First Grain of Sand — Page 42
26 FIRST GRAIN OF SAND saw fresh bread being made at a distant shop. Deep in my heart, I wondered when I would ever be able to have fresh bread like that. At that very moment, one of the other prisoners gave a soldier some money to fetch some of this fresh bread and shared some with me right away. I was amazed having witnessed this favour from God Almighty. At the Ashgabat prison, I began receiving regular meals which consisted of eight ounces of bread and some vegetables daily. And twice a day, I received hot water that was provided in lieu of tea. The cell where I was locked up also housed one Russian, two Armenians, two Turks, and four Iranian prisoners. On one occasion, while tying the cords of my trousers in the cell, instead of facing the wall to have privacy, I mistakenly was facing one of the Armenian inmates. He didn't like the fact that I was facing him, which I also understood was my mistake, and he complained to a Turkish inmate, who was an older gentleman around sixty years old. This put the Turkish gentleman in a fit of rage, who furiously began yelling at me, and I responded humbly and gently by admitting my mistake and asking for their forgive- ness. My soft response seemed to put out the fire of his anger and, in fact, made him embarrassed about his rage. Thus, he came to me, shook my hand, embraced me, and not only apologized for his anger but also promised never to approach me disrespectfully again. The turn of events on that occasion is due to the teachings of the Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Promised Messiahas, who taught to respond to insults with prayers, respond to pain with comfort, and respond to arrogance with humility.