Mirror of Charm and Beauty — Page 77
was extra-ordinarily high and enviable in every way. . The second instance I desire to refer to here is one which I mentioned in my Paper last year as well-Hazrat Maulvi Syed Abdul Lateef, the Martyr. He was a native of Afghanistan, counted among the topmost Ulama of that country. He was also a very influential chief among the people of his native land, who had the distinction of having officiated at the coronation of Amir Habibullah Khan. When Sahibzada. Abdul Lateef came to know that Hazrat Ahmad of Qadian claimed to be the Promised Messiah and Mehdi, he came in person to Qadian to see for himself if this claim was based on truth. Gifted as he was with a pure mind, and a sensitive perception he immediately perceived that this was a true claim, and he yielded whole hearted belief and allegiance. . When he went back to Kabul, a decree of kufr was issued against him by the Ulama of his country; and they pronounced judgement that he deserved to be stoned to death. . On the basis of this fatwa, the Amir issued orders that he should be stoned to death in a most barbaric manner. He was buried in a pit waist deep, and then the Amir himself spoke to him, asking him to recant. But strong as a rock in his faith, he spurned all such overtures. The sentence was then carried 77