From Dar-us-Salam to Dar-us-Salam

لَهُمْ دَارُ ٱلسَّلَـٰمِ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ ۖ وَهُوَ وَلِيُّهُم بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ

  Theirs is the abode of peace with their Lord, and He is their Friend because of what they do. (Holy Quran—6:127)

The Divine order had been decreed, as it were, for Doctor Saeed Ahmad to embark on the eternal journey; the Divine directive was coming into effect, as it were, for him to get ready for his eternal abode: His body was no longer up to the rigors of bearing the burdens of this worldly life.

Over the passage of the years 1995 and 1996, his health grew weaker and weaker. About a decade earlier, back in 1986, he had undergone a severe cardiac ailment. At that time, an electronic medical device—a pacemaker—had been surgically implanted in his chest to steady his heart rhythm. And while no degradation had taken place in the performance of the pacemaker, numerous other ailments had caused his health to progressively weaken, and as a result of which he was taken a few times to the well regarded Shaikh Zaid Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan. Occasionally, he would also be taken to the medical clinic of Solat Sadiq, MD, for cardiac examinations, and to the clinics of other medical practitioners as well. Throughout all this, though, his complete trust and reliance—that is, in the area of his medical care—was on his son Abdul Karim Saeed. Doctor Saeed Ahmad had entrusted him with the full responsibility of taking care of him from the medical point of view. Since Abdul Karim Saeed was still living in Abbottabad, Anwar Ahmad in Lahore—he is the son of Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s niece Ruqayyah—had taken on the responsibility of looking after Doctor Saeed Ahmad. Anwar Ahmad would thus follow the health care directions from Abdul Karim Saeed.

Days of Illness

As the health of Doctor Saeed Ahmad progressively weakened, the lack of vitality in his body began to increasingly manifest itself. Unusual fluctuations began to take place in his blood pressure; lack of steadiness in the rhythm of his pulse was observed; and along with it the lack of appetite, and as a result of which the reduction of food intake had further enervated him. He himself had begun to sense his own weakness. Efforts had been made to supplement his diet with selective items, but he often disliked consuming such supplements. For some time, medical doctors had been advising that a tube-like medical device be inserted and embedded into his stomach to offset his lack of suitable nutrition. Such a device could, the doctors advised, then be used to directly introduce soft nutrition into his body. 

In October 1996, viewing such a surgical procedure necessary for the upkeep of his health, Doctor Saeed Ahmad expressed his willingness to undergo the surgery. Under the leadership of Anwar Khan, an expert in the gastrointestinal area, a successful surgery was performed. In fact, Doctor Saeed Ahmad returned home from the hospital after a few days. As a result of the direct provision of nutrition through the medical device, he began to feel better. His faculties began to improve, and a healthy redness appeared on his face.

The Selfless Services of Anwar Ahmad

Anwar Ahmad was Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s designated assistant. But in his personal capacity, the excellence and selfless dedication with which he carried out the service of his grandfather during his illness could not be matched by anyone else, and it could not have been matched by anyone else.

Doctor Saeed Ahmad used to relate an incident from the years he had spent in Qadian as a boy. One day, following a lecture on the Holy Quran, Maulana Nur-ud-Din pointed in the direction of Doctor Saeed Ahmad and asked, “Who is this boy?” When he was told that the boy was SaeedAhmad, the son of Maulvi Muhammad Yahya, Maulana Nur-ud-Din immediately pulled Doctor Saeed Ahmad toward himself, hugged him, and said: “The way in which the father of this boy served me during the six months of my illness, neither anyone’s wife nor mother or father or son or brother could have done so.”

It would not be an exaggeration if it is said that the way in which Anwar Ahmad served Doctor Saeed Ahmad was like the way in which Anwar Ahmad‘s great grandfather Maulvi Muhammad Yahya served Maulana Nur-ud-Din.

جَزَاھُمُ اﷲُ وَ اَحْسَنُ الْجَزَاء

May Allah reward them and grant them the best reward.

What follows next is an excerpt from a writing by Ejaz Ahmad:

An individual in Dar-us-Salam saw in a spiritual vision an especially holy building, and regarding which he has given the understanding that it symbolizes the person of Doctor Saeed Ahmad. Anwar Ahmad is sitting right next to that building, almost embracing it. And the person who saw this dream is riding a bicycle, going around the building in a circle. And the fact is that the way in which Anwar Ahmad selflessly served this holy individual—Doctor Saeed Ahmad—is an example unto itself.

— Article titled Alhumdulillah, Paigham-e-Sulah, November/December 1997.

A dream seen by Doctor Saeed Ahmad. June 1984:

At the location of Dar-us-Saeed, Abbottabad, on one of the days during the first week of the month of June 1984—perhaps the night between the fourth and the fifth—I see in a dream that an investiture [award-giving] ceremony is taking place. I, too, am to attend as a guest. But I am not especially keen to go, and I am hesitating about it. Eventually, I do go. When I reach the door leading into the room, the door opens, and the people inside begin to emerge. The first person to come out is Anwar Ahmad, son of Master Asghar Ali. He is wearing a black suit. Wearing a turban on his head, and looking rather smart. He is short in height, and his body is looking slim in the suit. A medal  is dangling around his neck. I am immensely glad, and embrace him. Immediately behind Anwar, and at second number, is Naseer Ahmad Faruqui. He is looking especially healthy, stocky, and tall—taller than his usual self. He is wearing simple white clothes, which are not bright white, but rather appear to be off white. He comes outside. He, too, has been awarded a medal. But I could not see the medal around his neck with my own eyes. I had not yet spoken with him, though I was immensely pleased; and then the dream ended.

His Final Steps on the Pathways of Dar-us-Salam

It was evening time. As was his routine, Doctor Saeed Ahmad was keen to go on a stroll in Dar-us-Salam. It was the last week of October. And outside, during the time following the Maghrib prayer, it was quite chilly, with the potential for being harmful to his health. His sons who were present at the time were advising him against stepping outside for a stroll. But Doctor Saeed Ahmad was insistent that going outside for a stroll was essential. After getting him dressed in suitably warm clothes, his sons accompanied him on his stroll. He had gone no more than a few steps past his house—taking the first step on the street adjacent to the guest house—when the chill of the air made an impact on his delicate chest and lungs. He spontaneously began to breathe heavily and with great labor. Taking even another step became an ordeal for him. He immediately turned back toward his house.

Those would be his final steps on the pathways of Dar-us-Salam.

In addition to getting Doctor Saeed Ahmad ready to be taken to the hospital, Abdul Karim Saeed and Anwar Ahmad engaged in giving Doctor Saeed Ahmad first aid and to bring him some comfort and relief. In his place, Doctor Saeed Ahmad was feeling relatively more comfortable sitting upright rather than lying down. In the moment before departing for the hospital, he remained seated on the edge of the bed, his feet resting on the floor. He kept repeating the following verses of rhyme in the Farsi language, over and over:

Come back, come back; whoever you are, come back;

An unbeliever, fire worshiper, and idol worshiper though you may be; come back

Our threshold—the Divine threshold—is not the place for entertaining hopelessness;

Though you may have—over and over—broken your promises of repentance, come back.

In the Shaikh Zaid Hospital

The best facilities of every kind had been arranged for Doctor Saeed Ahmad in the Shaikh Zaid Hospital. His primary medical care takers—Anwar Ahmad Khan, MD and Altaf Alam, MD in particular—remained vigilant at all times in attending to Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s medical needs, going well beyond their duties, lavishing loving and affectionate care on him. One after another, his sons, daughters, and other relatives had arrived in Lahore. Whenever and however they could, they all fondly waited on Doctor Saeed Ahmad, to be of service to him. Members of the Ahmadiyya Movement throughout the world regularly beseeched Allah for his recovery. On the lips of all members of the Movement—men, women, and children—at all times were prayers for his full recovery. Everyone remained ready to render any service they could. For example, when blood shortage was detected in Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s body, his nephew Mohsin Saqib stepped up and donated his blood. 

Mohsin Saqib has always remained very dear to Doctor Saeed Ahmad, and he, too, had a special devotion and affection for Mohsin Saqib. When Doctor Saeed Ahmad was in good health, he would always be delighted to meet Mohsin Saqib and would offer profuse prayers for him. During the days that Doctor Saeed Ahmad was hospitalized, he eagerly awaited his visits. Mohsin Saqib’s father, Abdul Ghafoor Saqib writes: 

One evening when we went to the hospital to visit Doctor Saeed Ahmad, Mohsin Saqib was not accompanying us. Doctor Saeed Ahmad asked me: “Did my well-wisher not come today?”

Some Reflections

Even though I consider myself unworthy of rendering any service to my blessed father, Doctor Saeed Ahmad, I was blessed with the opportunity to often stay with him during his days of hospitalization. Not even once did I hear anything from his lips that would indicate that he was in any kind of pain. During the times that he was awake, words of praise for Allah would steadily be on his lips. It was with great profusion that he would express the following phrase in a loud voice:

سُبْحَانَ اﷲِ وَ بِحَمْدِہٖ سُبْحَانَ اﷲِ الْعَظِیْم

Glory be to Allah, and praise be to Him. Glory be to Allah, the Almighty.

Sometimes I would repeat those words along with him; and he would never stop me from doing so. If he were to spontaneously wake up during the night, he would sometimes exclaim, “Qazi Sahib, Qazi Sahib.” (It was his custom to listen to Qazi Abdul Ahad recite from the Holy Quran each evening.) In his exclamation, perhaps he had in his mind the fulfillment of this request. One day, following the Fajr prayer, Qazi Abdul Ahad and Raja Muhammad Baidar came to the hospital to meet Doctor Saeed Ahmad. I said to Doctor Saeed Ahmad: “You were remembering Qazi Sahib. You see, he has come.” With the salutation of assalamu alaikum, Qazi Abdul Ahad extended his hand toward Doctor Saeed Ahmad, who smiled and shook hands with him. But he did not say anything in particular to Qazi Abdul Ahad. On a few occasions, at the request of my sister Zubaida Ahmad, Qazi Abdul Ahad came and recited the Holy Quran to Doctor Saeed Ahmad.

His relatives would remain waiting on him in the hospital, well into the evening. And a long assortment of visitors would be present at all times. But after evenings had passed, my brother Nasir Ahmad Saeed would spend the night with Doctor Saeed Ahmad, sitting on a chair next to Doctor Saeed Ahmad, holding his hand all the time. After Nasir Ahmad Saeed had performed his tahujjud (i.e. the voluntary “night prayer”) and Fajr prayers, when he would lie down to rest, he would instruct me to hold Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s hand in my own hand in order to keep him aware that we were present with him.

I would always remain full of hope that Doctor Saeed Ahmad would never depart from us. I would find it exceedingly intolerable anytime I saw signs of grief on someone’s face. A kind of hope would remain lit in my heart—perhaps it was that my mind was not prepared to reconcile itself with the coming moments—or perhaps it was that I was not ready to acknowledge the reality that was going to manifest itself.

In the days following October 12, 1996, I did not remain in the hospital with Doctor Saeed Ahmad. It was the wish of my brother Zahid Ahmad Saeed—along with our brother Nasir Ahmad Saeed—to be in the hospital and to accompany our father. As such, and despite my heartfelt wishes, I had to stay back at home. My last brief conversation with Doctor Saeed Ahmad was on the morning of October 12, 1996.

— Biographer, Safia Saeed

No Fortunate Man Remains Alive for Eternity

As certainly as the sun rises every morning, the morning of Friday, November 15, 1996 brought with it the equally certain truth that every soul is subject to the law of mortality; that none lives forever, except Eternal God. Nobody outlives this finite, mortality-bound life. 

That Friday, Doctor Saeed Ahmad was feeling considerably fatigued, and in fact exhausted. His sons, who had only a few days ago—in connection with their respective professions and employment—had been relatively satisfied by their father’s medical condition, and left Lahore, but had returned to Lahore that very morning. That day, a meeting of the General Council was to take place, one in which both Muhammad Saeed and Abdul Karim Saeed were to participate. As such, they went to Shaikh Zaid Hospital immediately after the Fajr prayer, and sensing his restlessness, they decided to stay with him. After a few hours, Doctor Saeed Ahmad was feeling considerably better, and feeling assured in this regard, his eldest son (Abdul Hayee Saeed) left for Karachi. Doctor Saeed Ahmad was feeling well right up till the evening. But in the first part of the night, his health took a turn for the worse, the reality—one which minds were unwilling to accept—was beginning to emerge before everyone’s eyes. Neither medication nor prayers would be of any avail now. The medical staff who had been looking after Doctor Saeed Ahmad emerged from the room in which Doctor Saeed Ahmad had remained hospitalized, leaving him with the members of his household. The great majority of his offspring were present. His eldest daughter (Ayesha Baig) was based in the United States, and on account of the weak health of her husband, was unable to travel. And Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s son Abdulla Saeed, having departed from this world’s life earlier, was awaiting him in paradise. Abdul Hayee Saeed returned to Lahore the very next morning.

That day, leaving the medical ward of Shaikh Zaid Hospital—the VIP room number one—we were in the grip of a sense of deprivation, and surrounded by a sense of being resigned to the Will of Allah. Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s relatives and children brought his body to his worldly abode, to the town that is Dar-us-Salam.

اِنَّا لِلّٰهِ وَ اِنَّاۤ اِلَیْهِ رٰجِعُوْنَ

Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return.

It had been the wish of Doctor Saeed Ahmad to be buried in his ancestral graveyard located in Debgaran, and he had even selected a location in the graveyard, and mentioned it to his son Ikram Saeed. On September 27, 1981, when Doctor Saeed Ahmad was in Debgaran, he went to his ancestral  graveyard and prayed for the souls of those buried there. Afterwards, he wrote the following in his diary:

I prayed for the souls of those buried in the graveyard. The life of each individual ran before my eyes like a film movie. Then, one by one, I stood beside each grave and—despite my own lack of good deeds—I prayed for the soul of the buried individual, for the elevation of their spiritual status. It was my wish to to be buried between the graves of my grandfather (Muhammad Saeed) and his wife, my grandmother, or alternatively, between the graves of my father (Maulvi Muhammad Yahya), and my uncle (Maulvi Muhammad Yaqub), an individual who doted on me even more than my own father. Such wishes arose in my heart whenever present in this graveyard, or in the Miani graveyard in Lahore, which is the burial ground of many spiritual elders of the Ahmadiyya Movement, my thoughts often turn in that direction and whenever I am present in these two locations, I find myself enveloped in spiritual rapture.

Such had indeed been the wish of Doctor Saeed Ahmad. But a few years prior to his passing away, he had expressed his thinking that if he were to pass away while in Lahore, then he would be better there. His having selected the graveyard in Dar-us-Salam as the burial place for both of his wives serves as proof that this had been his final wish, too.

Funeral Prayer and Burial

In connection with participating in the funeral prayer and final viewing of his body, relatives and members of the Ahmadiyya Movement from near and far had gathered in Dar-us-Salam in Lahore at the appointed time. Every face was showing signs of immersion in mournfulness, and every heart was raw with the pain of the eternal severance of Doctor Saeed Ahmad from them. Eyes were shedding tears in profusion, yet lips were still, as if frozen. Doctor Saeed Ahmad had asked his near once before his death to always remain steadfast and observant of the tradition of the Holy Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) regarding the passing away of anyone and how to behave in such circumstances.

It was in the leadership of Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s close friend, Raja Muhammad Baidar, that hundreds of individuals participated in his funeral prayer.

This last journey—from Dar-us-Salam to Dar-us-Salam—was traversed in a most dignified way, his body held aloft on a four legged bed atop the shoulders of relatives and devotees.

زمین کے اندر بھی روشنی رہے

مٹی میں چراغ رکھ دیا ہے

That there be light even beneath the Earth;

I have placed a candle lit lamp in the soil.

Doctor Saeed Ahmad passed away at the age of 96 years, one month, and seven days—and according to the lunar calendar, at the age of 99 years.

Ejaz Ahmad writes as follows in an article titled Alhumdulillah:

I, then, will say alhumdulillah because Allah the Most High made possible a truly great blessing—Doctor Saeed Ahmad—to live among us for such a long time. It is truly a blessing from Allah that we have been blessed with the company of such a personality. There is no doubt whatsoever that it is only seldom that such great personalities grace this world.

— Paigham-e-Sulah (November December 1997 issue)

The words above by Ejaz Ahmad surely illustrate the sentiments of everyone who has known Doctor Saeed Ahmad.

اَلْحَمْدُلِلہِ ، ثُمَّ اَلْحَمْدُلِلہِ

Praise be to God, then praise be to God

Foremost Distinctions

• The first individual from Debgaran to attain higher education.
• The first Muslim student at the King Edward Medical College to be awarded the Beli Ram Lamont Medal, a prestigious medal which was awarded to the best candidate in Anatomy (1920).
• The first president of the Shabaan [the Ahmadiyya Young Men’s Association]
• The first Muslim doctor in the district of Hazara (1924).
• The founder of the Dadar Sanatorium and its first medical superintendent (1939 to 1964).
• Awarded the title of Khan Sahib (1934).
• Awarded the title of Khan Bahadur (1944).
• Awarded the prestigious Sitara-e-Khidmat (the Star of Meritorious Service award) (1961).
• Distinctions as the Ameer of the Ahmadiyya Movement:
  • Native-born Ahmadi, blessed with the distinction of taking the religious pledge as a child—aged seven years—at the hand of the Promised Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Sahib.
  • Student in the Taleem-ul-Islam High School, Qadian, India (1912 through 1914).
  • Forced to emigrate from his home land, and subsequently relocating to Dar-us-Salam, Lahore (1974 through 1996).
  • Traveling abroad from Pakistan on numerous occasions to strengthen and organize the worldwide Ahmadiyya Movement chapters (1975 through 1984).