Hazrat Maulvi Nooruddin - Khalifatul-Masih I — Page 288
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES Hadrat Maulw i Nur-ud-D i n ra — Khalifatul Masih I 288 Muhammad Sial ra , M. A. , an utterly devoted and dedicated Ahmad i young man, in the summer of 1913, to help him. Khaw a ja Sahib arranged that Shaikh N u r Ahmad, a very pious but somewhat aged gentleman, who had been his law clerk in Lahore, might travel up with Mr. Sial ra , so that he might prove useful in looking after Khaw a ja Sahib’s personal comfort. My life in England was running its smooth course. One of the supplications Hadrat Khalifatul Masih ra had directed me to make was: Lord, bestow upon me a virtuous companion. It bore fruit within less than eight weeks of my arrival in London. By a pure happy chance I happened to meet a German student of about my age who had arrived in London for the study of engineering and was entered at King’s College, where I was entered for the study of law. He belonged to a family of Pomeranian aristocracy. His father had been a diplomat, but was now retired and was settled in Brussels, where he had large industrial interests. His mother was French. We soon became good friends, and he proved a real brother to me. He was the German friend referred to at the end of Hadrat Khalifatul Masih ’s ra letter of September 16, 1913. Our friendship lasted all through his life. He fought on the German side in the First World War, was twice wounded, won the Iron Cross and was created a Knight of Hohenzollern. After the war we resumed our correspondence. He had lost everything but carried on bravely. He moved to England in 1924 and settled down in London. We often met in London and he visited us several times in India. While I was in England as a student the letters of Hadrat Khalifatul Masih ra were a source of great comfort and held my spirits aloft. I often perceived the physical support of his prayers for me. Early in March