Hazrat Maulvi Nooruddin - Khalifatul-Masih I — Page 25
Hadrat Maulw i Nur-ud-D i n ra — Khalifatul Masih I SOJOURN AT BHOPAL 25 accepted the money but would not have recited the Hadith to you. I now find that you are a person of discernment, and I shall be glad to visit you and recite the Hadith to you. I am not in need of money. My date gardens produce enough dates to take care of all my needs. I also own a number of camels. I go on Pilgrimage to Mecca every year. I load one camel with dates, and a servant rides that camel. I ride another camel which also carries a supply of water. What more does one need? Praise be to Allah. ' " 8 Munshi Sahib mentioned that H a d ram i talked fast and words poured out of his mouth effortlessly; but all his vocabulary was drawn from the Holy Quran and Hadith. Munshi Sahib’s domestic economy was very simple. On one occasion he mentioned that in all his years in Bhopal he had not spent altogether more than three rupees for the purchase of meat. He ate only one full meal a day and invited several persons to it. A kilogramme of shoulder of mutton was all the meat that was needed daily. An animal was purchased for him every morning for three rupees. When it was slaughtered the kilogramme of meat required for his kitchen was reserved and the rest was offered for sale on the spot at a fair price. People quickly bought what they needed, and the proceeds of the sale, no more than three rupees, were restored to Munshi Sahib. He had no doubt recourse to similar devices for his other domestic needs. Yet he was very generous and open- handed. He had, for instance, settled a whole quarter of the town for the accommodation of blind people, who were looked after at his expense. He took great interest in their welfare. He arranged for their marriages among themselves, and took great pleasure