Odyssey of Sacrifice — Page 28
! 30 other days. During the last seven years there could have been about 60,000 or more visitors. God alone knows what I was abl e to do: talking to those who were eager to listen, helping solve their difficulties and encouraging them in different ways. ” 16 Next year, in 1891, the first Jalsa Salana (Annual Gathering) was held and guests came in large number. The entire hospitality ex pense for them was borne by the Promised Messiah (as). In this regard, a great supporting sign was manifested. This has been recorded in Tarikh - e - Ahmadiyyat [the official history of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at] in the following words: “ Once, during Jalsa Salana we ran out of funds. In those days, separate chanda [financial sacrifice] was not collected for Jalsa Salana. The Promised Messiah (as) used to pay that amount out of his own pocket. One day, Mir Nasir Nawab reported that there was nothing left to f eed the guests that night. The Promised Messiah (as) instructed him to ask Begum Sahiba (his wife) to spare whatever jewelry she could, and sell it to arrange for food. Mir Nasir Sahib sold or mortgaged the jewelry and got the money to provide food for the guests. The next day, Mir Nasir Sahib came to him again at night and told the Promised Messiah (as) that they had run out of food again and there was nothing left for the next day. The Promised Messiah (as) told him not to worry about it, saying: “we did what we could. Now we d on’t need to worry. Allah will take care of His own guests. ” The next day, when the postman came around 8:00am or 9:00 am, the Promised Messiah (as) called me and Mir Nasir Sahib. The postman was holding about 10 or 15 money orders f or 50 and 100 rupee denomination that had come from various people who !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! 16 Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Victory of Islam, pages 21 - 22