Seerat-i-Tayyiba — Page 37
37 matter in terms of the greatest admiration and wonder. Further, it might be noted here that this is the same Maulvi Muhammad Husain in regard to whom the Promised Messiah says in a couplet: “With your own hands You cut down The Tree of Friendship We had cultivated in our bosoms When we were young But my heart, in any case, Is not one ever to be guilty Of a default in a matter Of loyalty and l ove!” 6 In the matter of friendship and loyalty the heart of the Promised Messiah was, in fact, the bearer of unparalleled feelings and emotions. He was never the first to sunder, or weaken, any old relationship; and in all circumstances he most beautifully fulfilled all obligations which developed on him in friendly relationships. Maulvi Abdul Karim, who was one of his very close disciples, relates in this connection: “The Promised Messiah on day said: my creed and my principle is that where a man develops a tie of friendship with me, I honor that tie to such an extent that no matter what kind of man he turns out to be, I cannot cut myself away from him. Of course where a man cuts himself away from us, we cannot do anything. Otherwise my religion is this that even if I find a friend of mine dead drunk, lying in the street in that condition, without fear of any kind of blame attaching to my action, in any one’s eyes, I would carry that friend home. He continued that a pledge of friendship is a very precious jewel which should not carelessly and thoughtlessly be lost or