Hazrat Maulvi Nooruddin - Khalifatul-Masih I — Page 21
Hadrat Maulw i Nur-ud-D i n ra — Khalifatul Masih I SOJOURN AT BHOPAL 21 indigestion. On the Chief Minister requesting a prescription he dictated a very costly one. The Chief Minister then signalled his retainers to withdraw and asked him to dine with him. He declined, saying he was in no mood to dine, on which Munshi Jam a ludd i n reminded him: "The Holy Prophet sa has prescribed acceptance of an invitation. " To this he yielded and signified acceptance. A short while after, a messenger arrived and told him to accompany him to the Chief Minister’s residence. He intimated he had not the strength to walk. The emissary offered to carry him on his back, and thus transported him to the Chief Minister’s residence and deposited him next to the Chief Minister in the dining room. What followed may be set down in Maulaw i Sahib’s own words: "Dinner was served, and I considered what should I eat. Rice cooked in the juice of chicken was my favourite, and I gatered * a morsel and then apprehending that after long starvation it might choke me I put it aside. I then took up a bowl of chicken broth and sipped a little of it. This revived me immediately. I took another sip and then began to eat it slowly. Thereupon the host sent for the chef and enquired: 'What is wrong with the rice dish?' He answered: 'Nothing, except that the chicken was overdone at one spot and I covered it up at the bottom of the dish. ' He was then asked: 'What is the best dish this evening?' The chef answered: 'The broth'. In short I ate a quantity of the broth which revived me completely. * A misprint in the original. Probably 'gathered'. [Publisher]