I sit with Maa holding her hand. Dayima had left as soon as I had returned.

"Go to sleep. You haven't slept the whole night", she says.

Though my eye lids feel heavy and I yawn consistently I do not want to go to sleep. I want to spend my every waking moment with her. After reading the letter I had realized what a great blessing of Allah a mother was! And unfortunately it is human nature to realize the value of things only after they have been taken away. I did not want that. I nod as sleep overtakes me only to jerk back awake.

"I said go to sleep", Maa says in a strict tone. It's better not to ignore that tone. I fall asleep.

It's voices that wake me up. Seher Khala and Maa are having a busy conversation. She is updating Maa regarding Zain. Oh oh.

"The poor fellow has given up on her even before trying just like you said Haleema"

"My daughter is a feisty girl", says Maa running a hand over my forehead while I continue to feign sleep. "Allah has made a perfect match for her somewhere. It's just a matter if time before she gets married".

This is not the right time for me to wake up. So I go back to sleep waking up in the afternoon. I take care of Maa's needs and sit beside her weaving baskets.

"Seher dropped a letter for you. Hammad Khan has sent it". She hands it over to me.

"It's time I met the Shehzada myself. Go to teach him as usual, I will join you two by myself late in the night. Just inform him I will be coming".

That suits me fine. In fact today will be my last lesson with Shehzada. If I convince Hammad Chachu to continue the guidance of Shehzada from there then I can cut off my ties with him and take better care of Maa. My mind is preoccupied with her. Every other thing has lost its importance in my eyes.

"You did not tell me you met Zain". I am startled from my thoughts.

"Ah, yes I did. Didn't go well, if you ask me. He is a nice person with a good humor and the ability to take things positively but I don't seem to be the type of girl he is looking for"

"That maybe so. Did you really hit him till he bled?"

I look at her sheepishly. "I did. But then it was out of defense", I retort.

"Did you apologize?"

"I did"

"Formally?", she asks.

"I guess you could say that"

"I want you to meet him again and apologize clearly. His mother Sumaiya is a very good lady and my childhood playmate"

"As you say Maa"

"I want you to meet him today. In fact it's better you leave now. You can return in time to meet Shehzada. And drop off the baskets at Dayima's home, they are piling up"

"I don't want to leave you alone", I say.

"Seher told she will return in the afternoon and stay here tonight"

"I will leave after she comes then"

"Maa", I call after some thought. "I am ready to marry Zain if you want me to"

She looks at me like as if I had grown a horn on my head.

"What has changed your mind?"

"I think it's time I settled down like you want me to"

She doesn't believe my words for a second. She is my mother after all.

"That's not true. You do not want that I know. What is making you do it?", she asks.

I am not able to answer her. It's so difficult to express feelings at times. She continues to look at me and I know I can't evade her forever. The sooner I confess the better.

"I feel I have been ignoring you. I want to fulfill your wish of seeing me married"

"And just to make me happy you will marry any man I choose?"

I nod.

"What happened to my strong headed girl who used to fight for what she believed was right?"

"She has realized her mistake and wants to correct it before its too late for she loves her mother a lot"

Tears fill my eyes. I turn my face away. I don't want her to see me cry. I swallow the knot in my throat. Words of Hakeem Afsar's letter run through my mind. "Once the nabz becomes zayeef and bati there is little that can be done".

"My princess, I do want to see you married but not to a man whom you are not even compatible with. Do not worry yourself over it. Allah has appointed a right time for everything. You will get married InshaAllah and to one of the best men ever known"

************************************

Mir Saleem sits on the floor while his mother embroiders a pillow case.

"How is Rehan?", she asks him.

"You never forget him, do you Maa?"

"How can I, after all that has happened?"

"He is as best as a child of his age could be. He has become quite close to Shehzada Firoz Shah. Both of them are seen together most of the time"

"How is his mother Ayesha?"

"I do not get to know much about her. Haven't seen her around, she mostly keeps to the Harem"

He keeps pulling at the dazzles hanging from the bed spread. His mother is observing him closely though she appears to be busy with her stitching. Finally her patience runs out.

"What is it?", she asks.

"What is what?" He looks surprised.

"What has got you so worked up?"

"I am a little disturbed", he says.

"Disturbed with what?"

"My father's schemes"

"Because he wants Mir Faseeh on throne? Or because he is trying to kill Shehzada Sher Shah? Or because people are tired of paying his taxes? Or because he is a man with a black heart and it pains you to associate yourself to him as his son?"

"All of those"

"There is only so much we can do to correct a man. When Allah seals someone's heart then no ray of guidance can enter it. We can still hope and pray for him to change his ways"

"That's understandable. But he pulls me in everyone of his schemes and I do not want to be a part of them"

"Then tell him you do not want to do it", says his mother.

"What? Openly oppose father?"

"It's not wrong to stand for what you feel is right Saleem. Even if it is against your own father. Remember, in the initial stages of Islam when a young man used to become a believer then his family would disown him. But those young men didn't care for they knew they were right and Allah is with them"

"So next time father asks me to do something I feel is wrong I can openly stand up to him say I won't do it?", he asks his mother again just to confirm.

"Yes"

He nods feeling courageous.

"Maa, how are you living with him as a wife? Don't you feel repulsive?"

"My duty is to be a good wife. That is all Allah is going to ask me after I die and I am proud to say I have done my duty faithfully. Whether he has been a good husband or not is something he is accountable for. Yes I do feel repulsive. We all have our tests in this life. My test is my husband. It is taking a lot of patience and sacrifice to continue to stay with him but I have decided to pass this test, so I will!"

Mir Saleem goes back in deep thought. For some people marriage was a bliss while for some it was an enduring test. Then again people with a happy married life had other types of tests in their life. And people who have difficult spouses have other blessings to be grateful for. No one's life is perfect. Everyone has their share of sunshine and dark clouds. People who managed to be patient during dark hours and thank Allah during happy days are the successful ones. It is not necessary to have all our desires fulfilled in this world. It is not Jannah (paradise) after all!

"I will stand up for what is right Maa. Even if I have to face the wrath of my father. Even if I have to give up my love and my every wish, even if I have to shed last drop of my blood I will fight against him. I still hope he will back down and leave his evil ways behind. But till such a day I will continue to oppose him".

"That's my son. May Allah guide you"

************************************

As soon as Seher Khala arrives Maa shoos me out of the door.

"Go and apologize to that young man and drop off the baskets", she says.

I leave. On my way I approach the Shahi housing and I have a sudden urge to check on Meher. It will just take a few minutes anyway.

I knock at her window. What if Mir Jafar was at home? What if someone else has heard the knock? What if Meher is not in her room and hasn't heard it?

I debate whether to knock again or wait. Finally I give up and am about to knock again.

"Saeed, is that you?", Meher whispers from the window.

"Yes", I reply back.

"Do you mind if I reveal you to a man who can help us fight my husband? He is in the house at the moment".

"How can we trust him?", I hiss.

"I have seen him since I married Mir Jafar and he is an honest man"

"OK", I agree.

"I'll let you in through the door then", she says walking away from behind the closed window. Even I make way to the door and wait for her to open it.

Who was this man? What if he was a spy that Meher was blindly trusting? I had better be prepared. I make sure my dagger is just below my tunic easily accessible.

"Assalamualaikum", I greet her as I enter.

"Walaikumassalam". She hugs me tightly. There are new bruises on her arms but her face is glowing. It is not the scared and pinched face I had seen the first time. Fighting for her freedom and her family's happiness even if it was secretly had given her hope.

"Who is he?", I ask as she leads me inside.

"Mir Saleem", she says.

I stop dead in my tracks. "Is he trustworthy? Why will he go against his own father? What if we are walking right in to a trap Meher?".

She just smiles. "Wait till you meet him. You will have no doubts left". She pulls my arm taking me in one of the rooms.

It looks like a mini conference hall with a round table surrounded by 7 chairs. Sitting on one of the chairs bent in some papers front of him and sipping tea is a young man.

"Saleem, this is Saeed", says Meher.

He lifts his head and I shout.

"You are Saira's lover!"

For a few seconds there is stunned silence as all of us are getting used to the new revelations. Its Meher who speaks first.

"Who is Saira?", she squeals very much excited at the prospect of knowing her step sons would be mate. Mir Saleem blushes red.

"She is my best friend", I say. "Lately they both have taken a fancy to each other"

"Does she like me as well?", asks Mir Saleem shyly.

"Obviously she does, why else would she risk everything to meet you in the Shahi jungle?", I ask.

"Her actions do tell me she is interested but confessing it through words has a satisfaction of its own"

"I'll keep that in mind ", I say taking my place on the table. Meher sits as well.

"So, when are you marrying her?", I ask.

"As soon as I convince Father", he says.

"Do you think that's going to happen?" I raise my brows, though he can only see my eyes.

He sighs.

"That's never going to happen", Meher says. "I suggest you go ahead and get married for you are never going to see the day he will happily accept Saira as his daughter in law"

"Actually, I am waiting for Shehzada to be crowned. Once he is the Shehenshah I will enroll in the army and stand on my own two feet having no association with my Father. Then proudly I will make her my wife"

Meher goes all moist eyed and blesses him with hundreds of Duas. Typical mother! While I just sit and think how lucky Saira is! Does there exist a man who would do the same for me? Shehzada's picture comes to my mind and I push it away. What was I thinking? He is going to be the Shehenshah! While I was just......Saeed. And I am sure he just takes me as his well wisher. I may admire him for all his impressive qualities. But that was all it was, adoration! I had to strictly adhere to my plan. Train him and move away. Train him and move away I repeat to myself. 

"Saeed is working to bring Shehzada on throne and send Mir Jafar to the gallows", says Meher.

Mir Saleem looks at me surprised. "You?", he asks. Another man to get fooled by my small appearance.

"Yes me!", I say with defiance. 

"And what are you doing to help Shehzada ascend the throne?", he asks skeptically.

"Who is training his anger? Who is educating him? Who is counseling him to help his subjects? Who is training him in politics? Who has stopped him from eating Mir Jafar's poisoned food? Who is delivering him food everyday? Who replaced his bodyguards with Ali?"

"Are you saying it's you who is doing all that?"

"Mostly. With the help of a wise man"

"Why are you doing it?", he asks.

"Because I want to save my kingdom"

"I am sure there is a deeper reason. Everyone wants to save the kingdom but we do not see them risking their lives to do it, do we?", he asks.

"There might be deeper reasons involved but I am not going to divulge them. The point is I am working against Mir Jafar whether you like to accept it or not".

He nods. ''We can work together", he says. 

************************************

"Come in quick", says Mir Tabrez ushering his father and his brother Mir Faseeh inside.

"What is it?", asks Mir Jafar clearly not pleased on being disturbed from his afternoon nap.

Mir Tabrez bolts the door and all of them sit on the table waiting for him to begin.

"I went to the Shehzada's room this afternoon. He was not inside even though Ali was guarding it", he says.

"Oho! So he is leaving his chambers through other means?", asks Mir Faseeh.

"Yes", replies Mir Tabrez. "And that is not all. I found this", he says placing the bag of food on the table " and this...", he says handing the note to Mir Jafar.

Mir Jafar's eyes go as wide as cannon balls. "Saeed!", he says.

"Saeed!", repeats Mir Tabrez. "He is the person behind all our worries"

"He is the one who is giving him food", says Mir Faseeh.

"And he is the one who is guiding and preparing Shehzada", says Mir Tabrez.

"But who is he?", asks Mir Jafar.

"It will be easy to find that out now that we know his name", says Mir Tabrez.

"But how does Shehzada leave his chamber without anyone noticing?", asks Mir Faseeh.

"Why.. How foolish of me!", says Mir Jafar banging his fist on the table. "Underground passage!"

"Allahu Akbar!", exclaims Mir Tabrez. "He has been fooling us all this time. But where is he going to?"

"To meet this Saeed of course", says Mir Faseeh.

"No, that is not possible. If he was going to meet Saeed then why would Saeed leave food and note for him in his room? He would have given him the food when Shehzada would have come to meet him. From this we can gather that Saeed himself comes with food everyday and Shehzada goes somewhere else in the afternoon"

"How do we find out where the passage leads to?", asks Mir Faseeh.

"From the palace maps, Mahmood Hassan will have them", says Mir Jafar. "Send the guards to call Mahmood"

Once Mahmood Hassan enters, "Get me the palace's old maps", says Mir Jafar. "They are in my office. I will get them for you Wazir-e-aala", he says leaving.

Why does he need old palace's maps wonders Mahood Hassan on his way back. What if he has found out about the secret passage Saeed is using?

"I know just the thing to do! Mir Jafar should go mad running about in circles", he says.

Immediately he gets to work erasing the old passage from the parchment and creating a new one which began in Shehzada's room and opened into the wilderness outside the capital city. Hah! That should serve him right! Let him run around the wilderness searching for a passage which does not exist. He innocently hands these papers to Mir Jafar and walks away happily.

"Spread out the map here", says Mir Jafar eagerly.

All three of them pour over it.

"I was right! Here is the passage. Where does it lead to?", asks Mir Jafar.

Mir Tabrez runs his finger along the passage and stops outside the city. "It's going out of the city in to the wilderness", he says puzzled.

"Why would the Shehzada want to go there everyday?", asks Mir Faseeh.

"Maybe even he meets the sorcerer!", says Mir Jafar.

Both his sons look at him dubiously. Though their father heavily relied on such foolishness they themselves refrained from it having no faith in such elements. They believed the Shehzada to be like them self in such matters. However they do not voice out their thoughts on the matter choosing to ignore the comment. Why upset their father?

"Do you think he...", Mir Faseeh clears his throat.

"What?", asks Mir Jafar.

"Do you think he has a lover? Maybe he is going to meet her."

"Might be possible, considering his age", observes Mir Jafar.

"Good! We can kidnap the girl and get Shehzada to do what we want", says Mir Faseeh.

"Speaking of lovers. I have found out that Saleem has a lover as well".

"What!" shout Mir Jafar and Mir Faseeh in unision.

"And she is a commoner father!", spits Mir Saleem.

"Do you know her details?", asks Mir Jafar.

"I am yet to find out"

"Good. Find out more about Saeed as well and you Faseeh find out more about where this passage leads to and if Shehzada has a lover. Now that the poison failed to kill him we will have to try other means to eliminate him. If he still manages to ascend the throne then, my dear sons we use plan B!"

19 November 2016

*************************************************************************************************

A/N

We all realize the importance of our mothers in our lives. There are many people out there who have lost this blessing. Only they can tell us what an amazing blessing a mother is!

Majority of my readers are females, to them I would like to say, be careful! For you are the future mothers. The way you shape a child's mind and behavior is going to determine the type of adult he is going to become. And children are not your property that you hit them and scold them accountlessly. They are Allah's property and only an amanah (trust) in your hand. You will have to answer Allah for every wrong you do to them and each of their right that you compromise.

"All of your desires do not come true in this world, then of what use would be Paradise? Each and every injustice is not accounted for in this world, then of what use would be the day of judgement? Each and every misdoing is not punished in this world, then of what use would be the hellfire?"

Next time you are wondering why Allah is not sending you your favourite dress or why he is not punishing tyrant leaders or why he is not taking into task the people who are doing homicide remember my words above.

If you have a blessing, its a test! If you have a problem, its a test! If you are beautiful, its a test! If you just lost your job, its a test! Every minute of our life is a test! And this paper will be corrected to see how we faced those tests. Did we thank Allah, trust his decisions, smile and move ahead? Or did we frown and fret, forgetting our creator and fall hopelessly into sins?

So, let us learn to be people of patience today.

There are 3 forms of patience:

1. صبر علي المصيبه
Patience on calamities:
This is the first form, that we remain steadfast even when everything around us is going wrong. Stuck in traffic? Lost your cell phone? Did the shower stop working? Touched a burning hot pan by mistake? Read dua and be patient. Allah will reward you immensely and guess what? You just won!

2.صبر علي المعصيه
Patience on sins:
Desperately wanna watch the latest movie? Wanna plug those earphones and listen to immodest music? Wanna slap back that girl for talking against you? Wanna vent your anger by swearing? Stop right there and swallow the urge. Very difficult I know, but we can train ourselves little by little. Nothing is impossible. And this is nothing but being patient over sins. Just do it once! Stop yourself while reaching your hands to the earphones and say "Just for the sake of Allah, I won't do it" and see the peace and happiness you will feel.

3. صبرعلي الاطاعه
Patience on obedience:
Do not feel like making wudu in cold water yet you immerse your hands in it? Do not feel like leaving your warm soft bed for Fajr salah yet you get up? Have a terrible backache yet you sit for doing tilavah? Have no mood to cook yet you do it just because your mom asked you to? This is nothing but being patient on obedience. If you are from any or all of the above congratulate yourself my friend! May Allah increase you in your good deeds.

Verily Allah is with the patient (8:46)

A really long chp! Hope you guys enjoyed it!

Lots and lots of love!
In need of Duas
Dr Mystic