Fazl-e-Umar — Page 69
Fazle Umar 69 table that his demise would affect our expenditure. For this reason I decided to sell this mare so that its burden of expense would not fall on my mother. One of my friends who knew of my intentions sent a message that this mare was a gift of the Promised Messiah [as] and it must not be sold. At the time I was 19 years of age. I remember the place where I was stood when I received the message. At that time I was stood at the edge of the pool facing southeast from the Tashheezul Azhan office…All of a sudden the words that emanated from my lips were that no doubt this mare is a gift of the Promised Messiah [as] … but I do not want to burden my mother, Hadhrat Ummul Mommineen [ra_ha] for the sake of this mare. Therefore, I sold the mare. ” 42 The reasons for presenting this incident verbatim is to give the readers the true sense of the Promised Messiah’s [as] inclination, that he possessed the spirit of a war- rior. For this reason he gave priority to the manly pursuit of horse riding over bicycles. Moreover, he did not want any ordinary horse but one that was strong and firm. Although this incident throws light upon the life of the Promised Messiah [as] , without doubt this very manly quality was also found in great measure in Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad [ra]. As a matter of fact, the attributes we observe after the maturation of a person’s qualities, if we go back and search for them in the person’s childhood, this tree would appear as a small and fragile plant whose soft and tender roots are embedded in the soft and fertile soil of these types of incidents. The other noteworthy point is in the last part of this incident. He sold the mare despite having such a love for horses and having kept numerous horses throughout his life in accordance with his circumstances, despite even encouraging his children, both boys and girls to ride horses. His love for horses in general was in its own place, but above and beyond this the mare was special because it was a memorable gift from his dear father, the Promised Messiah [as]. The mare was very special in view of the intense