First Grain of Sand — Page 19
MY BEGINNINGS IN QADIAN 3 place was born a new vigour, passion, and fresh mindset to ded- icate myself to the Madrasah Ahmadiyyah. I returned home and told my brother about this conversation with Huzoorra and told him that come whatever may, now I am committed to studying in Madrasah Ahmadiyyah. In those days, admission was allowed into Madrasah Ahmadiyyah after completing the fifth grade. Additionally, a special class was launched for weaker students that required one extra year of study. I told my brother that even if I must spend an additional year in the special class, I am commit- ted to studying in the Madrasah Ahmadiyyah. Therefore, by the immense grace and blessings of God Almighty, this humble one was admitted into the first ever class of the Promised Messiah's sanctified institute for religious education. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih Ira mentioned this incident twice during his daily lessons on the Holy Quran that I attended without mentioning my name. And once, while I walked next to Huzoorra after he ascended the stairs of the great Aqsa Mosque [in Qadian], Hazrat Khalifatul-Masihra put one hand on my shoulder and the other hand on his beard and said to me: Do you think when you learn Arabic that God will deprive you of a good livelihood? I have studied Arabic, and look how God has blessed me with sustenance and livelihood my entire life. I bear witness that since that day, God Almighty has indeed con- sistently been my Provider. Every time I had a need, God pro- vided it to me out of His immense grace. Even years later in the Soviet prisons, when I feared the presence of pork in the meals