Worship

"Bibi Raihana Tyabji also came to stay at Sevagram for a few days. I knew her to be a devout Muslim but was not aware, before the death of her illustrious father, of how well-versed she was in Koran Sharif. When that jewel of Gujarat, Tyabji Saheb, expired, no sound of weeping broke the awful silence in his room. The latter echoed with Bibi Raihana’s sonorous recitation of verses from the Koran. Such as Abbas Tyabji Saheb cannot die. He is ever alive in the example of national service which he has left behind. Bibi Raihana is an accomplished singer with an ample repertory of bhajans of all kinds. She used to sing daily as well as recite beautiful verses from the Koran. I asked her to teach some verses to any of the (ashram) inmates who could learn them, and she gladly did so. Like so many who came here she had become one of us. Raihana went away when her visit was over, but she has left a fragrant reminder of herself. The well-known Al Fateha has been included in the ashram worship. The following is a translation of it:

I take refuge in Allah
from Satan the accursed.

Say he is God, the one and only God,
the eternal, absolute.
He begetteth not nor is he begotten,
And there is none like unto him.

Praise be to God,
The cherisher and sustainer of the worlds,
most gracious and most merciful,
master of the day of judgment.
Thee do we worship
And thine aid we seek.
Show us the straight way,
The way of those on whom
Thou has bestowed thy grace,
Those whose portion is not wrath
And who go not astray."

-Mahatma Gandhi, Harijan, February 15, 1942