My Mother — Page 51
Last Years of My Father 51 Chaudhri Bashir Ahmad accompanied us. We made a brief halt at Murree, where my father fell ill and his illness took a serious turn. and Bashir Ahmad nursed him devotedly. His recov- ery and convalescence took several weeks, and it was not till after the middle of September that we were able to resume our journey to Kashmir. At that time of the year the world-famed Vale was at its best and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay of about a fortnight. Towards the end of July 1926, I had to go to Sialkot to act as counsel on behalf of the Movement in a civil suit instituted by opponents of the Movement in connection with the principal Ahmadiyyah mosque in the city. My father also came to Sialkot as he was summoned as a witness. He looked somewhat pulled down and mentioned that he was troubled by a cough. The plaintiffs in the suit realising that their attempt to build a house of cards with perjured evidence was likely to rebound on them, withdrew the suit. I returned to Lahore and my father decided to visit Daska for a few days before returning to Qadian. On August 12, I learnt that he was ill, and I went to Daska and brought him and Mother to Lahore. His trouble was diagnosed as wet pleurisy and the following day water was extracted from the base of his lung. This gave him considerable relief and his condi- tion began to improve. He was himself conversant to some degree with the principles of medicine and appreciated the gravity of his symp toms. Two or three days later he said to me: ‘Life and death are controlled by God. I feel I am getting better, and if God wills I may recover. But in view of the nature of my illness and having regard to my age, I would like to dictate some directions to you. ’ So far as the disposition of his property was concerned he had made his will several years earlier. Now he dictated certain