from the same drawer. The DVD player is always open by the time I reach the television. As the programmes are being played on the screen, Huzooraa remains occupied in his work while he reads and signs letters. Whenever there is something that needs editing, Huzooraa provides guidance on it. When Huzooraa wants to hear something again, he rewinds the programme to the relevant part. Then, when he has provided guidance, I return to the DVD player to find it open and I thereby replace the DVD with what was originally in the player. Sometimes, Huzooraa ensures that I have replaced the DVD with the originally inserted DVD. As stated earlier, Huzooraa writes the entire text of the Friday Sermon himself. May Allah bless our beloved Imamaa with a long, healthy life and may He assist him with the Holy Spirit. This is just Friday Sermons; the rest of Huzoor’saa addresses are prepared in a similar fashion. I have encountered such blessed moments in which Huzooraa has recounted Allah’s favours upon him, for which I will always remain grateful. Once, while talking about Jalsa Salana Germany, Huzooraa said, “Whilst preparing for my address to Lajna, I had written something, but it remained incomplete and I left it there. I was unable to carry on and so, I left it there. Only after a few moments, my brother, Dr Mirza Maghfoor Ahmad, came and mentioned something the mayor of a German city had said. From what he said, I was able to find a good point to carry on with the speech and thus, the point I wished to make was conveyed.” I once sought guidance regarding a function at the opening of a mosque. After Huzooraa had provided guidance, I commented, “Huzoor, by Allah’s grace, mosques are being inaugurated all the time”, and then asked, “How do you find time to prepare an address before every such event? On some tours, I have seen that one function will immediately follow another.” Huzooraa replied by saying, “When the external guests give their talks, they usually address the conditions and state of affairs of the area. These change from region to region. Have you not noticed that as they deliver their speeches, I will be writing
