Power
of the Unseen
By Rafiq Ebrahim
Glen Ellyn IL
It is said that a human eye is capable
of perceiving only that which has been ordained
for us to see by God. There are a number of forces
around us, which we cannot see or feel. These
forces include angels, jinn, good spirits and
evil spirits that have an effect on our lives
and are responsible for our protection or destruction.
In this modern age, people generally do not believe
in these supernatural existences, but I, for one,
have undeniable reasons to believe in the power
of the Unseen
This power has come to my rescue a number of times
in my life. In fact, the very day I was born in
a Bombay hospital, this power saved my life. It
so happened that the nurse attending to my mother
had taken me in her arms and was about to immerse
me in a tub full of steaming, boiling water for
my first bath. While she was about to do that,
she just looked back as if seeing someone. In
that split second, my grandmother who was by her
side grabbed me from her and began scolding her
for what she was about to do. Realizing her folly,
she profusely apologized; saying that she thought
the water was just warm.
On various occasions this Unseen power has saved
me. I’ll narrate a few of the incidents
which I feel would be of interest to the readers.
I begin with the one in Ajmer, India
Miracle in Ajmer
It happened in 1984 in Ajmer, India. I had gone
to Ajmer from Karachi with my family to pay homage
at the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisty, a Sufi
saint, much revered by people of all faiths.
As a child, when we were living in Bombay, I used
to go there almost every year with my mother who
was an ardent devotee of the Saint. But in 1984,
it was after a lapse of more than twenty years
that I managed to take my family to Ajmer from
Pakistan where we had migrated sometime after
the partition.
It was a spiritual experience for the whole family-
my wife, my twelve-year-old daughter and my eight-year-old
son. We were blessed with the feelings of peace
and tranquility, but on the last day of our stay
something happened. Eid had fallen on that day,
and so in the morning, as we were descending the
marble stairs of the guest house where we were
lodged, my foot slipped and I came rolling down,
falling with full force on my right foot which
had turned sideways. I felt an enormous impact,
as the foot had no doubt been badly sprained or
fractured.
Though the pain had started building up, I managed
to walk up to the Durgah to join the congregational
prayers. With great physical discomfort I finished
the prayers and walked back to the hotel. By now,
the foot had started swelling. The pain was now
unbearable and I took a couple of pain-relieving
pills. A reasonable thing was to go see a doctor,
but I avoided doing so, partly because the foreign
exchange I had was running out. In those days,
we were allowed to take only a limited amount
of money with us while going to India from Pakistan,
and much of the money had already been spent in
Bombay.
A restaurant bearer who had come to the room with
our order of food looked at my foot and suggested
an oil massage. Since he was adroit at it, he
could give me one. I let him do that, but instead
of subsiding the pain increased. I just dropped
down on bed,as it was almost impossible for me
even to take a few steps. My foot could not bear
any pressure. The fact that we had to catch a
train leaving at five-thirty that evening for
Bombay was weighing on my mind heavily. God, we
couldn’t afford to miss that train, as our
tickets had already been bought, and I didn’t
have any extra money. I only had a few Rupees
for tonga and taxi fares and to tip the coolie
at the station. I could not also afford to stay
for a few more days in Ajmer.
In spite of these worrying thoughts and the pain,
I strangely began to feel a soothing influence
invading me. At that moment my unconscious mind
prayed to God and asked Him for help. I also asked
for the blessings of Khwaja Sahib and invoked
him to pray to God for me. Then I fell asleep.
I must have slept for over three hours, for when
I got up it was three in the afternoon. I could
see the concern on the faces of my wife and kids.
I felt a strange sensation in my foot as if someone
was stroking it softly. With a start I got out
of bed. I looked at my foot. Swelling was still
there, but the pain had gone!
I could even walk without a limp. We ordered for
some tea and then got dressed up. I asked a waiter
to take our luggage downstairs and put it in a
tonga.
Before going to the station, we stopped at the
Durgah and offered prayers. We got comfortable
seats in the train and passed the night journey
peacefully, changing trains at Ahmedabad. But
as the train was approaching Bombay, it slowed
down. There was a heavy downpour of rain in Bombay
and so our train could not go any further than
Borivili. Our destination was Andheri, still an
hour away from Borivili. We were asked to get
down and wait for a local train to take us to
Andheri.
The platform was flooded with rainwater, and there
was no alternative but to step down in ankle-deep
water. My ankle still had a lot of swelling on
it. How could I put my foot in cold water? Well,
I had to. We walked a distance to reach a shed
at the station. We dropped down on a bench by
a small tea stall. It was four-fifteen in the
morning and a cup of tea was welcome. It was the
tastiest tea I ever had, though it was in a clay
cup.
We waited for the local train, which came to the
station after two hours when water had receded
from the tracks.
We boarded the train, got down at Andheri station,
called a taxi and arrived at my uncle’s
place. I could feel the swelling decreasing. After
lunch and a couple of hours’ rest, there
was neither any swelling nor pain in my foot.
The injury I had sustained would normally take
not less than a week to heal, but in my case,
it healed in less than twenty-four hours in spite
of the fact that my foot remained in cold water
for quite some time on the platform of Borivili
station.
Was it help from the Unknown? A power of the Unseen?
A miracle?
Next: A Miracle in Lahore
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