Perseverance — Page 136
136 – the story of al-haj Rashid ahmad american SNAKES IN SINDH When we arrived in Sindh in one of the Ahmadiyya lands, Khal ī fat- ul-Mas īh wanted to know how many snakes were in the area. He hired a local snake catcher to see how long it would take to find and catch a snake. The snake catcher was able to catch a snake within minutes, which indicated that the snake population must be fairly high. The snake catcher noticed a hole and closed it. He noticed another hole which he recognized as the snake’s exit hole. As the snake sought to escape, the snake catcher caught it by forcing down its head with his hand. He then picked it up holding its head. He took a cloth and placed it on its two fangs and pulled them out. The snake catcher was asked in the local dialect what he would do with the snake and he said that he would eat the snake’s heart, which I understood was pretty common in those parts in Pakistan. CONFUSING TELEGRAM SENT FROM SINDH A telegram was sent to the same house in Rabwah from Sindh and it stated that Bash ī r Ahmad should go immediately to Mult a n. However, there were two Bash ī r Ahmads , one was Mirz ā Bash ī r Ahmad and the other was Shaikh Bash ī r Ahmad, who was his brother-in-law, and both were residing in that house. Since the telegram only stated Bashir Ahmad , there was potential for confusion. Huzoor ra pointed out that if Mirz ā Bash ī r Ahmad was to receive this telegram in error, he would immediately proceed to Mult a n. The message was intended for Shaikh Bash ī r Ahmad.