Perseverance — Page 41
Part II – My Life as a Muslim 41 MY FIRST MEETING WITH HUZOOR R A IN RABWAH My train from Lahore reached Rabwah at approximately 8pm. Huzoor ra [Urdu: His Holiness ] and a large portion of the population of Rabwah was there to greet me. As I disembarked from the train and I looked upon the crowd, I was mentally in a state of fantasy. The crowd surrounded Huzoor ra from every direction, and my eyes were immediately drawn towards him. I was in disbelief as it hit me that I was in a foreign land being received by the Khal ī fah and hundreds of people. I was in a state of wonder. The Khal ī fah ra was wearing his turban and customary coat and shalw a r kam ī z 12 , walking with his cane. He was the first to shake my hand and greet me. As we walked towards his home, which was close to the rail station, he softly asked me some simple questions like how the weather was in my country. We entered his courtyard and he walked further into his room and I followed. He said, “Oh no, you do not live here. [Facing someone else] Take him where he will live. ” I was then escorted to the room where I was to stay. The next morning, I went to meet him dressed in local attire: atchkin , shalw a r kam ī z and Jinnah cap (a traditional cap in Pakistan 12 The Khulaf a ’ [Arabic: Caliphs] of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community traditionally wear a coat called an atchkin , underneath which they wear a shalw a r kam ī z , which consists of loose-fitting, baggy pants held up with a draw string, over which they wear a kam ī z which is a long shirt that comes down to about the knees. [Writer]