Echoes of the Past: Quaid-e-Azam’s Final Words Revealed

Pakistan marked the commemoration of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s birth anniversary. Acknowledged as the father of the nation, he endured just about a year following the transformative alteration of the world map but continues to be an enduring guiding figure.

The final day of the Quaid was devoted to traveling from Quetta to Karachi, a journey embarked upon after his sister had received a bleak prognosis for his life, with the slim possibility of a miraculous recovery.

Following a two-hour flight to Karachi’s Mauripur Airport, the nation’s founder spent an additional two hours reaching his resting place in the Governor-General House in Karachi. This delay was prompted by the breakdown of his ambulance, necessitating a replacement.

The demise of the nation’s founder occurred shortly after 10 pm.

Among the numerous accounts chronicling his life and concluding days, two divergent versions recount the last words uttered by the founder before drawing his final breath.

The initial account is derived from Fatima Jinnah, the Quaid’s sister and constant companion until his last moments. In her posthumously published memoir, ‘My Brother,’ she recounts their final conversation.

After the ambulance ordeal concluded and Jinnah safely reached his bed in the governor-general house, he peacefully slept for nearly two hours. Upon awakening, he gestured for his sister to approach and softly whispered, “Fati, Khuda Hafiz. La Ilaha Il Allah Mohammad Rasul Allah.”

Fatima summoned the doctors immediately, but the Quaid had already departed.

Contrastingly, Lieutenant Colonel Ilahi Bakhsh, the physician attending to Jinnah in his last days, narrated a different account in his memoir, ‘With the Quaid-i-Azam During His Last Days.’

According to him, as Jinnah was conveyed to his bed in the governor-general house, the doctors attempted to administer a tonic. However, he was so frail that the potion dribbled from the corners of his mouth.

Subsequently, the doctors tried to inject a drug into his veins, but the collapsed veins thwarted their efforts.

Addressing Jinnah, Dr. Bakhsh conveyed, “Sir, we have given you an injection to strengthen you, and it will soon have its effect. God willing, you are going to live.”

Even in the final half-hour of his life, on the precipice of death, the Quaid retained his clarity of mind. His simple response was, “No, I am not.”