Life of Ahmad — Page 73
as AFTER HIS FATHER’S DEATH 73 without any compulsion Ahmad as gave willingly his cloak to those who had asked of him only his coat. On one occasion Ahmad as requested his brother for a small sum of money to defray the subscription for a newspaper, but it was refused with the remark that a newspaper was an extravagance. This attitude of his brother gives an idea of the hardships that Ahmad as willingly underwent; and thus he shared the poverty common to all saints. M i r Sahib and his wife were very much impressed with the purity and piety of Ahmad’s as character, and spoke to each other very highly of his virtues. It has already been mentioned that Mirza Imam D i n had made an abortive attempt to kill Mirza Ghulam Murtaza. It appears that there was bad blood between the two branches of the family. The strength and power of Mirza Ghulam Murtaza kept, however, all the turbulent elements under control; but his behest to his eldest son, Mirza Ghulam Q a dir, was that he should be on his guard against them. When he died, Imam D i n, as has been mentioned before, instigated the other relations and litigation was started. Consequently, Ahmad’s as cousins remained a constant source of trouble to him. In fact, they proved to be the bitterest of his enemies. They were truly a wicked lot. They indulged in every vice and had no scruples. Their worst characteristic was that they ridiculed religion and did not believe in God. And it was this that kept them always at daggers drawn with Ahmad as. They laughed and jeered at him and did everything to