Fazl-e-Umar — Page 99
Fazle Umar 99 Men on three sides surrounded the bed. I made some room and stood at the head of the bed… “I saw that the Promised Messiah [as] opened his eyes, looked here and there and closed them. Again he opened his eyes, his pupils moved around and they closed from fatigue. He repeated this many times. In the end he mustered his strength one last time because one does not have the strength in the final moments, he opened his eyes, glancing around the room he looked towards the head of the bed. Looking around when his gaze fell upon me, it seemed to me as if he was trying to find me. And he felt relieved upon seeing me. Thereafter he closed his eyes, took his last breath and died. At that moment I felt as if his gaze was only trying to find me. And I imagined this was the result of my prayers to look into those eyes for the last time. “Straight after his death some people were apprehensive about the future. Men focus upon other men thinking this person being of great service has died, what will become of the Community? …I observed some others in a similar depressed state and heard them saying what will become of the Community. Even though I was only nineteen years old at the time, I remember standing at the head of the bed on which lay the sacred corpse of the Promised Messiah [as] and proclaiming: ‘My Lord, believing You to be Omnipresent and Omniscient I make a solemn pledge that even if the entire Jama’at were to forsake Ahmadiyyat I will convey the message that You have revealed through the Promised Messiah [as] to each and every corner of the world. ’ “One passes through many phases in one’s life. There are phases of laziness, of activity, phases of knowledge, phases of ignorance, of obedience to God and of negligence. But to this day I feel that was a phase of such alertness and of