Hazrat Ahmad — Page 23
HADHRAT AHMAD 23 months. During this period it often happened that when the midday meal was sent to him from his home, he gave it away to the poor and when in the evening after breaking his fast he sent home for food, the request was met with a flat refusal and he passed the night on only water or the like, and with the next morning began to observe another full day's fast. This period proved a time of great trial and suffering for him, but he bore it all with extreme patience and fortitude, and even in moments of the greatest difficulty never, by word or sign, demanded his share of the property. . His Self-Abnegation. Not only during the Period of fasting, but even normally it was his habit to distribute the greater part of his food among the poor. . Sometimes he would keep for himself only a small portion of a chapati (unleavened bread) not more than two ounces in weight. At other times he would give away the whole of his food and himself subsist on a few grains of roasted gram. It thus happened that there gathered around him a number of poor people who became his constant companions. A remarkable contrast was thus presented by the company which surrounded each of the brothers. Around one were assembled people who were comparatively well-to-do, while around the other were gathered the poor and the needy, their benefactor shared his own scanty morsels and their needs he always preferred to his own. . His Coming to Public Notice. At this time the Promised Messiah began his work in the service of Islam by contributing articles to various papers in refutation of the attacks of Christians and Aryas against Islam. This brought his name to popular notice, but he continued to live his life of retirement and seldom appeared in public. His time was spent in a small cloister of a mosque, measuring only 6 feet by 5 feet. If any visitor came he was received in the mosque or in the house. . Thus even when his name began to be publicly known, he himself still dwelt in solitude. . Continuous Revelations. During the period of self-discipline, he began to receive revelations with greater frequency and often had intimations