The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 88
88 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN An amusing incident may be mentioned. A friend of mine, who had been a judge of the Lahore High Court for many years, was Governor of the then Province of Sind. I was talking to him one evening in a social function, and asked him, "Have you good news of your son?" One of his sons was then a student in England. "Oh, yes. " I said, "I am glad. In your next letter to him you might caution him to be a little more careful," and I told him about a dream I had had concerning the young man whom I did not know. I added, "It may not mean anything at all, but as it was a clear dream and it has left an impression on my mind, I thought I might mention it to you. I trust everything will be all right. " He said, "All right, I shall write to him. " Two or three weeks later we met again at some function and he said, "A curious thing has happened. My son has written to me explaining something which is almost exactly what you had told me. I was so deeply affected that were it not for one thing, I would take the covenant at your hands. " He did not mean the covenant of our Movement, but a covenant means to accept somebody as your spiritual guide or mentor. I knew what he meant and I smiled and said, "What is that one thing that stands in the way?" He said, "Your being a member of the particular Movement to which you belong. " I said, "Does not it strike you that maybe that anything that has appealed to you on the basis of which you would be ready to take the covenant at my hands may be due to my being a member of the Movement?" To me, the Movement has not only been a very great help; it is, as it were, my chief support in life. It constantly reminds me that the ultimate value to be aimed at, the ultimate objective to strive for is, in the words of the Qur’an, "to win the pleasure of God. " That consciousness helps to enlighten one along the path, to indicate in the midst of difficulties the way that one ought to choose. Where one falls short, quickly the realization comes: “I should have taken greater care. Next time I shall be more careful. ” That kind of thing becomes a sort of living experience. I do not know whether I am making too much of a claim, but I think it is that kind of thing that all of us need a great deal more than we practise. It is open to all of us. One of the Jews in Medina accepted Islam and said to the Prophet, "Sir, even before I became a Muslim I used to help people and spend a lot in charity, do you think that will find acceptance in the eyes of God?" And the Prophet said, "You have been guided to Islam on account of the very things and values that you used to follow. This is proof that God