First Grain of Sand — Page 28
12 FIRST GRAIN OF SAND of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih's Friday sermons in which Huzoor said he had selected a missionary to send to Bukhara but would not disclose that missionary's identity for the time being. I remem- ber vividly that when I read this while in Jammu, a longing arose within my heart to offer myself for this assignment. However, I thought that perhaps presenting myself wouldn't be appropriate. Instead, if Huzoor were to elect me for this task, that would be a matter of incredible blessings for me, and indeed this is what happened. Through God's unique wisdom and profound kindness, of all chapters in the Quran, I had a particular passion for memoriz- ing Sūrah al-Kahf [Chapter 18, containing a descriptive reference to Gog (the Russians)] and Sūrah Yūsuf[Chapter 12, which nar- rates the story of the imprisonment of Prophet Josephas on false charges]. When I set out for my journey to Bukhara at the instruc- tion of Huzoor, there was still a portion of Sūrah Yūsuf I hadn't committed to memory, and I spent the early part of my journey memorizing that final portion. By the time I reached the major Iranian city of Mashhad, I had learnt the entire Sūrah Yūsuf by heart. During my time in captivity [later in the Soviet Union], I would recite these two chapters of the Holy Quran regularly. As this humble one was destined to have a special connection with these two chapters during the period of captivity, God Almighty prepared me by enabling me to learn these two chapters by heart. While completing the memorization of Sūrah Yūsuf early in my journey, I often wondered if perhaps I, too, would one day face imprisonment. All glory to God Almighty that I verily ended up being imprisoned for two years, and these two chapters of the