15 August 1981
Respected Rasheed Zafar Sahib,
Peace be upon you.
Thank you ever so much for remembering me with such sincerity and affection, setting aside the formalities of acquaintance. Your letter, brimming with noble sentiments and reverence, became a source of strength and courage for me in the bleak desolation of this prison. The bouquet of loyalty you sent me through the silent and wordless medium has so perfumed this dark prison cell that my head sways with joy and delight.1
Indeed, I could not remain untouched by your grace and refinement. What greater joy could there be for me than the fact that adversity and the tyranny of time have failed not only to extinguish those flames of loyalty² which we lit with the blood of our hearts, but that from these very burning flames, countless other lamps have been lit. If this chain continues, then God willing, the day is not far when the light of these lamps shall illumine the entire homeland, and as a result, the atmosphere we rightly call the festival of freedom will be realised.
I hope you shall continue to remember me from time to time, and that the modesty which tends to stand in your way in this regard shall now be overcome.
Wassalam
In need of your prayers,
Muhammad Maqbool Bhat
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Rashid Zafar was residing in Jeddah with Raja Muzaffar Khan. Raja Sahib introduced him to Maqbool Bhat. This letter is Maqbool Bhat’s reply to the emotional letter sent by Rashid Zafar. Due to a lack of paper, this letter was written on the reverse side of the aerogram addressed to Raja Muzaffar dated 188-81.
By “flames of loyalty,” the reference is to true comrades in the movement.
