My Mother — Page 147
Farewell 147 Five days passed. She felt weak, but she was serene and there was no anxiety. She washed for Prayer and performed the Prayers on the prayer mat and needed no assistance, though she passed most of her time in bed. On the fourth day the doctor directed that she should keep to her bed and should not move about. On Friday, May 6, I went to her about 4:00 p. m. and found her engaged in Prayer on the prayer mat in the verandah outside her room. I waited till she had finished and then reminded her that the doctor had said she was not to move from her bed. She said, she felt no trouble in saying her Prayers in the normal way. I offered to support her back to her bed and she put her hand lightly on my arm while she walked to her bed. She did not feel that she needed any support. That evening I was working in my office room when I was told that Mother had become unconscious. I went to her room and found that she was in a state of semi-consciousness through extreme weakness. Her feet were being massaged and presently she began to talk in full consciousness. She explained: ‘Some time after you left me I fell into a slum- ber and I felt that I was somewhere in the dark and was seeking to emerge therefrom. I saw a tent and entered it thinking that I might find a way out through it. But the darkness was even deeper inside the tent and there was mud underfoot in which I was caught. I made unavailing attempts to free myself and being frus- trated called out, “If somehow Zafrulla Khan could be informed he would contrive to have me rescued. ”’ The following day she appeared to be in better shape, though weakness persisted. At one time she felt that if Dr Abdul Latif had been available he might have had recourse to more effective