The urge to pen a thought, since the early hours of the morning when I heard the heartbreaking news, has been nothing short of a feeling that I must pay tribute to this wonderful lady. There are certain people who come into your life, leave an everlasting impact, and before you know it, they are gone from this world.
Subconsciously, these very people that you expected to be there beside you always, ever-present wherever you go. Marhuma Zehrabai was one of those.
Saturday, 1st January, 2011 – we have been at the center since morning. Throughout the course of the day, I couldn’t help but look towards the entrance, half expecting this radiant lady to walk in at any time, and take comfort in her usual corner where she would sit. In loving memory of a wonderful personality; a beacon of our community…
Dear Zehrabai, may I share a thought with you?
One of many that float, today, within in my mind
A thought of how a community gathered to pay their last respects
One in which an explanation isn’t so difficult to find
How remote one feels, and distanced from life itself,
When a member of the community takes on the journey ahead
Not just any ordinary person, that we see all the time, mind you
But rather someone special whose dedication truly led
Not only in the madressa, or at the center when we gathered
In every step you took, knowledge and advice was imparted
This wasn’t undecided, but instead it was a focused goal
Aiming to build and nurture a community; that is when you started
Subtly you taught lessons, to the young as well as the old
To serve wholeheartedly and with joy, and to give it all our best
Gently telling us to line our toes in prayers while in Madressa
Disciplining us during programs, we were nothing short of blessed!
With His pleasure in your motive, you served with all your will
training youths to volunteer, adults to also help nourish
Your advice, and words of wisdom, taught and reminded us all
It’s you we thank today, what you shared to help us flourish
A past chairlady, a leader; that may be what you were to the old
But to the youth and young like me, you were a dear grandmother
To each you were different, a mother, a friend, or some association
But all in all, we agree, unique you were, and like you there’s no other.
A community as a whole, we sat, we gathered and recalled
Of your love for perseverance, your Baqiyaat-us-Saalihaat
We benefit from your contribution, what you gave to this society
And ask, raising our hands in prayer for that kind of love in our hearts!
May Allah (s.w.t.) place Marhuma Zehrabai amongst His Chosen Ones, grant her eternal happiness and peace. For her family and friends, and for the community as a whole, we pray to Allah (s.w.t.) that they are granted patience to bear the loss, and can always recall their wonderful memories with the Marhuma and keep her in their prayers.