Scattered Pearls — Page 22
21. In Qadian the Promised Messiah had an orchard, from the time of his father, with fruit trees of various kinds. It was usual with the Promised Messiah that at the height of the season for a fruit, he would go into the orchard accompanied by friends and guests happening to be with him at the moment. Then fresh fruit was gathered from the trees, to be placed before the guests; and the Promised Messiah himself would join all sitting with them, under the trees. On such occasions he had the air of a kind father, with his innocent children gathered lovingly around him. But in sittings of this kind, too, his discourse on religious questions would quietly continue to flow, in a general atmosphere of a remarkable degree of homeliness and utter informality, and absolute sincerity of behviour and approach. And it was the most conspicuous characteristic of any kind of sitting, or occasion, where the Promised Messiah was present with his friends and disciples, that the central point, around which the conversation flowed or converged, was always Allah and His Apostle, the Holy Prophet Muhammad. 10. While on the subject of the Promised Messiah's hospitality, the memory of a most painful incident has welled up in my mind, which I find I must mention here. In the province of Khost, Afghanistan, there lived a most sagacious and righteous man, who belonged to a family of the chiefs of the district. His reputation in. Afghanistan for piety and learning, the excellent and high moral qualities and the prestige of the family to which he belonged, was such that at the coronation of Ameer. Habeebullah Khan it was he who was chosen for the great honour of officiating at the formal ceremony in a public Durbaar. The name of this great chief, and this pious scholar, was Sahibzada Syed Abdul Lateef. When news happened to reach Sahibzada Syed Abdul Lateef that a man living in Qadian claimed to be the Mahdee and Masih expected to appear among the Muslims, he