Tadhkirah — Page 25
E ARLY Y EARS – 1881 25 arteries of the necks of the sheep saying: What are you: nothing but refuse-eating sheep. I interpreted this dream to mean that there would be a severe epidemic and many will die of it on account of their misdeeds. I related this dream to a large number of people of whom many are still alive and can affirm it on oath. The events transpired accordingly. A cholera epidemic broke out in the Punjab and other parts of India. In Amritsar and Lahore especially, the epidemic was so severe that hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives. The loss of life was so widespread that corpses were carried on carts and it became difficult for the Muslims to arrange for funeral prayers. [Tiry a qul-Qul u b, p. 60, R uha n i Khaz a ’in, vol. 15, p. 263–264] About 1875 The nature of some people has a spiritual affinity with others. In this way my soul has a natural affinity with the soul of Sayyed ‘Abdul-Q a dir J ila n i and I have been made aware of it through clear spiritual visions. 30 About thirty years ago, God informed me one night that He had chosen me for His own. By a strange coincidence an old woman who was about eighty years of age saw a dream the same night and related it to me the next morning. She said that she had seen Sayyed ‘Abdul-Q a dir J i l a n i, may Allah be pleased with him, in her dream. He was accompanied by another eminent personage and both were wearing green dresses. The time was late at night. The second person was somewhat younger than him. First they offered prayer in 30 The details of these visions have not been narrated here by the Promised Messiah as. He only makes a reference to them. [Publishers]