Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 187
THE RENAISSANCE OF ISLAM 187 Master may be pleased with me. I supplicate for the fulfilment of this desire; and it is out of this desire that I took up my residence in Qadian and continue and will continue to reside here. I have spent many days considering anxiously what would be our situation after the death of Hazrat Sahib. That is why I have endeavoured that Mian Mahmud's education might be completed. There are three persons out of the close relatives of Hazrat. There is Mian Mahmud Ahmad, who is my brother and my son, and has a special relationship with me. Mir Nasir Nawab Sahib is worthy of respect on account of his relationship with Hazrat Sahib. The third one is Nawab Muhammad Ali Khan Sahib. Then out of the members of the Movement there are Syed Muhammad Ashsan Sahib, who is extremely able and is a descendant of the Holy Prophet. He has served the faith in a manner that puts a person like me to shame. In his old age he has written several books in support ofHazrat Sahib. This is a service that is special to him. Then there is Maulvi Muhammad Ali Sahib who is performing such service as is beyond my imagination. All these people are resident in Qadian. From among people outside t~ere are Syed Hamid Shah and Maulvi Ghulam Hasan, and several others. This is a heavy responsibility and a dangerous one. It can be discharged only by one who is divinely commissioned, for such a one is supported with wonderful promises of God which serve as a support against back-breaking hardships. At this time it is necess- ary that all of us, men and women, should be united. For the maintenance of such unity enter into a covenant with any of those I have named, I shall be with you. I am weak and am in indifferent health and do not possess the appropriate temperament. It is not easy to discharge such a heavy responsibility. . . . You may con- sider it easy, but it is very difficult for the one who has to carry the burden. I call God to witness that if you elect any of those whom I have named, I shall be ready to make the covenant with him along with all of you. If you insist upon making the covenant with me then bear in mind that ba'iat means to be sold. On one occasion Hazrat Sahib indicated to me that I should put the thought of my home out of my mind. Thereafter my entire honour and all thinking became attached to him and I have never thought of my home. Thus, ba'iat is a difficult matter. A person who makes ba'iat gives up all his freedom and ~igh flights for the sake of another. That is why God