A few days ago, when the body faltered and destiny gently redirected my steps to Khyber Hospital, I did not know that beneath the weight of illness a hidden blessing lay in wait. They say every cloud has a silver lining—and indeed, mine shone through a healer with a human heart.
The third day of my stay in the hospital, I had an opportunity to have a brief encounter with Dr. Showkat Shah Sahib while he was on the round of the Ward. He asked after my welfare, I did not merely meet a superintendent of a hospital; I encountered a rare harmony of outer grace and inner light. Some angels, it seems, do not descend with wings—they walk among us with stethoscopes resting on their shoulders. A few minutes were enough to reveal what years often fail to show: a mesmerizing presence, rooted in humility, crowned with empathy, untouched by the dust of ego.
There is in him a quiet leaning toward philosophy, a subtle fragrance of mysticism—like a lamp that does not announce its flame yet dispels the dark. Sweet in speech, gentle in manner, humble in spirit—he carries his greatness lightly, as fruit-laden trees always bow low.
The other day, when urgency knocked at my door, I reached out to him in a message. Though his days are crowded and his burdens many, his reply came without delay. Such moments remind one that true nobility does not live in high offices alone; it dwells in prompt kindness.
I may have been discharged from the hospital, but I am not yet discharged from weakness. Life, for now, moves on crutches. I have shifted away from home, tethered to the bed, learning again the art of patience.
Yet silence would have been a debt unpaid. I felt it my moral calling to place these words at the feet of a man who, without calculation, honored a frail and ordinary soul like mine. In a world that often measures worth by weight and status, he weighed the heart.
I wished to carry to him a small offering of my books—my reflections on Sufism and my tales of human longing—but fate whispered, “Not yet.” Insha’Allah, soon I shall walk that distance when strength returns to my limbs.
Until then, my prayer travels where my feet cannot:
May Allah keep Dr. Showkat Shah Sahib under His vigilant care, bless his hands that heal, his heart that understands, and his path that serves humanity. Ameen.
Nazir Jahangir
