Fazl-e-Umar — Page 216
Fazle Umar 216 that He made me understand and I saved her from undue suffering. I wrote her a letter of affection which she always kept safe. It contained a line of verse which meant that Rome was a nice place but even it appeared desolate without her. ” By chance when this city was mentioned again in conversation seven years after the trip, she quickly ran to fetch the letter that she had treasured all those years. He had also written this poem in a letter to Amtul Hai. According to God’s decree, they had both passed away and like Rome he was left to pass his days in this world without them by his side. Hadhrat Amtul Hai passed away only a few days after his return from England. He could not think of anyone who would be able to look after her two young children. This was a great burden on her mind before her death. She glanced at one child and then the other. However, she never glanced at her husband. He states: “Maybe she thought what does a man know about looking after children. I looked at her again and again wanting to say something. However, I shied away in the presence of others. Finally, in a private moment I said to her, Amtul Hai! Why do you worry so much? If I remain alive, I shall look after your children and, by the grace of Allah, I shall not let them suffer any hardship. I said this to console her however, I did not know what to do. ” On the first night of the death of Hadhrat Amtul Hai he approached Hadhrat Maryam explaining his difficult situation and asked for her help. He continues: “May Allah bestow thousands of blessings upon her soul! She quickly replied, yes, I shall look after them. I shall nourish them like a mother nourishes her own children and on the second day I brought Quayyum and Rashid and handed them into her care. …Amtul Hai was and still is very dear to me. However, I cannot honestly say that had she lived she would have nursed her children any better through their illnesses than the way Maryam nursed them through