Fazl-e-Umar — Page 24
Fazle Umar 24 For example, once in the winter season, Mian Mahmud, who was then only a child, put broken pieces of earthenware in the pocket of the waistcoat of Hadhrat Mirza sahib [as] so that whenever he lay down on his side they poked into him. He mentioned to his servant that recently he had been feeling some pain in his ribs. The servant then passed his hand over that area only to discover the broken pieces of earthenware. The Promised Messiah [as] smiled and said, “now I remember, Mahmud put this in my pocket and asked me not to take it out for he would play with it later. ” Hadhrat Mirza sahib asked that it should be left there for when Mahmud wished to claim it back. 7 To fully appreciate the beauty and elegance of such an incident, a passing glance is not enough. Its allure should stop a man of culture in his tracks and compel him to pause a while. It is not possible that an eye familiar with beauty can pass here without stopping to take in this scene in a state of fascination and absorption. It is said that if a philosopher’s stone were to touch pebbles it would transmute them into gold. This is only fictional but if we look through the spectacles of high moral values, those few potsherds and broken bits will appear more priceless than gold and glittering with more dazzle. It seems that the Promised Messiah [as] did not let slip the least opportunity with the help of which he could polish the character of this child with ever-new glitter. For example Hadhrat Mirza Muhammad Ismail Beg [ra] mentions a similar incident: “One day accompanied by his companions as the Promised Messiah [as] went for a walk, they passed by a fallen Acacia tree. Some companions cut thin branches and made toothbrushes. Someone gave a toothbrush to Hadhrat Sahibzada Mirza Mahmud Ahmad who was very young and was accompanying them. In his childish way he said to Huzur, ‘Father, take this toothbrush. ’ With a smile Huzur said, ‘my child first tell me with whose permission were these toothbrushes obtained?’ Hearing this everyone threw away their brushes. ” 8