First Grain of Sand — Page 29
JOURNEY TO THE U. S. S. R. 13 Quran constantly provided peace and solace to my heart during that time. For this journey to the Soviet Union, it was decided that dur- ing my travels I would be accompanied by Maulawi Mohammad Amin Khan-another missionary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Before leaving Qadian for Bukhara, he was requested by Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih to provide an estimate of the upcom- ing journey's travel expenses for both of us. While in the com- pany of other people, including Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad, when Huzoor reviewed the details of the expense estimate, he summoned Maulawi Mohammad Amin Khan and asked why the expense is so high. Huzoor expressed his desire to minimize the expenses so that the two of us could be an example for other mis- sionaries to come. Mohammad Amin Khan was told to convey the message to me as well, which terribly saddened my heart to think that Huzoor-who I so deeply love and admire—might be displeased. So, I wrote a short letter to Huzoor explaining that the expense details presented to him were prepared completely outside my knowledge and that even if Huzoor does not give a penny, I am happily willing to walk to Bukhara by foot. I conveyed how much I considered it an incredible favour of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih that he selected me for the blessed honour of serving my faith. After reading my letter, Huzoor graciously approved a travel budget for the two of us that was 200 rupees [about 15 British pounds] higher than the original estimate. On 14 July 1924, Maulawi Mohammad Amin Khan and I embarked on this fateful journey to Bukhara at the behest of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih. We were joined by Hazrat Shahzadah