Tadhkirah — Page 186
186 one to put it out. At last I poured water over it repeatedly and put it out 210. The fire was no longer visible but there still was some smoke. I could not see how much the fire had destroyed but I conceived that there was no great damage. This was the dream mentioned in my letter 211 to Sheikh Mehr ‘Al i and the letter was found in his house by his son after his arrest. Thereafter, I had one or two dreams the greater part of which was frightening and a part was reassuring. I interpret this to mean that possibly there are intervening difficulties, but the end is good. However, the 210 When I saw this dream God conveyed its interpretation to me clearly that Sheikh [Mehr ‘Al i ] would be afflicted with a great misfortune which will affect his honour and my putting out the fire by pouring water on to it meant that the misfortune would be repelled through my prayer and not through any other means…. After about six months it happened accordingly. I was in Ambala Cantonment when a person of the name of Muhammad Bakhsh came to me on behalf of J a n Mu h ammad, son of Sheikh [ Mehr ‘Al i] , and told me that Sheikh [ Mehr ‘Al i] had been arrested in connection with such and such a case. I enquired from him about the letter that I had written six months earlier warning Sheikh [Mehr ‘Al i ] of such a misfortune, but Muhammad Bakhsh confessed lack of knowledge of such a letter. However, Sheikh [ Mehr ‘Al i] himself—after his release—often stated that the letter had been found in one of his boxes. While Sheikh [Mehr ‘Al i ] was in custody I received several letters from his son J a n Mu h ammad, possibly written by Muhammad Bakhsh, who was a connection of theirs, requesting me for prayers. Allah knows that I prayed for him diligently through several nights. At first the situation appeared very involved and threatening but at last God accepted my supplications and conveyed to me the good news of his deliverance. This was conveyed briefly to his son… I prayed for him for long. At the end, reassurance of divine grace and deliverance was conveyed to me in a few words which were quite definite. [ Appendix A’i na-e-Kam ala t-e-Isl a m, p. 6, Announcement of February 25, 1893 along with footnote, R uha n i Khaz a ’in, vol. 5, pp. 653–654] 211 The reference is to the letter that the Promised Messiah as wrote to Sheikh Mehr ‘Al i , Chief of Hoshiarpur. [Jalal-ud-Din Shams]