the inevitable

The Inevitable Happened

It was destined to happen.

My son, Javed, breathed his last at about 8 p.m. on Thursday, the 13^th January, 2011. He was 46.

He had pancreatic cancer, and by the time it was detected, it had already spread to the liver.

More than once during over two and a half months of acute suffering he told me, “Abba, I want to live.” And all his near and dear ones prayed for him intensely. We did all we could by way of medical treatment. Nothing worked. He was destined to die when he did – rather young.

During those last few moments before his death, he wouldn’t open his eyes and his wife started crying. He did open his eyes then and said, “Why are you crying? I just had some giddiness. It happens. It happens.”

And those were the last words I ever heard him speak live.

Was he aware then of his impending end and was just consoling his wife? Or was he blissfully unaware?

I don’t know.

I had carried him as a baby with his head resting on my shoulder. My same shoulder helped carry his coffin to his grave.

Mohammad Shafi