and his heart burned with hatred towards me and my family. Sultan had done everything in his power to harm us with the British. In truth, I had dismissed the idea of armed revolution from the outset for several considerations, chief among them being that the Sudanese people had recently emerged from their great revolution, which had left them with unhealed wounds and torn ranks. It would be a mistake to expose them to an experience destined for failure. Therefore, I initially focused my efforts on rallying the Ansar and protecting them from the government's oppression so that they could practice their beliefs freely. I worked hard to lift the yoke of persecution and hardship that surrounded them from all sides, especially concerning their religious beliefs. I sought stability and tranquility for the Ansar so that they could live in peace, allowing them to perform their religious rites and recite the litanies of Imam Al-Mahdi and his followers, thus preserving that great heritage until God wills their victory once again.

The Delegation's Journey In 1919, the British government invited a delegation of Sudanese leaders and notables to visit London to congratulate the King on his victory in the Great War. I welcomed this invitation because it implied a form of recognition of the influence that my opponents had been striving to deny. I believed that this visit would provide me with an opportunity to clarify to the British in their own country that the war between us and them had ended years ago, yet I was still being treated by their representatives in Sudan as if it were ongoing, and that I should be treated in my homeland as a citizen with the same rights as all other Sudanese. In London, I met the King of England and spoke to him in the aforementioned sense. I presented him with a sword as a gift and a symbol of friendship. The King accepted the sword and then kindly returned it to me, saying, "Keep this sword for yourself and your children." Although the King showed me goodwill, upon my return to Sudan, I found no change in the government's conduct towards me. One of the senior British officials, in justifying their disregard for their King's wish, said that my meeting with the King was private and not arranged through the Sudanese government, and therefore, they were not bound by its outcomes.

The delegation was headed by the esteemed Sayyid Ali Al-Mirghani. Among its members were the esteemed Sharif Yusuf Al-Hindi, Sheikh Al-Tayyib Hashim, Sheikh Abu Al-Qasim Ahmed Hashim, Sheikh Ali Al-Tom, Sayyid Ismail Al-Azhari, and others representing the religious and tribal households in Sudan. The British press welcomed us with prominent headlines on their front pages. Some wrote, "Arrival of the Mahdi's son, Gordon's killer, in London." The delegation considered this expression