The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 520
AN ADDENDUM MY LIFE, ANCESTORS, AND BRETHREN IN FAITH 519 were estranged and detached from the world. They were dwelling in this land among the wicked disbelievers. Then, a calamitous wind blew over them—I have already mentioned it earlier for the readers-con- sequently their offspring were rendered weak and helpless. Then the Sikhs hatched malicious designs against us and expelled our ancestors from their land, with my grandfather dying in this exile. I have heard that he was poisoned to death. Consequently, my father was left as an exiled, wandering orphan, empty-handed, deprived of his possessions, and smitten with calami- ties like one forlorn in a pitch-dark night. He would wander around in the streets of cities like a pitiable man never knowing his wherea- bouts. In those days my father was occupied with nothing but enduring the hardship of travel and reading books. I have heard from him (may Allah have mercy on him) many a time saying, 'Whatever I have read, I have read in the days of adversity, homelessness, and estrangement. He would often say, 'I have observed the common and the elite as one helpless and perplexed, and have witnessed many loathsome things I would try to avoid. ' He was a fearful soul. Many a time he wandered aimlessly as one who had no abode because he was expelled from his ancestral land, and was barred from returning to it. They were the tar- get of assaults by the oppressors and afflictions by the hurtful; they were the target of assassins, victims of plunderers, mere fodder for the aggressors, and captives held in the hands of the oppressors. Then, after spending a long period of time thus, and having endured severe sorrows, he betook himself to Kashmir to look for means of livelihood so that Allah might remove his difficulties, cure him of his afflictions, and enact His decree to restore the days of prosperity and flourishing. It so happened in those days that My Lord donned me with the robe of existence, and brought me out from the hidden realm to the manifest world, and into a pious family was I born. These were the days when Allah gave security to my father after his fear, and gave ease after his hardship, making him a sufficed man. The ruler gave him a safe haven and his heart softened in light of his suffering and difficulties.