First Grain of Sand — Page 202
186 FIRST GRAIN OF SAND where he searched me, and then sent me to prison. From there, I was taken to Ashgabat, and then from Ashgabat to Tashkent, and then finally from Tashkent to Moscow. And on 16 September 1926 I was released from prison and sent to Anzali on Iran's side of the border. My master! During this period of nearly 22 months, this insignificant one has spent many troubling and sor- rowful days in a state of starvation and thirst, including two and a half continual months in a completely dark room of the prison often remaining awake throughout the night. Such a painful experience can even soften the heart of one who is hard-hearted. People who have seen me in this condition in prison will certainly never be able to forget. My master! Those impure souls who were thirsty for my blood and worried day and night about murdering me played a big role within the Russian government, whose cruelty even targeted Maulawi Nehmatullah Khan inside Afghanistan. Because of them, I was severely chastised, beaten mercilessly, wounded from head to toe, bound up tightly, and thrown into completely dark rooms. They put poison in my food, and for so many other days pork was brought for me to eat. I was tied up with thick ropes. I was interrogated night after night. Many times, I learned about secret plans to murder me inside my prison cell. My dear master! In these hard times when despair overwhelmed me, I became convinced that the blood of this humble servant of Khilafaat will be sown into Russian soil for the seed of Ahmadiyyat to grow and no longer had