"I don't remember seeing anyone with a more profound sense of gratitude and patience than that which daddy had.
Since the time he recovered from cancer five years ago, he had developed a deeper sense of gratitude. He would respond even to a casual 'how are you' with a heartfelt 'Alhamdulillah, Allah has been very Merciful.' And that attitude never slacked. During his last days, in those hardest, most painful moments, I never once heard him complain with a word of ingratitude towards Allah and His Decree. Just a few days before he passed away, when Mummy and my sister, Madiha baji were sitting with him, they noticed that daddy looked a bit restless. Mummy and my sister, Madiha baji were sitting with him, they noticed that daddy looked a bit restless. Mummy asked him what happened, to which he responded, "شکر کر رہا ہوں", and broke into tears. He then said, and I will never forget this, "Allah has given me everything in life. There's nothing more that I want now. Shukr Allah." Contentment. It is what he chose, not just now, but all his life. In this most difficult time, he was not just patient but also remembering and shedding tears of gratitude for all his blessings. I realized that what you will be in your last moments will more or less be a reflection of what you chose to be in your life. So if I want to die as a grateful servant of Allah, I must strive to live that trait right now so that when it's my time, that trait comes to me as second nature. Maybe Allah inspired this in daddy because he remembered to thank and humble himself to Him in his times of prosperity.
How beautiful is faith. How it keeps us sober and sane in the face of worst of calamities. And how beautiful an example did daddy leave behind- to gracefully endure hardship, to embrace your fate with perfect patience, gratitude and faith in the One who will be your only refuge when you finally leave.
