Amongst his recollections of his childhood, Hidayat Inayat-Khan included this deeply felt tribute to his mother, Ameena Begum. The previous post in the series is here.
Aubade
… and lo!, a most trustworthy queen of an ‘inner call’ she was. Her light blue eyes opened to twilight in Albuquerque, New Mexico on the 8th of May 1892, and her name was ‘Ora-Ray,’
… and lo!, an aura of rays she was when bright sunny days had threaded away alike seventeen beads of fairy-tale years, when suddenly those very same shores of her own motherland had stayed for ever a-yond; whilst her golden curls were cradled by the winds, as she sailed over the ocean toward the goal of her life, her Daya, her All.
Then four little Angels, answering the appeal of her fairy-like dream, were henceforth to be treasured as precious jewels in the ‘Abode of Prayer,’ where the King of her heart would sing:
Happiness be with our little ones;
Right guidance from Above;
I wish good fortune in this home,
And my deepest love.
….as the fairy tale goes on telling– passersby would pay homage to the ‘Home,’ the shrine of love, harmony and beauty, where celestial music vibrated in the hearts of those who awakened to the blessings of the Spirit of Guidance. Here again Ora Ray, now know as “Ameena Begum”, was seen, offering her Devoted heart to the Altar of Self-Sacrifice, at every instant of daily turmoil.
Soon came the day when the sky grew pale and grey, and the ‘Call of Return’ had carried away all happy days, leaving behind naught but grief and tears. And the voice within her broken heart would resound each day and night and say:
“Be not anxious, my Sharda. On his service I must go.
Though parting is hard to bear, but it’s God who wants it so”
“But now I shall be no more” she said, ….and lo! she was no more but skin and bone. Her soul would weep aloud:
“O Death, come take me by the hand…
Then lay me at Beloved’s feet,
And with the dust my form secrete–
There let me rest”.
Again and again, at Duty’s plea she would toil from morn till eve, caring for her ‘Rubies’, and no one shall ever know how close “Aura Ray” came to the sanctuary of the very God-Ideal, where only those can be whose hearts are shining as Golden Auras ?
Pirani Ameena Begum died in Paris on May 1st, 1949, but the Inner Call of her “Rosary of a Hundred Beads” shall live and live for evermore.
In deepest homage to ‘Amma,’ our ‘Graceful Mother.’
Hidayat