Scattered Pearls

DURR-I-MANTHUR (SCATTERED PEARLS). Mirza Bashir Ahmad (TRANSLATED). Published by:. Ahmadiyya Muslim Foreign Missions Office. RABWAH - PAKISTAN.

CONTENTS 1. Introductory remarks. Scattered Pearls, with an inner connecting link 2. Ahmad resembled Muhammad more than he resembled Jesus 3. Complete and uncompromising faith in his Divine. Mission 4.. Loved and respected all Prophets 5. Extraordinary love for the Companions of the. Holy Prophet Muhammad, and his descendants. Love for the Mojaddids and other saintly persons of the Ummat 6. 7. 8.. Extraordinary patience and steadfastness of purpose. Lesson for the youth of the Jamaa'at. Ardent obedience to the behests and preferences of the Holy Prophet ... 10. Life entirely free of the element of takalluf and show 11. Hospitality and love for guests 12,. Maulana Abu Nasr's interesting observations on Ahmad's personality ... .... Page 1 2 00 3 5,6 7 *** 8,9 10,11 12,13 ... 14 15,16 17 18,19 20 21 to 23 24 25 26 27 of 28,29 30 31 13. Sahibzada Syed Abdul Latif's visit to Qadian-stoned to death for believing in Ahmad 14.. Establishment of the Unity of God was Ahmad's. Life Mission 15. Controversy over the death of Jesus subsequent to his escape from the crucifixion 16. Absorbing interest in the spread of Islam in. Europe and other Christian countries 17. Prophecy about the early acceptance of Islam by the Christian world 18. 19. 20.. Ahmad's Life Mission: (a) establishment pure contact with God, and (b) peace and fellow feeling among the nations of the world. A drop swells into a river, and a dust particle rises to the heights of the Pleiades. Wonderful Divine help in the Kapurthala. Mosque case

ii 21. A case of hydrophobia miraculously cured through prayer 22. The philosophy of miracles explained 23. Extraordinary sympathy even with his enemies 24. Aryasamajists of Qadian destroyed by Plague 25. Final supremacy and world dominance of Islam and Ahmadiyyat 26. Lord Krishna and Baba Nanak hailed as divine reformers ... 32,33 33.34 1 35 ... ••• 36,37 38,39 40,41 27. Brotherly feeling towards all ••• 41,42 28. Mr. Walter's visit to Qadian, and his impressions about Ahmad's personality-No impostor *** 43,44 29.. Belief at first sight 45,46 30.. To see light, the sun and the eyes are both needed ... 46,47 47.48 32. Hypnotism is not a spiritual force 48,49 50 ... 31. Hypnotism of no effect against Ahmad 33. Contact with Sufee Ahmad Jan of Ludhiana 34. Majesty and Beauty in Divine Plan 35. Love was the basic philosophy of Hazrat Ahmad 36. Allah's powers are endless and innumerable 37. Fire cooled on Abraham ; it would likewise cool on Ahmad ... 38. Prophets of God are not conjurers 39. Prepared to put on bangles of iron for the Cause of God 40. God protects His chosen one's from disgrace 41. Faqr and emptiness of pocket a source of happiness for Ahmad 42.. Ahmad met God empty handed, but full of love and hope 43. Prayer possesses wonderful powers. Baitul Do'aa a house of victory 44. 45. ... 51.52 53,54 589 55 56 57 57,58 58 59 60,61 62 63 64 •. Extreme humbleness of spirit, and trust in Allah's help alone 46. Philosophy of prayer explained-steadfastness and belief in the unlimited power of God the main conditions 47.. An upward climb to an eminence of utmost glory awaits the followers of Muhammad 65,66 67

DURR-I-MANTHUR or. SOME SCATTERED PEARLS. In the annual gathering of last year, held in January 1960, instead of December 1959, I had an opportunity to read a Paper on some aspects of the Life and Personality of the Promised Messiah, peace and blessings of God be upon him. This Paper, printed since under the title of Seerati-Tayyibah, dealt with three aspects of his Seerat: (a) his love for and devotion to God; (b) his love for and devotion to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing of. God be on him%3B (c) and his sympathy and compassion for mankind. And these are the three basic qualities which constitute the real soul and essence of the Deen (Faith) and the Religion of every true Muslim, and which deserve to be called the peak of his moral attainment.. This year the organisers of the programme of our annual gathering have again invited me to address our brothers on the same subject. Unfortunately, the last half of this year has been a period of prolonged anxiety for me, on account of the illness of Ummi Muzaffar, my wife, entailing my absence from Rabwah for many months, for I had to be in Lahore in connection with her treatment. In addition, there have been some other worries too, which have weighed upon my mind. But inspite of all these distracting factors, I took this invitation from the Nazir Islah-o-Irshad as an honour and a blessing for myself, and I now present myself before friends to speak on this subject.. As I mentioned just now, my address last year dealt with three specific aspects of the Life and Personality of

2 the Promised Messiah,* which, from their inter-relationship, we might call a Necklace of Three Strings. This year, however, I desire to throw light on some unrelated characteristics, habits, sayings and moral status of the. Promised Messiah, though of course, really speaking, the character and moral conditions of no human being can be said to be truly unrelated to each other. My point in doing so is that our friends, and the whole world at large, should realise the greatness and grandeur of the Messiah of the Islamic Dispensation, both when we study his Life and Personality systematically, as a well knit entity; and also when we look at it at random, from here and there, without planning our approach, or the angle of our observation, this being the reason why I have entitled this address as DURR-I-MANTHUR, or Some Scattered Pearls. To be sure, these scatterd pearls, too, are held together in a chain of close interrelationship, one side of which clings to the love of God, and the other to sympathy and compassion for man in general. But since moral traits represent a kind of miscellany, I have given to these observations of mine the title of Durr-i-Manthur; and with this brief introduction I begin, in the name of Allah, the. Compassionate and the Merciful, there being no capability and power except with Allah. On Him alone I lean, and in Him alone I put all my trust, and to Him alone. I turn in all humility. 1. It is very curious and most interesting to note a point, for people endowed with taste and vision, which carries an extremely fine significance-namely, that while it is true that the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement came in the spirit and likeness of Jesus of Nazareth, and speaking in general this is the name and title by which he is usually known and spoken of among his followers, in his life, his personality, and his moral qualities, he inherited more from the Holy Prophet, his teacher *Otherwise known as Hazrat Ahmad.

3 and master, the most dearly beloved of his heart, than he did from Jesus. How beautifully has Hazrat Ahmad put this in his own words saying: "In my capacity as the Messiah,. I too would have had to see the Cross, if it had not been for the blessings of this name of Ahmad, depends everything having do with me!" upon which anything to (Braaheen-i-Ahmadiyya part V). He meant to say, although I have been sent down in the likeness of Jesus of Nazareth, who was nailed to the Cross by his enemies, the Jews, my proper rank and position really pertains to the niyaabat (deputyship) of. Muhammad, (peace and blessing of God be on him) on which basis dominance and success for me and my mission has been definitely ordained in the Divine Plan.. This circumstance amply explains why, according to the Christians, only after a brief period of his Ministry, extending to no more than three years, Jesus gave up the ghost, in great distress of soul, wailing, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani", whereas Allah guarded the Muhammadan. Messisah from all harm, and had him pass through the most favourable as well as the adverse conditions of life, so that the extraordinary brilliance of his moral worth and grandeur should have occasion to shine forth upon the world in full glory and Allah extended to him such an unparallelled success in his Mission, that, in the words of a well known non-Ahmadi journal of Delhi, friend and foe alike exclaimed: "The most excellent services rendered to. Islam by the late Mirza Sahib, against the onslaughts of the Araya Smaajists and the. Christians, are in fact most praiseworthy.. He gave an absolutely new turn to. Controversy in the field of religion, laying the foundation of a new literature. Not in our capacity as a Muslim, but of a seeker after Truth, we freely concede that

4 no Arya, however eminent, and no. Christian Padre however well read had the courage to open his lips in the arena against the deceased in his life. He belonged to the Punjab, but there was such force in his pen that today, not only in the Punjab, but all over India, there is no one else with such a powerful pen. The literature created by him is most unique in its grandeur, there being portions which produce a kind of ecstacy of feeling in you when you go through them. Passing through prophecies foretelling discomfiture and destruction, and the severest opposition and hostile criticism, he cleared. way for himself, attaining to the highest peak of success." a (Curzon Gazette, June 1, 1903) 2. The next thing I desire to mention in connection with the Life and Personality of the Promised Messiah, and which in fact forms the first pearl in this string, pertains to his perfect conviction in regard to the Divine origin of his. Mission. This quality and characteristic had attained to such a pitch in his case as to gleam through each and every word he spoke, through each and every movement he made. In fact it always appeared that strengthened by this conviction most deeply rooted in his mind, he was prepared to hurl himself against the most massive mountain in the world. Concerning the Divine origin of his Mission, and of the Revelations of which he was a recipient on frequent occasions he would go on oath before Allah, calling for the most condign punishment if he was a liar in the sight of God and on these occasions he would exclaim that on this point he had the same perfect certainty and conviction which people feel in regard to the

5 existence of material objects, which can be seen and handled. Referring to his prophecies he would say that since they had come from the lips of God, they would most surely be fulfilled; and that, if they should fail to be fulfilled in the manner characteristic of and consistent with the working of the Divine plan in such matters, he was prepared to suffer death on the scaffold, as a liar and a cheat.. When a fanatical Hindu, Lala Ganga Bishen by name, objected in regard to the prophecy concerning the death of Pundit. Lekhram, that this death had not taken place as a result of the prophecy, through the invisible Hand of God, but had been contrived by the Promised Messiah, in conspiracy,. Hazrat Ahmad replied with the utmost jealousy for the honour of God, and the reputation of his Divine Mission, that if this was really what Lala Ganga Bishen thought, he should come forward and go on solemn oath to that effect. Then, within one year, if Lala Ganga Bishen was not caught in some condign punishment, even such that it should be entirely beyond the compass of human contrivance, Hazrat. Ahmad, would stand exposed as a liar, and he would be prepared to suffer death, as a murderer and an assassin.. With his characteristic force, he wrote: "I am ready, not once but a thousand times, to affirm solemnly in a court of law that after I have been declared to be a criminal by a heavenly judgement in this wise, I should be treated to the gallows. I have the most perfect realisation that by fulfilling my prophecy in this behalf Allah has decided the matter with His Own Hand, to make manifest the Truth of Islam. Therefore it is in the highest, degree impossible for things on this issue to transpire in such a way that I should have to face the gallows." 1 (Ishtihaar, April 5, 1897). Giving expression to his fullest sense of conviction in regard to Divine Revelations of which he was the bearer, he wrote in another place:

6 "In the matter of this communion from God which takes place with me, were I to entertain the slightest doubt, even for a moment, I would turn a Kaafir (a disbeliever) and my welfare in the. Hereafter would suffer total destruction.. The Word of God which descends on me is a most absolute and perfect certainty; and just as no man can deny the sun and its light after he has seen this light for himself, with his own eyes, similarly, I cannot entertain the slightest doubt in regard to the Word of God which comes to me. On this I hold the same firm faith as I do in regard to the Book of God (the Holy Quran)." (Tajalleeaat-i-Ilaahiyah). Friends might here pause, to reflect at the extraordinary strength and firmness of conviction displayed by the Promised Messiah, that staking everything on this one throw of Eemaan and Kufr (belief and disbelief), he was prepared, without hesitation, to climb up to the gallows if his claim to Divine Mission and Divine Revelation should turn out to be false. This degree of Faith can belong only to him who should be seeing God with his own eyes, and who should be listening to the lifegiving Word with his own ears. On the basis of a faulty understanding, a defective assessment, or from weakness of his power of perception, or from prejudice, it is possible that a man may have doubts in regard to the Truth of the Promised Messiah's claim to a Divine. Mission; but no one in his proper senses can entertain any kind of doubt that Hazrat Ahmad had the fullest and the most complete faith in the truth and justice of his own claim. A hasty mind might be inclined to hold that he was perhaps labouring under some well meaning misconception in regard to his own self, or he was the victim of some hallucination, as has been done by some apparenty fairminded Westren writers, through shortsightedness, in assessing the Mission of the Holy Prophet

7. Muhammad. But no man, with the least light of conscience in his eyes, would be prepared to hold that the Promised. Messiah was deliberately working a fraud on mankind. 3. In my address of last year, entitled Seerat-i-Tayyiba, mention was made of the unparallelled love, rather Ishq, which the Promised Messiah had for the Holy Prophet. Muhammad peace and the blessings of God be on him; and, in a manner of speaking, it was only a sort of complimentary result of this love which Hazrat Ahmad had for the Holy Prophet Muhammad, that his love for the other Prophets and Apostles of God too was very extraordinary, so that, in spite of his own high rank and position, he had the greatest respect for them all.. In one place he says: "For all the Apostles,. I am but a servant,. Like the humble dust. At the door. Every Prophet. Who showed the Way of Truth.. Any day, indeed, any time,. I would sacrifice my life. For that supporter of Truth" (Braaheen-i-Ahmadiyya, Part I.). And since some ignorant people had raised a fuss, without rhyme or reason, that the Promissed Messiah had offered insults to Jesus of Nazareth, Ahmad wrote specifically concerning him: "By Allah, I have that true love for the. Messiah (Jesus of Nazareth) which you do not have at all; you can not see him with the light which helps me to see and recognise him. There doubt that he was a very dear and no

8 chosen Prophet of God." (Da'wat-i-Haq Mashmoola Haqeeqatul Wahee) 4. The Promised Messiah had an unusual depth of feeling for the Companions of the Holy Prophet, for his children and his descendants. With an intensity of fervour he writes in one place concerning the holy. Companions : "The Companions of the Holy Prophet. Shone like the sun, illumining. The whole world with the light. Of their face. For the sake. Of the Truth they gave up. Their relations and families. And their children; in response. To the Call of the Prophet,. They forsook their homes,. And rallied round him.. Willingly, with a real. Relish of the heart, they suffered. Themselves to be heartlessly. Slaughtered, without entertaining. Any fear of the world.. At the time of every tribulation. They chose only God, and nothing. Else. Under the shadow. Of descending sabres they looked.. For Martyrdom, prepared always. Fearlessly to bear testimony. In favour of the Truth.. Righteous people they were,. Indeed, God-fearing and holy,. Who spent the silent watches. Of the night in Prayer.. Indeed they were a group. Of people among whom we can make

9. No distinctions, one from the other.. On the right and the left,. And on all sides, they clung. To the Holy Prophet, even. As if they were the various. Limbs of his blessed body;. And they left not a stone unturned. In carrying help and succour. To the Divine Cause at the time. Of its need." (Sirrul Khilaafah, page 67). Concerning the beloved grandson of the Holy Prophet,. Hazrat Imam Husain, he wrote in a similar strain of strong emotion : of "May Allah be pleased with him, Husain was pure in himself, and purifying for others. Undoubtedly he was one those chosen people whom God purifies with His own hand and invests their hearts with His own love ; and without doubt he is among the chiefs in Heaven.. To entertain even one single particle of malice or ill-will against him is tantamount to one's Eemaan being taken away. Indeed the love for God which this Imam bore in his heart, his righteousness, his steadfastness, his fear of God, and his humility and prayer before Allah have set for us a most noble example. The heart, indeed, is destroyed and undone which harbours enmity for him; and most fortunate and successful is the person who in a practical and tangible way shows his devotion and love for this Imam." (Ishtihar "Tableegh-i-Haq," October 8, 1905)

10 5. In regard to the earlier Mojaddids (Reformers) too, the Promised Messiah was characterised by a jealous regard and respect. Once, while in Lahore, our eldest brother, Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, as a young boy, expressed a desire to see the Tomb of the Emperor Jehangir; whereupon by way of an admonition the Promised Messiah remarked: "Yes, Mian, go to see the tomb with pleasure, but do not stand by his grave, for he insulted one of our brothers,. Hazrat Mujaddid Alfi Thaanee." (Riwaayaat Mian Abdul Azeez Mughal). The incident here referred to by the Promised. Messiah pertains to a period three hundred years in the past; and the actions of the Emperor against the Mujaddid of the 11th century of the Muslim Era was of a kind fairly common under these autocratic monarchies, there being other similar instances in Muslim history. But the jealous regard shown by the Promised Messiah for. Mujaddid Alfi Thaanee, and the use on his part of such an endearing expression as 'brother', go a long way to indicate the close relationship of love and high regard which the Promised Messiah felt for him; and it also serves as a brilliant example of that esteem for the righteous people in the history of Islam which Hazrat. Ahmad entertained in his heart. As the Promised Messiah himself clarified in this instance, it was not his intention to imply that no Muslim should go to see the Tomb of Jehangir. This Empror was a Muslim ruler of great awe and majesty, and we should all have a due regard for our great men. In fact our attitude towards the great men of other nations too should be one of respect.. But since in the hearts of his own children the Promised. Messiah desired to inculcate an intensely jealous frame

11 of mind, where the honour of Islam and the fair name. of the great men of this religion was concerned, he deemed it necessary that he should caution them in: this respect.. In this connection there is also another incident which should be mentioned. Hazrat Ahmad believed that for the follower of an Imam in Prayer it was necessary to recite the Surah Fatiha, along with the recitation of this. Surah on the part of the Imam officiating at the service; and he used to lay great emphasis on this point, the Surah being a part, in fact an epitome, of the Holy Quran for which. Book the Promised Messiah had an overwhelming amount of love. It so happened on one occasion that he was expressing his belief in this respect with great force when a man out of the audience inquired if the Prayer was not acceptable with Allah without the recitation of Surah. Fatiha. On hearing this the Promised Messiah suddenly halted in his fluent discourse, even as as a vehicle, running. smooth and fast, should be abruptly called to a halt by an application of the brakes. And quickly he replied: “ No No, I do not say that; because a large number of the righteous people among the followers of the Hanafee School have held this view that in Prayer behind an. Imam recitation of the Surah Fatiha, with the recitation of the Imam thereof, was not binding; and I do not, by any means, consider that the Prayers offered by these righteous people were not acceptable in the sight of Allah." (Silsila Ahmadiyya and Seeratul Mahdee, Part II). This interesting incident carries an important and very delicate lesson for not only the youngmen of the. Ahmadiyya Movement, but also for the Muslims at large, that even while sticking firmly to one's own point of view,. we should be considerate and respectful towards those who think differently from us.. There is an old and very wise saying, of which one version was frequently

12 on the lips of the Promised Messiah namely that: "All pathway of Deen (faith) and beautiful moral behaviour lies in, and passes through, the vale of a reverential and *considerate attitude towards others". 6 up,. The patience and steadfastness of purpose shown by the Promised Messiah was most extraordinary. The great obstacles he had to encounter in the pursuit of his. Mission; the thorny jungles and dangerous valleys he had to traverse; and the towering, forbidding mountains he had to scale along this perilous path, are illustrated by every single moment of the life he lived. The moment he made a public announcement that he had been called to a Divine Mission, a storm of opposition rose on all sides, unprecedented in its wide sweep and violent fury.. It appeared that pitched against this storm one single human being, in a frail bark, trying to pull it to a safe haven, with an oar that was no more than a bit of straw.. The fury of the winds and waves now lifted him and now flung him down into the troughs of the waves even as a piece of paper is lifted up in a storm and thrown about. But Hazrat Ahmad was never daunted by these storms ; in fact he ignored them completely, intent on his own task, singing the praises of God at all times, marching boldly along his path, his heart brimful with the firm conviction that since Allah had called him to this Mission, He Himself would guard him against every peril, until his work was done; and this was the patient firmness and steadfastness of purpose which wrung, even from his bitter opponents, the tribute that quite irrespective of the question whether in their eyes his claim to a Divine Mission happened to be true or false, there could be no question of any kind that in regard to this Mission, to the very last moment of his life, he remained firm, as a rock, on the conviction that it was a Mission to which he was raised by. Allah himself, and that always he remained most true to this Mission. After the Promised Messiah had passed

13 away, a Hindu journal wrote: "To the last moment of his life. Mirza Sahib remained firm on his purpose: in the teeth of opposition from a thousand quarters, he never wavered and never swerved." (Indar, Lahore>>. Similarly a Christian author wrote to the effect: "The moral courage which Mirza. Sahib showed in the face of severe opposition and persecution is highly praiseworthy." (Ahmadiyya Movement, by H. A. Walter).. A non-Ahmadi Muslim journal wrote: "Passing through a raging fire of opposition and adverse criticism, Mirza. Sahib cleared a path for himself, and attained to the highest peak of success.” (Curzon Gazette, Delhi). While on one side this quality and calibre of the. Promised Messiah graphically illustrates his patient steadfastness of purpose, on the other it constitutes a strong argument in support of the fact that he had the fullest and most unqualified trust in God-that the Divine Hand will never suffer the plant to be destroyed which the. Divine Purpose itself and had made to sprout out of the earth. Wrote Hazrat Ahmad in one place: "O thou that looketh at me. With baleful, venomous eyes,. Beware of the Gardner's wrath,. For indeed I am the vlaued branch. That beareth fruit!" (Izalah Auhaam). The younger generations of the Ahmadiyya Movement; the local Ameers; the Ansarullah and the Khuddamul. Ahmadiyya, with their office bearers and membership; the missionaries of the Movement; and the office bearers

14 and workers at the headquarters, should all give careful thought to this aspect of the Promised Messiah's life, and duly learn that lesson from it without learning which there can never be any question that we shall be able to shoulder the heavy responsibilities we have inherited from the master, the Mahdee and Masih who opened our eyes while all around there was nothing but darkness.. If they also manage to rise to a stature capable of displaying a similar strength of mind and a steadfastness of purpose, living their lives truly as servants of God, making themselves into parts of this fruitful Branch, they will find, even in their own lives, that God looks aftar them, and defends them against harm, showing the same jealousy for their reputation and good name that He has alway shown for His righteous servants. One of the. Revelations of the Promised Messiah is in Punjabiand look how beautiful is this Revelation; Lovingly. Allah the Almighty says to the Promised Messiah: "If thou become solely Mine (and there end the matter). Indeed the whole world. Shall come to be thine!" (Tazkirah, page 711). On the plane of the progress of man in matters pertaining to the Spirit, this golden expression constitutes, for all mankind, a lesson of the supremest over-riding importance. Ah, if only the young and old, women and children of the Ahmadiyya Movement could cultivate in themselves a proper realisaton of this great truth and make it the beacon light of their lives : "When you have God with you,. On your side, what grief,. Or sorrow, or care. Can you possibly have!" 7. Another dominant characteristic of the. Promised. Messiah was his strong desire to render complete and the

15 most ardent obedience to the behests and preferences of the. Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing of Allah be on him). Even in apparently small matters he derived a characteristic satisfaction by observing the preferences of the Holy Prophet that we find recorded faithfully and minutely in works of the Hadeeth. Here I would refer to only two such incidents, which at first glance seem to be very small and unimportant, but in fact they are most revealing, for in many things it is a man's behaviour in such small matters which supplies the real key to his character and mental make up. It so happened once that the Promised Messiah had gone to Gurdaspur in connection with a criminal case instituted against him, in sheer injustice, by a man, Maulvee Karam Deen by name.. It was the hottest part of the year, and night time. A bed was prepared for him on the roof of the house, for comparative coolness and a little open air. When however, the Promised Messiah went up to retire for the night, he found that the roof had no mundair (low parapet), and in a tone of a degree of annoyance he said to the attendants : "Do you not know that the Holy Prophet has forbidden that anyone should sleep on a roof which had no mundair." (Seeratul Mahdee).. But it so happened that in the building at the disposal of the party there was no other open space even on the ground floor where a bedstead could be placed for the. Promised Messiah. He, therefore, preferred to sleep inside a hot room, rather than do something for which the Holy. Prophet had expressed disapproval, though another man in his place would have treated the occasion as a rather exceptional case, pleading in his own mind that perhaps there was no harm in overlooking a preference of the. Holy Prophet in a small thing of this kind. The Promised. Messiah refrained from sleeping on the open roof, and spent a most inconvenient and uncomfortable night, not because there was any real danger in sleeping on the roof, but because the Holy Prophet had disliked that any one should do so.

16. On onother occasion the Promised Messiah was sitting in a room, and he had some people with him, to whom he was talking, when someone knocked at the door from outside, whereat one man, out of the small audience, rose to open the door. But the moment the Promised. Messiah noticed this movement, he rose quickly himself, saying to the man: "No, no; please sit down. I will open the door myself. You are my guest at the moment, and the Holy Prophet has said that guests should be shown due respect.” (Seeratul Mahdee). Now both these incidents are apparently very small and unimportant. But for that very reason they all the more graphically illustrate the minutest care which the. Promised Messiah always took in never overlooking any preference shown by the Holy Prophet on any occasion, for anything whatsoever. Incidents like these show that with the Promised Messiah his desire to obey the commands. and observe the preferences of the Holy Prophet was like a natural spring in the hills, which continues to flow uninterrupted all through the night and the day, maintaining a spontaneous flow, irrespective of what went on around. 8. The life which the Promised Messiah lived was entirely free of the element of show, and of all kinds of pretence. Our maternal uncle, Hazrat Meer Muhammad Ismail, lived in the company of the Promised Messiah for a full 27 year. He had a remarkably intelligent and observant mind; and he often used to say to me that during his life he had come in contact with innumerable people-worldly people, as well. as those who claimed to be, or were taken to be, far from worldly. But that in all his experience, he said, he had never seen a man more free of the element of pretence (takulluf) in his life than was the Promised Messiah in this respect. And exactly the same is mine own impression

17 as well, on the basis of what I have seen with mine own eyes. It always appeared as if the life the Promised. Messiah lived, was, in all its aspects, a most natural and spontaneous flow, from the depths of his being, in which there was no posing of any kind, no striking of attitudes, either before the world, or even before himself, absolutely unaffected by environment, or by what other people might like to think of him.. Here I would relate very briefly only one incident which on the surface, seems very small. Among the worldly people, even among the religiously and spiritually inclined, the. Peers and the Sajjadah Nasheens, that in their homes when they sit with people, their friends and disciples, and those from outside their own circle, the seating arrangements keep in mind the social status of the people present on such accasions.. But in strict accordance with the way of the Holy Prophet. Muhammad, (peace be on him) the Promised Messiah observed no such distinctions. All and sundry sat with him, intermingled, as they happened to find room, as if all were members of one single family, where all were equal. The result of this utter informality often was that the Promised. Messiah himself was seen sitting at a place which struck an observer as being the least marked for any honour or distinction, while some other people appeared to be occupying seats of prominance. On scores of occasions it so happened that the Promised Messiah would be seen on a charpai on the paintee (lower side) while another man would be sitting on the same charpai on the head side, in our eastern style of living which is considered to be a place of lesser respect than the other. Or the Promised Messiah would be sitting on a bare charpai, while some other people would be found sitting on one with a mattress and a sheet for a covering. Or he would be sitting at a lower eminance than some disciples sitting in a position somewhat raised. On account of this utter informality, a stranger often had difficulty in spotting the Promised Messiah not infrequently taking someone else for him. But this is a most remarkable circumstance that such a state of affairs is seen only in the case of the chosen people of God, where this informality does not lead

18 to atmosphere of any lack of respect; the hearts of all present remained full of a deep seated reverence towards him, no matter how and where the Promised Messiah might have been seated. (Seeratul Mahdee and Silsilah Ahmadiyya and Shamail by 9. Irfaanee.). The Promised Messiah's hospitality was such that during the earlier days, when as yet the number of guests was not so large as it came to be later, and when, moreover the general health of the Promised Messiah admitted it; it was usual with him that he took his meals in the male portion of his home, sitting down with all his guests seated alongside; and during the meal he conversed freely on topics connected with religion and his Mission. On such occasions the Promised. Messiah looked carefully to the needs of all present. If more than one dish happened to be served, he took care that it should come in a quantity that all should have a share. It was usual for him to inquire from his guests if there was anything they specially fancied with their meals. If he came to know that one or the other guest happened to have a fondness for pickles, for instance, or any such thing, he would often rise in the middle of the meal, go inside his house, and return with a sauce or a pickle fancied by some guest.. Himself he ate very little, but he remained at the meal long enough, nibbling slowly small bits, or chewing small mouthfuls extremely slowly; so that all should have their fill, and no one have to rise from the meal before he had really finished. Ah, those meals must have been indeed unusually rich in many higher things besides the material repast of which the guests partook.. Similarly when a close friend took leave after a stay in Qadian with the Promised Messiah, Hazrat Ahmad. I would walk out with him along the way even a mile, or two miles, before he finally said good-bye, which he always did with remarkable feeling and prayer for the departing guest.

.19. In fact when a guest took leave, he always felt the wrench as if a very close relation of his own were parting from him.. In regard to his guests the Promised Messiah wrote in one of his poems :— "When guests come with love,. I experience a great comfort. In my mind, for it makes me. Very happy. But then there comes. A pang when I think that soon. They would take their leave. And have to go. May Allah. Bless for me this day. And this time which He. Has shown to me! This world,. Indeed, is a caravan sarai,. For all we meet here, at last. Have to go departing from us :. Even those who stay here. For a hundred years, even they. At last have to depart.. But in all this there is no room.. For dissatisfaction of any kind,. Since this world is a home. That has no permanence at all!. May Allah bless this day. And this time, in His grace. And mercy which He has shown. To me. " (Mahmud kee Ameen). While on the subject of the great hospitality which was a prominent characteristic of the Promised Messiah, I would here like to refer to the visit which Maulana Abu Nasr ; the elder brother of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, paid to. Qadian. He came to see Hazrat Ahmad in 1905. Highly intelligent, open-eyed and observant, on his return, he sent his impressions of the visit to the Vakeel of Amritsar, wherein he wrote: "What did I see? I saw Qadian; I met. Mirza Sahib, staying with him as his

20 guest. I have to thank him for the very kind treatment and thoughtful hospitality extended to me. I noticed, however, that this hospitality was not confined and limited only to particular people%3B it was general, all alike extending the same brotherly treatment.......In appearance. Mirza Sahib looks very impressive and dignified in a quiet way, leaving a lasting impression on the mind of those who meet him. There is a peculiar kind of light in his eyes which carries an atmosphere of its own; and there is gentleness in his words when he talks. There is humility in his disposition, but it is a humility which breeds dignity and grandeur, investing him with a peculiar prestige in the eyes of those with whom he comes in contact. He is cool and calm by nature, but contact with him creates warmth in others. His tolerance and humility bring things to a golden mean around him. He is so gentle when he talks that he always appears to be smiling. Among his disciples there is great faith in him, deep devotion, a readiness from the depths of the hearts to tender an immediate and unqualified belief to whatever might fall from his lips. The great hospitality of the Mirza Sahib may be judged from the fact that at the end of my stay when I begged leave to terminate visit, he smilingly agreed, but on condition that I would come again, and stay with him for at least two weeks... I returned from this visit with feeling still alive in me which had induced me to go 3 and perhaps this same feeling would take me to Qadian again some day." (Vakeel, Amritsar, as quoted in Shamaail by Irafanee),

21. In Qadian the Promised Messiah had an orchard, from the time of his father, with fruit trees of various kinds. It was usual with the Promised Messiah that at the height of the season for a fruit, he would go into the orchard accompanied by friends and guests happening to be with him at the moment. Then fresh fruit was gathered from the trees, to be placed before the guests; and the Promised Messiah himself would join all sitting with them, under the trees. On such occasions he had the air of a kind father, with his innocent children gathered lovingly around him. But in sittings of this kind, too, his discourse on religious questions would quietly continue to flow, in a general atmosphere of a remarkable degree of homeliness and utter informality, and absolute sincerity of behviour and approach. And it was the most conspicuous characteristic of any kind of sitting, or occasion, where the Promised Messiah was present with his friends and disciples, that the central point, around which the conversation flowed or converged, was always Allah and His Apostle, the Holy Prophet Muhammad. 10. While on the subject of the Promised Messiah's hospitality, the memory of a most painful incident has welled up in my mind, which I find I must mention here. In the province of Khost, Afghanistan, there lived a most sagacious and righteous man, who belonged to a family of the chiefs of the district. His reputation in. Afghanistan for piety and learning, the excellent and high moral qualities and the prestige of the family to which he belonged, was such that at the coronation of Ameer. Habeebullah Khan it was he who was chosen for the great honour of officiating at the formal ceremony in a public Durbaar. The name of this great chief, and this pious scholar, was Sahibzada Syed Abdul Lateef. When news happened to reach Sahibzada Syed Abdul Lateef that a man living in Qadian claimed to be the Mahdee and Masih expected to appear among the Muslims, he

22 thought that this matter was of such stupendous importance that he left his home, and came all the way to Qadian to look carefully and personally into the whole question.. By nature good, and virtuous and sagacious, when he met the Promised Messiah he immediately saw that his claim was justified and well founded, so that he took. Bai'at at the hands of the Promised Messiah to become a member of the Ahmadiyya Community. Then he stayed on in Qadian for some months; and when the time came for him to take leave, the Promised Messiah, was usual with him on such occasions, walked with him a considerable distance along the road, inorder to see him off. Finally, when the time for parting came, the Sahibzada was SO completely overcome that he fell down weeping at the feet of the. Promised Messiah. With difficulty Hazrat Ahmad lifted him up from the ground, backing up his action with words: "Al-amro fauqal adab", meaning that for the. Sahibzada there was greater virtue in getting up when asked to do so by Ahmad, his master, than showing respect in this manner. It was only then that Sahibzada. Syed Abdul Lateef obtained a grip over himself and rose from the ground. But he excalimed: "Hazrat, my heart tells me that the time of my death has come, and in this life. I will have no opportunity of seeing your blessed face again.' " (Seeratul Mahdee, Riwaayat 260, and Shamaail by Irfaanee). And in actual fact this was exactly how it turned out to be. When Sahibzada Abdul Lateef reached. Kabul, under the pressure of hostile fatwas from the. Ulama, Ameer Habeebullah Khan at first invited him to recant, holding out frightful threats, and also promises of extensive favours. The Sahibzada remained firm and unyielding on his views, rejecting all overtures, and ignoring all threats, clearly replying each time that he could not turn his back on the truth after he had seen it with his own eyes.. Then by the orders of the Ameer he was uried up to his waist on open plain, and stones an

23 were showered on him by the fanatical populace from all sides, till he was completely buried in the heap that formed a mound all round him. This was the end of this bloody episode of man's brutality and injustice to man under the influence of religion distorted and mistaken through ignorance. When news of this tragedy reached the Promised Messiah, he wrote with a feeling of intense agony: "O Abdul Lateef, thousands upon thousands of blessings from Allah be upon you, for indeed within my lifetime you have set a great example of faith and loyalty.. With regard to those of my disciples whom. I shall leave behind after my death, I have no knowledge what kind of acts they will perform, or what kind of lives they shall live.......And thou O Land of Kabul, remain thou a witness to the fact that on the surface of thy ground an awful crime has been perpetrated. Indeed thou hast fallen in the eyes of the Lord, being the land of this great iniquity and injustice." 11 (Tazkiratul Shahaadatain). Since the main purpose of the Promised Messiah's. Mission was to serve Islam, and to establish the Unity of. God; and since in these days the greatest danger to the Unity of God comes from Christianity-a creed which in the garb of the Unity of God inculcats belief in shirk, in the form of a Trinity of the Godhead, holding up Jesus, son of Mary, as a God, and making him sit at the right hand of God, as a co-sharer in Divine attributes, the Promised Messiah had a remarkably strong feeling against this mistaken and extremely unresanable creed. Besides, in the. Ahaadeeth which bear upon the Mission of the Messiah promised for the Muslims, his main task is stated to be the

24 breaking of the Cross, Hazrat Ahmad continually laid the greatest possible stress on the point of the normal death of. Jesus Christ at its own proper time, subsequently to the event of crucifixion, when he was taken down from the. Cross alive, was looked after by his disciples, and having recovered from his wounds, travelled out of Syria in search of the "lost sheep of the House of Israel". For, indeed, the moment this fact is established on the basis of his torical evidence, of an incontestable nature, all theories of his godhead, and Atonement and Resurrection and Trinity fall to the ground, so that at the end nothing is left of these unnatural Christian doctrines. Of course, the establishment of the fact of the death of Jesus is also the first step in proving the truth of the Promised Messiah's own claim to a. Divine Mission: but the foremost reason why Hazrat. Ahmad attached so much importance to it was the dire need in these days to establish the unity of God and smash the hold of Christian doctrine of Trinity on the modern mind. This is why Hazrat Ahmad wrote: "Let the Masih (son of Mary) die his death, for in that death lies the life of. Islam," (Alhakam, August, 1908). Would to God our Muslim bretheren outside the circle of the Ahmadiyya Movement, should also realise the importance of this aspect of the question, and come to stand side by side with us, to try issues with modern Christianity. Whether or not they accept the claim of the Promised Messiah is quite a different matter. The untenable doctrines and beliefs of the Church, and the wide prevalence which these notions have gained all over the globe, weighed so heavily upon the mind of the Promised Messiah that in a great agony of feeling he wrote in one place: "I am always occupied with the idea that in some way or other there should come a clear decision between us and Christianity.. My heart melts into blood with pain when. I see this worship of a dead person which

25. Christian belief involves; and from the havoc done by the mischief of this belief my life is in great torture of the mind. For, indeed, what else can be more painful for a man of discernment than this that he should see a frail human being made into a God, and one created from a handful of dust turned into the Lord and Creator of the worlds. In fact I would have perished under this grief long ago, if my. Heavenly Friend, the Almighty Allah, had not re-assured me that Tauheed (Unity of. God) was finally to triumph and prevail.. The days are coming near when the Sun of Truth shall rise from the West, and. Europe shall come to know of the real and true God. The time is, indeed, near when the sense of the Unity of God, which is felt even by those living in the wildernesses will spread in those countries. At that time there would be left neither any artificial doctrine of Atonment, nor any artificial God. Then the things which I now say that there is no God other than Allah, will come to be thoroughly grasped and understood. Aye, there is no God but. Allah. But there is certainly Another. Masih even he who is here speaking.. The Jealous sense of God for His singleness is demonstrating to the world that He alone has no equal, but the equal of man is here." (Ishtihaar, January 14, 1897) 12. In the same connection Hazrat Muftee Muhammad. Sadiq has related a very iutereseting incident. He says

26 that once the Promised Messiah was sitting in a room,, working on a treatise he was writing at the time, when. someone knocked loudly at the door outside. The Promised. Messiah asked Muftee Sahib to open the door and see who it was, and what it was that he wanted. Hazrat Muftee:. Sahib then opened the door, and the man told him that he had been sent by Maulvee Muhammad Ahsan of Amroha, with the happy news that a great monaazirah (religious controvercy) had taken place between him (Maulvee Muhammad. Ahsan) and a big scholar of the non-Ahmadi side, in which Maulvee Muhammad Ahsan had inflicted an open, and manifest defeat and discomfiture on the opponent.. Hazrat Muftee Muhammad Sadiq relates that when he conveyed this message, to the Promised Messiah he smiled! sweetly and said: "From the loud knock I had got the impression that perhaps Europe had come into the fold of Islam, and that the man knocking at the door had brought that happy news, knocking so loudly in his excitement.' " (Seeratul Mahdee, Riwaayat, 302 & Zikr-i-Habeeb compiled by Hazrat Muftee Muhammad Sadiq). Most probably this remark by the Promised Messiah was of the nature of a passing humerous comment on the incident. Incidently, however, it throws a flood of light on the importance the Promised Messiah attached to acceptance of Islam on the part of the European nations, and on the fact that real joy and happiness for him lay in the great Idol of. Christianity being broken and in Europe being brought over to Islam. It was in the grip of the same strong desire of his heart that the Promised Messiah once said in a poem : “In support of the Truth. There is now discernable a great. Excitement and zeal on the heavens ;. And Angels are descending. On people with righteous souls.. The mind of the freeborn of Europe

27. Is turning in this direction ;. And the pulse of the dead. Is beginning to beat. As if life were coming to flow. In the veins once more.. All people of intelligence. Are now forsaking belief in Trinity:. And the morning breeze. From the garden has come. Intoxicated on that account.. Indeed, indeed, I feel. The fragrance of my Joesph. Being wafted to me.. You may call me mad, if you will,. But confidently I await. His coming. From the heavens. Has sprung up a Breeze. Of the Unity of the Creator ;. And the hearts of the people. Are most surely with us,. Even though with their lips. They may be heaping imprecations. On us, and speaking. A thousand follies.' وو (Braaheen-i-Ahmadiyya, Part V). Here I would like to say a word to our missionaries in. Europe and America and Africa and other Christian countries. Now that the non-Ahmadi Muslims have altogether stopped discussion on the subject of the death of Jesus. Christ, from an inner realisation that they cannot defend their stand, our missionaries should not take it that the importance and urgency of driving home this point has passed.. This discussion cannot be allowed to die as long as the present day Christianity is alive in the field of religion, with its mistaken and misguided beliefs. Therefore, on the basis of the Quran and the Hadeeth, on the basis of historical' evidence, on the basis of Christian scriptures, on the basis of old inscriptions and hidden treasures, and on the basis of rational arguments, always praying for Divine help and

28 to succour, they should continue to hammer home the fact of the death of Jesus, until at last he who is really and truly dead should come to be recognised as such by the European,. American and other Christian nations of the world, and until the blessed name of the Holy Founder of Islam comes prevail over all false notions of this kind. And they should rest perfectly and fully assured that all this will certainly come to pass; for, in the words of the Promised Messiah. : "This is, verily, a definite. Decree of the heavens,. Which shall surely come to pass. No matter how adverse. The intervening circumstances!" 13. Again, Hazrat Muftee Muhammad Sadiq relates that the Promised Messiah often used to remark : "Our main principles are two : (a) to maintain a clear and pure contact with God; and (b) to deal with His creatures on the basis of fellow feeling, sympathy and high morals." (Zikr-i-Habeeb, page 180). The whole life of the Promised Messiah revolved round these two points. He devoted the best of his endeavours to the task of establishing the Unity of God, and to improving the relationship between the Creator and His creatures. To the attainment of this aim he devoted all his energies. He often used to remark that the other religions, really speaking, were altogether alien to the true and proper conception of. God, being involved in various kinds of shirk (idol worship), which had put an end to their progress in things of the. Spirit; but that unfortunately the Muslims of the present day also had been caught up in various kinds of the darkness

29 ; of materialism and had lost sight of the true God, ignorant. of His great and mighty powers.. He used to say that Allah is the One being always alive, the only source of life, strong and mighty, with power to mould and control everything the way He likes that with His true devotees and servants He maintains the relationship of a Friend and. Helper, and Sustainer. He listens to. He listens to their supplications, and blesses them with His sweet and life-giving words, coming to their help in times of difficulty and need. In regard to this pure band, of which blessed number he: himself was one, He wrote: "In His relationship with them. All the works of Allah. Partake of the nature of Miracles ;. And this is because they be. His Own very true Aashiqs (lovers).. As compared with other people,. Allah has conferred on them distinction,. For their sake showing mighty Signs ;. At the hands of their enemies. When they are reduced. To a pitiable state;. When people with evil minds. Persecute them heartlessly;. To encompass their undoing. When the enemy makes secret moves;. Or when he comes out. Into the open field. To fight against them ;. Then Allah too comes out. To show a mighty Sign. In their favour, stamping. Upon the heart of the enemy. The awe of His miraculous Signs.. Verily He says unto the enemy: 'Indeed it is a question. Of your being at war with me, even Me ;. Now fight, if indeed. You happen to have any real. Strength to be able to fiight! " (Braheen-i-Ahmadiyya, Part V>>

30. The opponents of the Promised Messiah instituted false and trumped-up cases of a most serious nature in the daw courts of the country. Conspiracies were also made to kill him. Schemes were developed to set the government of the land against him. To efface the favourable impression created on the mind of the public by the rapid progress his Movement was making they published selfconcocted prophecies foretelling for him an inglorious end in death; to the very best of their endeavour, they :strove to bring failure to his Divine Mission%3B they persecuted his followers in a variety of heartless and inhuman ways. But by the grace of God in every difficulty, and every trial, the Movement he founded continued to march triumphantly forward day and night. This invisible help of God is not a material thing which you can touch and feel with your physical hands. It is a Light, a Ray of Might, which in the beginning can be perceived only with the eyes of the Spirit. It is this Divine Succour which the Promised. Messiah had in mind when he so feelingly wrote: "Everybody has launched.. His attack on me. In his own way; but at the end. Of every single battle. They found themselves in utter. Disgrace. What was no more. Than an insignificant drop,. His grace turned into a mighty. River. Indeed I was but a particle. Of dust, but His mercy. Has turned me into a veritable. Pleiades of the high heavens. (Braaheen-i-Ahmadiyya, Part V). I might here remark that one aspect of a Drop having been turned into a River can be seen even in this gathering. Our Annual Gathering started with an attendance only of 75, whereas to-day the number of those present has reached a total of 75,000; and the spectacle of the spiritual Pleiades, too, the world shall live to see at its own good time.

31 14. There is a very interesting incident connected with the Kapurthala State. There was a very small, but highly sincere Ahmadiyya community in that town.. This small community was exceedingly devoted to the. Promised Messiah, and the Promised Messiah too had great love for them. As has been the case in some other towns as well, some opponents of the Ahmadiyya. Movement took poassession of the Ahmadiyya Mosque in Kapurthala, and tried to deny access to it to the. Ahmadies. There was a civil suit. While in the court the suit dragged on, members of the Ahmadiyya Jamaa'at of Kapurthala were naturally very anxious and worried over this matter; repeatedly they sent frantic appeals to the Promised Messiah for prayer in this behalf. Touched by the distress of mind of these devoted disciples, the. Promised Messiah on one occasion jeslously remarked in answer to one of these appeals: "Do not worry: if I am truthful in my claim, this mosque must come to you." (Ashaab-i-Ahmad, Vol. IV). But there was an evil intention in the mind of the judge, and his attitude continued adverse. Till at last on hearing the final arguments he openly declared: "You (Ahmadis) have made a new religion. You will now have to build a new mosque and I will give an award accordingly." But he had not yet written the judgement which he thought he would do in his court on getting there. Then he took a chair on the veranda of the house in the morning when preparing to go to his office, and asked a servant to help him with his shoes. But the servant had not yet finished lacing them up when the judge was struck down by a sudden heart attack, and was dead in a few moments. When his successor examined the file of this case he found justice on the side of the

32. Ahmadies, and decreed restoration of the mosque to them.. Now here is that most extraordinary kind of a living. Sign which bestows life on nations, learning an unforgettable lesson of the supreme value of Divine help and of things. of the spirit. The Ahmadiyya community of Kapurthala is the same devoted community in regard to which the. Promised Messiah once remarked: "I hope that the Jamaa'at of Kapurthala will be with me in the Hereafter, as it has been with me in this world." (Seeratul Mahdee, Riwaayat 79 and Ashaab-i-Ahmad,. Zikr Hazrat Munshee Zafar Ahmad) 15. A boy had come to Qadian from Hyderabad, Deccan, for education. His name was Abdul Kareem. He was. bitten by a mad dog. Since it was the usual way with the Promised Messiah that with prayer before Almighty. God he combined the utmost human effort, in contrast with the way of many so-called soofees and peers who have pretentions to a false trust in God, this boy was sent to a special government hospital in Kasaulee for special treatment. On completion of the course of treatment he came back to Qadian, and seemed all right.. But after some time he developed symptoms of Hydrophobia.. The Promised Messiah instructed the headmaster of the boy's school to send a wire to the hospital at Kasaulee, informing it of the development and asking advice.. From Kasaulee, however, the reply came over the wires: "Sorry, nothing can be done for Abdul. Kareem.". Thereat the Promised Messiah said: "These people may have no treatment for such a case, but there is certainly a treatment with Allah."

33. Then the Promised Messiah prayed for the recovery of the boy with a great intensity of feeling; and under some Divine inspiration he also administered some medicine to him; and Lo and Behold, against all expectations the boy was fully cured, and he lived thereafter for a long number of years. (Tatimmah Haqeeqatul Wahyee, page 48). When Major Syed Habeebullah Shah, a well known. Ahmadi, was a student at the Medical College, Lahore, in connection with a lecture on Hydrophobia in the class, he related to a classmate the incident of Abdul Kareem's cure. But that student, from some prejudice against the. Ahmadiyya Movement, began to insist that treatment of Hydrophobia was possible in modern medical science.. Syed Habeebulla Shah asked the opinion of his professor on the point, at a time when the other student was also present; and the professor, an Englishman, at once replied, without the slightest hesitation, that "if a case bitten by a mad dog developed Hydrophobia, nothing on earth could save him.". Here it should be carefully borne in mind that a. Miracle does not mean that an occurrence of the kind, or a performance of the kind, would be impossible for all men, for all times, and under all circumstances. It is quite possible that a particular thing should be known to be impossible at one time and under certain circumstances but if at such a time and under similar circumstances a man annointed by God and appointed to a Divine Mission should encompass it, it would surely be considered as constituting a miracle, though subsequently the doing of such a thing may become possible for ordinary men, through the advance of human knowledge. In regard to treatment of the various diseases in general there is a hadeeth of the Holy Prophet that "For every ailment there is a remedy, except for death which is inevitable.' Therefore, if at some future time, a treatment for Hydrophobia should come to be discovered, the grandeur of the miracle witnessed at the "

. 34 hands of the Promised Messiah in the above mentioned case would not come to be lowered or obscured in any way. For, at the time when the occurrence took place, it was beyond the power of man, and of the medical. I science, to encompass the result achieved by the Promised. Messiah through prayer.. It should also be remembered, at the same time, that some miracles are of a kind that their miraculous nature stands for all times, a repetition of the performance being impossible for other human beings, under all circumstances.. As an instance of this kind of miracle, there is the miraculous nature of the Holy Quran, it being impossible for all men, for all times, that anybody should ever be able to produce a scripture of similar excellence and grandeur from the point of view of its matchless literary style and its matchless unrivalled contents. Similar is the case of those prophecies which are intended to bear out the power and grandeur of God; or cases of the acceptance of prayer in a mubaahilah etc.; or the grand miracle of the fact that the Apostles of Allah and their followers always finally come out victorious in the struggle against their enemies and opponents. The Promised Messiah, we must remember, was vouchsafed miracles of all these kinds. 16. The hostility which the Arya Samaaj bore for the. Promised Messiah is well known to all. These people suffered defeats at the hands of Hazrat Ahmad in every field, but owing to their eternal hardness of heart, they continued to increase in their enmity towards the Promised. Messiah. A member of this Samaaj was a native of. Qadian, Lala Sharampat by name. He was in close contact with the Promised Messiah whom he used to see frequently; and he was a witness to the fact of certain prophecies having been made by Hazrat Ahmad, and

35 having been fulfilled in their good time. But whenever the Promised Messiah had occasion to call upon him as a witness, he always avoided giving his testimony, neither refusing to do so openly and saying that the prophecy in question had not been made, or fulfilled, nor openly coming out to testify to the truth. But although the man was a firm and obdurate Arya Samaajist, the Promised. Messiah dealt with him with marked leniency and kindness. Sheikh Yaqoob Ali Irfaanee relates that once. Lala Sharampat fell seriously ill, with a dangerous kind of carbuncle on his stomach. He became deeply worried, and began to despair of his life. On coming to know of this illness, the Promised Messiah personally called at his small, dark, and narrow house, to inquire about his health, reassuring him on the point and appointing his own private doctor for the purpose of a regular treatment of the ailment. The name of this doctor was Sh. Mohammad. Abdullah, and he was the only doctor in Qadian at the time. After that day the Promised Messiah called at his house every day, to inquire personally how he was getting on. The pressure of the worry over his illness on the mind of Lala Sharampat at this time was so heavy that in spite of the fact that he was an implacable opponent of the Promised Messiah, the Lala would humbly implore that Hazrat should pray to Allah for his recovery; and every time the Promised Messiah, would try to set his mind at rest, and he also prayed for his recovery. This continued until Lala Sharampat was fully cured and restored to his normal health. (Shamaail, by Irafaanee). One would here do well to pause for a while and ponder a little. An instance of such sympathy and love even for a bitter opponent would be hard to find. 17. Another incident also connected with the Aryas of Qa-, dian is very interesting, and such it is that it immeasurably 1

36 strengthens one's faith. In accordonce with the prophecy made by the Promised Messiah, when the death of. Pundit Lekhram took place, the venom of the Arya. Samaaj against Hazrat Ahmad increased manifold, and the. Aryas of Qadian brought out a journal entitled the Shubh. Chintak. With three men-Somraj, Acharchand, and. Bhagatram at its back, this journal, in every issue, was full of nothing but the vilest, filthiest abuse and most shameless lies hurled at the Promised Messiah and the. Movement founded by him. This led the Promised. Messiah to write a small treatise entitled “Qadian ke Arya aur Ham", in which he advised these people to proceed in their works with decency and some sense of justice and fairplay. In the attitude of the Aryas, however, there came no change. About the same time there broke out in. Qadian and the neighbourhood a virulent plague, when, on the basis of a Revelation he received to this effect, the. Promised Messiah prophesied that he would have Divine protection against the epidemic-he himself, and those who should be living with him within the four walls of his house. The Divine Revelation the Promised Messiah received in this behalf was in the following words : "Verily, I will Protect all living within the four walls of thy house." (Kashtee Nooh). But prejudice puts a pad on the eyes of man, and often blinds him completely. When the Editor and Manager of the Shubh Chintak heard about this prophecy, they blinded were their by inordinate pride and hostility against the Promised Messiah, which betrayed Acharchand, the Manager, into remarking in reply: "What sort of prophecy is this? I claim that I too shall remain immune against plague.'. Only a few days later, however, the fell disease grew very severe, and all connected with the. Shubh Chintak were " attacked by the plague. Acharchand, who had made this vain and proud boast, and Bhagatram, his friend and colleague on the Shubh Chintak passed away, falling helpless victims to the disease about which one of them

37 had so proudly and confidently boasted that it will not touch him, and Somraj, the Editor, was still lying ill, extremely full of apprehensions in view of the fatal severity of the epidemic all around. Then, in his anxiety, he sent word to a well known and able Ahmadi physician of Qadian,. Maulvee Obaidullah Bismil, requesting very humbly to be taken under his treatment. Maulvee Bismil wrote a note to the Promised Messiah, apprising him of the situation, and asking advice as to what he should do. To this note the Promised Messiah readily replied: "Certainly take him under your treatment, for this is what human sympathy and fellow feeling demands. But I may tell you plainly that this man will not survive. ". And thus it came to pass that in spite of the very sympathetic and able treatment of Maulana Bismil, Somraj died the same evening, or the very next day. (Alhakam, April 10, 1907). Now in this highly significant occurance there are two lessons for us all: (a) the extraordinary sympathy and, fellow feeling which characterised the Promised Messiah so much so that at a time when one of his most foulmouthed enemies was on his death bed he instructed one of his devoted disciples, who was a physician, to take the man under his treatment, as desired by the patient, and to do his best to save his life; and (b) the jealousy shown by. Allah for the fair name of His servant, and for the sanctity of the Prophecy His servant had made, which Somraj and his friends, in their own foolish way, were doing their best to bring under a cloud of doubt. The men had not yet finished laughing to scorn the grandeur of this prophecy, when they were struck down by the disease, which, in a few days, eliminated them all; and the Divine Promise was fulfilled in a grand manner : "Verily, Allah has so written and ordained that He and His Apostles shall triumph. (The Holy Quran, Surah Mojaadilah, Page 22)

38 18. But even right in the middle of this two sided drama, of the severest opposition from all quarters on one side, and scenes which foreshadowed his ultimate success on the other the Promised Messiah extended his hand towards all peoples, and all nations, and all individuals, for peace and goodwil!, publicly giving to the founder of every earlier religion a place of high esteem and great reverence. Taking his stand on the golden principle he deduced from the Holy. Quran, he invited the attention of the whole world to the fact that Allah being equally the Creator of all nations, it was inconceivable that He should have left any people, in any locality, or period of time without providing for them means of spiritual guidance. The Holy Quran says: "There is no people in the world to whom a warner has not been sent.” (Surah Faatir, 24). But the Unity of God demanded that as soon as the human mind should be capable of grasping the broader truths of one Universal Law and one fundamental way for all, and when the various nations scattered far and wide over the surface of the earth, should begin to move closer to each other, with increasing facilities of repidly developing means of communication, all mankind should be rallied round one Universal Law and one way of life. to unite them into one single, harmonious family, the. Children all of One Father. This development started in the time, and at the blessed hands, of the Holy Prophet. Muhammad (peace and blessing be on him), to reach its culmination in the time of his deputy, the Promised. Messiah and Mahdee- -so that there should be one Shariyah and one way of life, one basic truth and one goal, for all mankind, just as all human beings are the children of one. Father, inspite of minor variations for groups and individuals in their individual and corporate lives; and all should be

39 a' gathered together on one central converging point, single world-wide brotherhood holding them all in a close fraternal embrace.. In this behalf the Promised Messiah has made a most. notable prophecy, which at this time should be sent ringing all round the globe. He wrote: "O ye, all the people, listen carefully, and always well bear in mind. This is a prophecy proceeding from God who made the earth' and the heavens. He will make my community i.e. this Jama'at of His own spread all over the world, in all lands and countries, making it prevail over all others on the basis of clear and compelling rational arguments. The days are coming, indeed they are near, when all over the world there would be only this one religion which shall be mentioned with respect. Allah shall bless this religion. (Islam), and this Movement (Ahmadiyyat) to a most extraordinary extent; and He shall portion out failure and disgrace for all who might plan for its destruction.. And this dominance shall then abide for ever, even until the day of Qiyaamah....... There shall be one religion, one Guide, and one Leader. I have come only to sow the seed; and that seed I have, indeed, put into the earth. Now it shall thirve and prosper and there is NO ONE IN THE. WORLD who can stop this process. (Tazkiratul Shahaadatain, Pages 64-65.) 19. The Prophethood of the other Prophets is accepted and believed in by the generality of Muslims. For instance

40. Abraham, Ishmael, Jacob, Moses and Jesus are held in the greatest esteem by all Muslims. But under this universal principle laid down by the Holy Quran that.. Allah has been raising His Prophets in all climes and all nations, the Promised Messiah, under Divine revelation vouchsafed to him, also presented the famous Indian. Reformer, Hazrat Krishna, as a Prophet of God of the pre-Islamic period and in this way, under Divine Will, he pulled the great Indian peoples into the embrace of universal love and spiritual sympathy. Of course the present day followers of Krishna, like the Jews and the Christians, have subsequently strayed away from the path of. Krishna, by denying the guidance brought by the Holy. Prophet Muhammad; but the Promised Messiah has repeatedly brought out the fact that the origin of this Faith was from Allah, and that Krishna was a true Prophet of. God, raised in the ancient past for the guidance of Aryavart.. Says the Promised Messiah in one place in this behalf: "It has been revealed to me by Allah that Raja Krishna was really such a perfect man the like of whom is not to be found among the Rishees and Awataars of the Hindu religion. For his time, he was the Awataar of God, i.e. His Prophet, on whom descended the Holy Ghost. By God he was made victorious and glorious who cleared Aryavart of evil in his time. He was really the Prophet of that era, whose teaching was later distorted in many respects. He was full of the love of God; and he was a great friend of righteousness, with an implacable hostility towards evil." (Lecture Sialkot). Similarly the Promised Messiah recognised the goodness and piety of another Indian religious leader, Hazrat Baba. Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion; and on the basis of irrefutable arguments he proved that Guru Nanak believed,

41 most truly and devotedly, in the truth of the Holy Prophet.. Muhammad; and that in his own peculiarly mystic way he tried to propagate righteousness and virtue among the Hindoos of his time. Says the Promised Messiah in this behalf : "Baba Nanak was a righteous man, a chosen one of God; and he was one of those whom Allah gives of His own love to drink. Undoubtedly his person was a blessing for the Hindoos; he strove to correct the hostility that the Hindoos have in their heart for Islam." (Paighaam-i-Sulha). Similarly, under the 20 light of this golden principleof the Holy Quran, and in accordance with the teaching of the Promised Messiah, members of the Ahmadiyya. Movement also believe that Confucius of China, Zoroaster of Iran, and Buddha of India, too, were Prophets of God, holding them in high esteem with the other Prophets.. In fact, even apart from this exposition of the. Quranic point of view, the Promised Messiah was of the opinion that where a religious Leader came to be accepted as such by millions and millions of people, and the truth of his claim became established in the eyes of men over large tracts of the earth and became firmly rooted, and remained so for long periods of time-that in such cases, even apart from the Quranic point of view referred to above, one had to concede, on the basis of a purely rational approach, that the origin of his teaching must have started with some Divine light. light. For it was. impossible, in reason, that a liar and a cheat should be: able to win such vast and lasting distinction and honour, on the basis of a deliberate fraud.

42. This matchless and unrivalled teaching of the Promised. Messiah has brought a highly significant revolution in the mentality of the members of the Ahmadiyya Movement, laying a most true and abiding foundation in the world for international and inter-communal peace, and amity and goodwill. Of course at the moment, to begin with, it has widened the field of prejudice and hostility against us, enveloping us in a ring of universal fire; for every nation has taken us to be rival who should be eliminated at all cost. But we remain confident that this is the point of view, and this the principle, which shall, God willing, finally become the last basis for all international goodwill and peace, the whole world coming under the banner raised by the Holy Prophet Muhammad, and by his deputy, the Promised Messiah. Then shall have come to pass what the Muhammadi Masih said in this respect : 05 "There shall be only one religion in the world, and one Guide and one Leader.. I have come only to sow the seed.. So I have truly put the seed into the earth and now it shall thrive and prosper, and no one can stop it".. But here, perhaps, I have rather swerved to one side, to some extent, from the proper subject of this talknamely, the personality and mind of the Promised. Messiah, his characteristic traits and habits, the distinctive features of the social or other gatherings around him. and his significant sayings on various occasions. in connection with various things. But leaving these things aside, I seem to have rather involved myself in a discussion on some principles. On looking more closely at the matter, however, it will be found that these things have also a very close psychological connection with the subject of my talk. For, evidently, they throw a flood of light on the inherent bent of the Promised Messiah's mind, and on the extraordinary purity and perfection of his views life, providing, in the sum total, an argument of the greatest possible strength and validity, to establish

43 that his pure heart on one side was blessed with the closest communion with his Creator and Lord, while on the other its living tissues held in their loving embrace the whole wide world, so that no group of humanity, of any country or nationality, or creed, or religion was left out of its cementing and loving grip. In the service of the Truth he exposed himself fearlessly to the hostility of all nations; but in spite of the hostility others felt in regard to him, he remained most sincere in striving for the common good of all mankind. All the same, it is necessary for me that like the earlier part of this talk I should also go into some minor details, as contrasted with discussion of the broader aspects and principles, so that both principles and details should go to merge into a balanced talk from all angles; and I therefore return to that side of the my talk. 21. It was perhaps in 1915 or 1916 that Mr. H. A. Walter,. Secretary of the All-India Youngmen's Christian. Association, accompanied by a professor of the Forman. Christian College, Lahore, Mr. Lucas, went to Qadian.. Mr. Walter was a Christian scholar who wanted to write a book about the Ahmadiyya Movement. In Qadian. The interviewed Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II, Head of the. Ahmadiyya Movement, when he made a number of inquiries, and the talk to some extent assumed the colour of a mild controversy.. Then Mr. Walter went over the various offices of the organisation of the Movement, ending finally with a request that he would very much like to have a few moments with some old disciple of the days of the Promised Messiah. So, in the small mosque known as Masjid Mubarak he was introduced to Munshee. Muhammad Aroora an old Companion of Ahmad. At the time Munshee Sahib was sitting in the mosque, waiting for the Prayer to start. Introductions over,. Mr. Walter said:

44 "From what date and time have you known Mirza Sahib (Founder of the. Movement), and what were the arguments in his favour which impressed you most?". To this question Munshee Sahib made a very simple reply: "I have known Hazrat Sahib from a time earlier than the day he put forth his claim. Another face so pure, and lit up with such spiritual light, I have never seen in my life. That light, and his magnetic personality were for me the greatest argument in his favour. What we constantly hungered for was just an opportunity to have a look of that illumined face.". The. As Munshee Sahib said this, he was so overcome by memories of that sweet face, that he was completely overwhelmed, and wept profusely, with a great restlessness of the mind, as a child weeping for its mother. effect this scene produced on Mr. Walter was that his face went white with stress of emotion, and he remained looking intently at Munshee Sahib who was experiencing a great difficulty in pulling himself together... Mr. Walter was so deeply impressed by this simple and brief episode that when he wrote his book, he wrote in it : "Those older Ahmadies whom I have questioned as to their reasons for joining the movement have, most of them, laid greater stress on the personal impression made upon them by the Mirza Sahib's forceful and winning personality..... .......The Mirza Sahib was honest but self-deceived. So far as I am able to judge, his writings everywhere have the ring of sincerity." (The Ahmadiyya Movement by. H. A. Walter, M. A. page 19 & 21).

45. In fact where a man has clean and pure intentions, with the inner windows of his heart and mind duly open, to let in the light, the mere sight of the face of a righteous man of God is enough to illumine one's own heart. The history of the Prophets and the Auliyaa of God is full of incidents of this kind, that a man came to them with feelings of great hostility, but with the very first look at the blessed face, he surrendered completely. In one of his poems the Promised Messiah says: "Where a man is pure of heart,. He does not need a multipilcity. Of miracles : one single Sign. Is enough to lead such a one. To the right path if there be. The fear of God in the heart!" (Braaheen-i-Ahmadiyya, Part V) 22. Hazrat Maulvee Syed Sarwar Shah, who was an old. Companion of the Promised Messiah, and a great scholar of religion, used to relate that in the days of the. Promised Messiah a man once came from Mardan to see Hakeem Hazrat Maulvee Nur-ud-Deen for treatment of some ailment, having heard the great reputation of the latter as a physician. This man was highly prejudiced against the Promised Messiah, having persuaded himself with great difficulty to undertake a visit to. Qadian, so much so that the accommodation he secured for his stay, while under treatment, was outside the. Ahmadi quarter. When he recovered sufficiently to take leave and go home, an Ahmadi he was in contact with suggested to him that he had not taken the trouble during his stay to see the Promised Messiah, but that there could be no harm to him if he should for half a minute peep inside the Ahmadi mosque.. To this the man agreed, but took care to stipulate

46 that he should be taken to the mosque at a time when the Promised Messiah 'should not be there, So this friend took him at a time which was not the time for any of the daily Prayers, and the mosque was empty.. But it so happened, by chance, that just at the moment when this man stepped into the mosque, a door on the side opened and the Promised Messiah came in unexpectedly, in connection with something; and the moment this man's glance fell on the face of the Promised Messiah, he lost all control over himself, under the stress of a sudden emotion, and he fell down at the feet of Ahmad, there and then yielding the pledge of Faith called Bai'at, (Seeratul Mahdee, Part I, Riwaayat 73). This, however, should not be taken to mean that it is every man who accepts influence and impressions in this way. Had this been so, no one would have remained a denier of guidance and truth. Such incidents occur only under some special, circumstances, on one side when the moment happens to be such that some invisible shower of heavenly blessing is descending upon a Prophet or a Walee; on the other, when the spectator is, for one reason or other, specially attuned to see the light.. This is perhaps one of the reasons that Hazrat Abu. Bakr, on hearing of the claim of our Holy Master. Muhammad to Prophethood, immediately tendered belief; while at the same time Abu Jahl also heard the same news, but he took up a highly venomous attitude, which he never once abandoned to the last moment of his life, always insisting that if Muhammad was true in his claim, condign heavenly punishment should descend on him and strike him down. This is enough to prove, once for all, that where a man deliberately closes his eyes, and insists on keeping them shut, for him the light of the sun can be of no avail. Hafiz of Shiraz has very well said in this respect: "Hasan came from distant Basra,. Bilaal from Abyssinia,. And Sohaib from Room;. And accepted the Prophet:

47. But how curious that Abu Jahl.. Born in Mecca itself!. And being Muhammad's own kith and kin. Could never see the light.". The lesson, therefore, is quite obvious for those who wish to derive benefit from the Heavenly Light. They should learn to keep their inner eyes open and their vision unclouded; or else even a thousand suns will avail them not. With a great depth of feeling, the Holy Quran says. in regard to those who rejected the Holy Prophet's call : "Woe upon the people! For no. Apostle has come to them (not even the Master Prophet Muhammad) except that they received him with ridicule and contempt." وو 23 (Surah Yaaseen). Mahmud on. Ahmad, one occasion,. Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Deen. Khalifatul Masih II, related to me and this he has also related to other people on various occasions that once a Hindoo who belonged to Gujrat came to Qadian with a marriage party. This man was a great expert in hypnotism. He said to some of his companions. that now that they happened to be in Qadian, they should accompany him to a meeting with Mirza Sahib.. The idea at the back of his mind was that he would hypnotise Mirza Sahib and make him do something which should bring disgrace and ridicule on him in the eyes of 'those present, and would loosen the grip he had over his followers. He found the Promised Messiah sitting in the mosque surrounded by a number of people. He took his seat in the gathering, inobtrusively, and started his attempt tohypnotise the Promised Messiah. Hazrat Ahmad, however, continued his discourse of the moment, in every

way undisturbed. 48. After a short time this man trembled all over for a moment, and some sound of fear also escaped from his lips. But immediately he pulled himself together and continued his effort to hypnotise the Promised Messiah.. Very soon, however, he uttered a shriek, and ran out of the mosque, down the steps, into the street below. When some of the people present saw him running out in consternation they followed him, to find out what the matter was. They caught up with him in the street outside and after he had collected himself together; he related that he was an expert hypnotiser; that he had intended to bring the Mirza Sahib under his influence, making him do some untoward movements which sholud expose him to disgrace in the eyes of those present. But, he said, that while he was trying to hypnotise Mirza Sahib, he saw a lion standing before him. He was terrified by this, but immediately he reassured himself that this must be some hallucination on his part, and redoubled his efforts. Then he saw his lion advancing upon him. This made him tremble with fear, inspite of himself, but again he pulled himself together and continued his attempt. At this stage he saw the lion pouncing upon him, which terrified him to such an extent that he forgot everything and ran to save his life. (Seeratul Mahdee, Riwaayat 75. The same incident has been related by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II in. Tafseer Kabeer under Surah Sho'ara, verse 34, but with a slight variation). In connection with this incident it should be borne in mind that hypnotism is a fine and delicate science, for which a sort of innate capacity is to be found in the human mind, where usually it remains hidden and unknown. But with proper exercise and training it can be developed to a remarkable degree. Those with a strong will-power, and these who can concentrate highly on any subject, can easily develop this capacity. In some cases the power to influence others is met with in some degree even among children of tender age; or some people can exercise this power, to some extent, even without any special training on their part. In

!! 49 fact this power is to be found in some cases even in some animals, in which connection one can readily recall that some kinds of snakes can influence their prey, to paralyse it by gazing fixedly at it.. But we should remember that this kind of hypnotism has no connection with a man's moral and spiritual condition or stature-the moral and spiritual condition which forms the basis of man's communion with God. It is merely a science among the many sciences known to man, like medicine, surgery, astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, or physics. Everyone can learn these sciences, if he goes about the task the right way, irrespective of whether he be a Muslim, or a Christian, or a Jew or a Hindoo, or a man of no religion at all. Similar is the case of hypnotism.. Among the Muslims, some Soofees have been experts in this science, as there have been some among the Hindoo. Yogees. Some of them have treated human physical ailments with a considerable measure of success, this being the best use to which this science can be put. Many people in Europe and America are nowadays devoting a great deal of attention to it. In ancient times, the sorcerers pitched against Hazrat Moosa (Moses) by the Pharaoh were also of this category. But the Rod of Moses broke their art and science, into pieces with reference to which episode the Holy Quran says that these people had made an ingenious and clever plan, but that, when opposed to an. Apostle of God, such schemes and plans do not avail at all, no matter how they try to acheive their aim. 24 (The Quran, Sura Tahaa). In this connection I recall what Hazrat Maulvee Syed. Sarwar Shah related to me. He said that in the beginning when Sufee Ahmad Jan Sahib (known also as Munshee

50. Munshee Sahib was an expert in his science of hypnotism, by means of which he often treated various kinds of patients, the Promised Messiah said to him: "You are known to be a great expert in this field.. What is your highest accomplishment in it ?" Munshee Ahmad Jan was a righteous man of a noble calibre, and respectfully he submitted that if he concentrated his attention on someone he would immediately fall trembling on the ground. At this the Promised Messiah remarked: "Munshee Sahib, what benefit would the moral and spiritual condition of the man in question derive from that experience?. Or what would the benefit of that be to your own soul? Would it lead to the spiritual progress of either the one or the other ?”. Munshee Ahmad Jan being a man of fine perception, he at once exclaimed: "Hazrat I understand. Indeed this is a science which has no bearing on a man's moral and spiritual well being or uplift.". I might add here that this Sufee Ahmad Jan is the same person who divining the high spiritual position of the. Promised Messiah even before he put forth his claim to be a Divine reformer, and seeing the general condition of the present day world, addressed the following couplet to him: "We, the sick people, are now looking up to you as our only hope; for the sake of God, please, accept the role of the. Physician and the Messiah.". God in his power and wisdom turned Hazrat Mirza. Sahib into a physician for the world-the Muhammadi. Masih; but unfortnnately Sufee Ahmad Jan had passed away before Hazrat Ahmad put forth his claim, and founded the Ahmadiyya Movement. (Seeratul Mahdee, Part I Riwaayat 143)

51 i 25. As I stated at the commencement of this talk, my present talk is entitled Durri-i-Manthur-i.e. scattered and apparently unconnected pearls in regard to the personality, the mind, the character, and sayings of the Promised. Messiah. Therfore, no special arrangement of the subject matter is to be looked for in my treatment of it. It would be seen, however, that in nature Allah has invested even apparently unarranged objects with an extraordinary and most impressive measure of beauty with a potent appeal for the human eye. At night the stars in the sky appear to be sprinkled profusely all over the heavens, without any plan that we can see. But they invest the night skies with a beauty of such indefinable charm as to hold us spell bound. Similarly the Holy Quran describes the pages on attendance on the believers in paradise as "pearls scattered all round" i.e. they would be going in and out, around the believers, in a sort of seeming confusion and profusion of movement, as if handfuls of pearls had been sprinkled over the gathering. The Maker of human nature indeed very well understands the appeal of beauty for the human eye, this being the reason why the objects of nature, whether those which seem to be arranged on some pattern, or those which appear to be unarranged, present scenes of beauty of which the deep effect is such that it can be most potently felt, but hardly described in words. And it is also usual with Allah that sometimes He captures the soul of his creatures with a glimpse of His Majesty (Jalaal), while at other times He does so by vouchsafing to them a view of. His indefinable Beauty (Jamaal). Accordingly, among His. Apostles, and among the successors to His Apostles, both these factors, the appeal of majesty and of beauty, are found to be present, often in a most delicate blend. Moses was a Prophet characterised by majesty and awe, while. Jesus, his last successor, was characterised by beauty and gentleness of manner. Silmlarly the Holy Prophet

52. Muhammad the last law-giving Prophet, being the greatest of this holy group, represented more the Majesty and awe of the Divine Being, of which the strong and dazzling light cleared the Arabian peninsula of idolatory in the twinkling of an eye, so as to enthrone the Unity of Allah in the heart of man over a large area. But the Last Successor of the. Holy Prophet Muhammad, and the Khatamul Khulafaa in his Dispensation-i.e. the Messiah of Muhammadan dispensation came dressed in a mantle of beauty and gentleness of manner. In a famous poem by the Promised Messiah, where he dwells on Divine love, he wrote: "That Messiah, of whom it is said. That he resides on the heavens,. By thy blessings thou hast. Raised even him from this lowly dust.”. He meant to say that the people think that the Messiah is living somewhere on the heavens, and they are waiting eagerly for his second advent. But what a wonderful a. Miracle thou hast performed, O Divine Love, that even particle of dust "like myself" thou hast raised from this lowly earth, and elevated it to the position of the Messiah.. It is in fact true that with the Promised Messiah the entire Philosophy of Progress for the human soul revolves solely round this central point of Love. Love for Allah, love for His Apostle; love for all humanity; love for one's kith and kin; love for one's friends; love for one's neighbours; love for the stranger; and love even for the enemy-in fact love being the only path for reaching the Divine Being.. Moreover, the process of the cleansing of one's own soul, too, is equally embedded in and impossible without, love.. In the poem referred to above, the Promised Messiah says further: "O love, indeed what marvels. Hast thou shown that in the way. Of the Heavenly Friend the pain. Of the throbbing wound,. And the balm that soothes the pain,. Thou hast made all the same,

53. For both are equally sweet.. With one flash of thy manifestation. Thou turnest an insignificant grain of sand. Into a resplendent sun;. Ah, how many are the handfuls. Of dust thou hast turned. Into beautiful and glorious moons!. No one lays down his life. For anyone else from sincerity. And devotion; but it is a fact. That this extremely rare commodity. Of selfless service and sacrifice. Thou hast made plentiful. And cheap in this world.. Not until I gave myself up. To a mood of love's madness;. Did I come to my proper senses :. O Thou Blessed madness,. How, in ecstasy, I long to dance. Around thee, for this priceless boon. Thou hast conferred on me,. That even the Messiah. Of whom it was said. That he resided in the heavens,. Even him thou hast raised. From this lowly earth!' (Albadr, April, 16, 1904). In another place, in one of his poems in Urdu on the. Pilgrimage of man towards Allah, he says in regard to love: "There is no short cut. Nearer than the path of Love ;. This indeed is the way. Which enables the pilgrim. To pass through thousands. Of valleys and plains infested. With dangerous thorns!. My dear friends, this alone. Is the secret of reaching Him;

54. It is an alchemy which shall place. At your feet an incalculable. Quantity of the purest gold!. The Arrow of the Appeal of Love. Never misses its mark:. So, ye Archers in this field,. Take care that you never. Slacken your speed !. Alone it is Ishq. Which enables a man to traverse. All these dangerous jungles. Lying in the way of the Lord;. And it is Ishq, again,. Which invests a man with strength. Enough to place his neck. Under the sharp edge. Of a merciless sword!. The first stage on the pilgrimage. Of Faqr is negation of Self;. Therefore, for the sake. Of the Sweetheart, do not fail. To reduce this rebellious Self,. In any case.. The fruit is always bitter. Before it has properly ripened;. And similar is the case of Eemaan,. Of Belief and Faith in Allah,. Until the love in the heart. Of the devotee becomes. Overwhelmingly complete and full ! (Braaheen-i-Ahmadiyya, Part V) 26. Due to the unparalleled love which the Promised. Messiah had for Allah, and consequently the love which

55. Allah had for His servant, the Promised Messiah felt a great joy and pride in the heavenly help and protection which characterised his life. Once it so happened that some Arya. Samaajists objected that the Quranic version, that Abraham was thrown into the roaring flames but came out alive, was contrary to the laws of nature, and therefore unacceptable; and Hazrat Maulvee Noor-ud-Deen, who later become the First Khalifah of the Promised Messiah, refuted this objection in one of his writings by saying that by fire here the Quran meant the fire of enmity; and many people were exceedingly pleased with this reply as very effective. But when the Promised Messiah came to hear that this reply had been made to refute the said objection, he remarked that there was no need in search for explanations and meanings of this kind; and that no man of woman born, with his frail mind could claim to comprehend the law of nature. In one of his most beautiful couplets, which is enough to open the eye, he says: "The ways for the manifestation. Of His power and glory. With Allah are endless,. And absolutely innumerable:. For mortal man to claim a total. Comprehension of these ways. Is, to claim nothing less. Than Divinity itself!". And indeed it is nothing but the barest truth that things not so long ago which were considered to be against the law of nature, have been, by modern science shown to be quite in accordance with it. Besides, Allah is not the slave of any law, not even where it was made by Him, since, in his infinite wisdom, it is open to Him to make whatever timely alterations He should deem fit, as He has Himself said in the Holy Quran: "Allah has full power over His decrees" (Surah Yoosuf, 22). This, however, should not be taken to imply that Allah upsets His own law of nature, or suspends the chain of

56 causes and effects in such cases. As the Promised Messiah has explained, it only means that in such cases Allah brings to bear on the matter such fine and imperceptible factors as remain invisible to the human eye but are at work all the same, with the result that for the time being the chain of material and evident causation appears to have been superceded. (Malfoozaat, Vol. I, page 114). So that, with great force and emphasis, the Promised Messiah has said that even if Allah, in His. Wisdom, in a case of extraodinary and over-riding importance, actually cooled the flames into which Abraham was thrown by his enemies, there was nothing surprising or incredible in it. The Promised Messiah was an Apostle of Allah and was, therefore, gifted with exceptional understanding in such matters; but this truth is such that even the knowing people of lesser eminance in the Ummat of the Holy Prophet Muhammad have openly subscribed to the correctness of this view. And the Promised Messiah on this point not only reiterated a view held by all knowing people among the followers of the Holy Prophet, but like the true Reformer he was, he also asserted and claimed with the greatest confidence: "The time of Abraham is gone and is now a thing of the past; but we are now present in this world. Let an enemy throw us into fire. By the grace of God, cool on us as well." the flames shall go (Seeratul Mahdee, Riwaayat 147). The Promised Messiah has thrown light on this point in one of his poems as well. Says he: "O ignorant man, these schemes. And conspiracies of thine. Can do no harm to me ;. For indeed I bear a life. That shall come safe and sound. Even out of roaring flames ! ' وو (Tatimmah Haqeetul Wahyee)

57. With all this, however, the Promised Messiah has. explained that it was not his Mission that like jugglers and conjurers he should give exhibitions of lighting a fire and. then going through it without suffering any burn, for such a thing would be tantamount to an audacious and foolish testing of the powers of Allah; and that such behaviour was far from the attitudes proper to the position of the true servants of God, being absolutely contrary to the modes and methods of Divine Prophets. He said that if the enemy should throw him into fire of his own accord and in the furtherance of his own schemes, then indeed. Allah would cool the flames on him, and save him from an untimely death at the hands of the enemy.. Oh, how I wish that members of the Ahmadiyya. Movement cultivate this strength of faith which characterised their master ! I wish they too would strengthen their link with Allah, that for them, too, He should, in His infinite mercy and wisdom, show similar Signs, so that they not only remain safe against the machinations of those who wish them ill, but also continually march triumphantly forward with waving banners, no matter how severe and furious and wide-spread the opposition against them! 27. On one side the Promised Messiah was always so confident on the point of Divine help and succour as to be perfectly sure in his mind that he would come out alive, safe and sound, even, if he should come to be thrown into fire by his enemies. At the same time, on the other hand, he was always mentally prepared for sacrifice of every kind in the way of Allah, to such an extent that all trials and tribulations found him optimistic and in the happiest frame of mind. Hazrat Maulvee Abdul Kareem relates that on the day when a Superintendent of Police came to search his residence, in connection with the death of Pundit Lekhram under the prophecy of the Promised Messiah, Hazrat Meer

58. Nasir Nawab, our maternal grandfather, went to the. Promised Messiah, in great anxiety and much perturbed, to apprise him of the situation. In fact he was so agitated that he could speak with difficulty, and said that a Police. Officer had arrived, with handcuffs and a warrant for arrest. At the moment Hazrat Ahmad happened to be engaged on his book, later published under the title Nurul. Quran. He simply looked up with a quiet smile, and said: "Meer Sahib, people put on bangles of gold and silver on auspicious occassions.. We shall take it that in the way of God we have put on bracelets of steel.". After a slight pause, however, he continued: "But rest assured this shall not be.. The Government of God is conducted in. His Wisdom, and in the case of His own appointed Vicegerents he does not allow such things to bring them to disgrace." (Alhakam, Vo . III, No. 24, page 1 & 2, as quoted in Malfoozaat). Here, indeed, is a case of the utmost grandeur. On the one hand the Promised Messiah was so wholeheartedly prepared for any kind of sacrifice that he was ready to put on handcuffs, and look upon them as a source of adornment and distinction in the way of God. But at the same time he was fully confident, too, that Allah will not allow that disgrace to come to him; and at a moment when a high police officer was standing at his door to arrest him if necessary, he smiled sweetly before a perturbed disciple, and ressured him that Allah will not allow him to come to disgrace. With the deepest unconcern he said to this disciple: "No, no; this shall not be my Master in Heaven will save me from this disgrace."

50 59 28. Here I recall another incident which illustrates the reliance on and confidence in Allah which the Promised. Messiah displayed throughout his life. This same Hazrat. Maulvee Abdul Kareem wrote once in a letter that once when the topic under discussion was reliance on God, the. Promised Messiah said: "In this respect I find myself in a peculiar state of mind. When the season is particularly hot and suffocating, people hope and trust from experience that the rains will come soon. Similarly when I find my cash box empty, I feel every confidence in Allah that it would now be filled and that is actually how it turns out to be. And then the Promised. Messiah went on oath to testify to the fact that whenever his pocket happened to be empty, the peculiar joy and ecstacy he felt in leaving everything to God on such occassions was most indescribable; and that this state of the mind was far more reassuring than would be possible with one's pockets full." (Alhakam, Vol. III, No. 34, page 4 & 5, as quoted in Malfoozaat, Vol. I). The pockets of the Ahl-i-Faqr are usually empty, but one needs to pause and ponder well over what the Promised. Messiah has said in this respect in regard to himself. Just as a farmer, on innumerable occassions who has irrigated his fields from a well, feels sure that when the time comes for the water in the well to reach the point of exhaustion, more water will flow out from the springs hidden at the bottom, to make the well replete again, similarly was the heart of the Promised Messiah brimful of confidence that

60 the moment his pocket became empty, Allah would fill it again, so that the work entrusted to him by God would not be allowed to suffer from lack of funds. This is indeed the point of reliance on God in regard to which Allah. Himself had, in the earliest days, said to Hazrat Ahmad : "Is not Allah sufficient for the needs of. His servant ?". The fact is that this Revelation which the Promised.. Messiah received when he was, so to say, at the threshold. of his life, has always stayed over his head like a merciful cloud, ready to send down a welcome shower at every moment of his need. 29. Bhai Abdul Rahman Qadiani* is a very devoted disciple of the Promised Messiah who accepted Islam, from. Hinduism at the hands of the master. He related to me that when the Promised Messiah went to Lahore for the last time, these were days when repeatedly he was receiving. Revelations from God bearing on the near approach of the last moments of his life on this earth. On his face in those days there was a peculiar lustre and a deep inner reflectiveness, tinged with an indefinable peace and joy, and a kind of bright spiritual light which shone on his countenance. During his short stay in Lahore on the occasion, he used to go out for a short ride, in a closed carriage drawn by a couple of horses, his blessed spouse and some of his children being with him. On the eve of the morning when he was to pass away, the Promised. Messiah, when just on the point of starting for the daily ride, said to Sheikh Abdul Rahman: 'Mian Abdul Rahman, tell this coachman, and make him understand this *I regret to note that Bhai Sahib died only a few days after this talk at the Annual Gathering.

61 very clearly, that at the moment we happen to have only one rupee with us.. He should take us only the distance he would be prepared to go and come back for that amount of money. " (Riwaayat Bhai Abdul Rahman Qadiani). So only after a short ride he came back. But after midnight he developed diarrhoea with frequency of motions, and next morning about ten o'clock he passed away.. Here I wish to add that today even after the fifty years which have since rolled away, the event of the death of the Promised Messiah, the final scene in it, is so fresh before me as if the whole thing were happening again in front of my eyes.. At the moment, however, I do not intend to recount the details. I only wish to say that from the point of worldly wealth the Promised Messiah, also, passed away exactly in the same kind of circumstances as was the case with the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be on him.) It is recorded in works of Hadeeth that in the last and fatal illness of his life, at one moment the. Holy Prophet hastily got up from the mosque and hurriedly went inside his house, where there happened to be lying a small quantity of material wealth in some form, which he quickly distributed to the needy, becoming utterly emptyhanded himself in that respect.. It would be seen that almost identically in the same manner, the Promised. Messiah also spent the last coin he had with him on the eve of his death; and when he passed away, he had nothing more in his pocket. Of course Islam does not forbid a man from striving, in balance, for the goods of this world, teaching its followers in fact to pray for good in both the worlds, in this one and the hereafter; but the Prophets of. God and the Auliya stand on the point of Fagr, where these righteous people live their lives solely as the servants of. Allah, subsisting on the barest necessities, just enough to hold life together in the body. This is the reason why, in spite of being the king of both the worlds, the Holy

62. Prophet Muhammad chose for himself the rigorous life o. Faqr, always saying that: “Faqr is a source of pride for me. 30. Even in the discharge of his Mission from God, the. Promised Messiah depended most of all on prayer, which in a way is again only another name for Faqr. For just, as the People of Faqr, while working through material means to the best of their ability, depend really only on God, exactly in the same manner, even in the matter of his service to the cause of Islam, and his continuous Jehad in the way of Allah, while striving to the best of his capacity with the material means at his disposal, the Promised. Messiah put all his trust for the success of his Mission only in Divine help and succour. The intecllectual Jehad he waged with his pen is admitted by all, so much as that he changed the entire approach and colour of the discussion of problems in the field of religion, inflicting defeat after defeat on his opponents, the Christians, and the Aryas, and all others, so that even his opponents had to concede that he had lived his life as an eminently victorious general. (Vakeel Amritsar, June 1908). All the same he always said that the real weapon he fought with against. his opponents was his supplication and prayer before the:. Almighty God. Attaching no value to his own efforts, as distinguished from the grace of Allah, he always said that success would come only through the grace and mercy of God. Often he used to say: "Allah has invested prayer with wonderful. This is what Allah has conveyed powers. to me repeatedly that whatever is to happen, shall come to pass only through prayer. The weapon in our hands is only this prayer. Apart from it, I have

63 no other weapon. Whatever I pray for in secrecy, Allah bestows upon me manifestly, so that all can see. " (Zikr-i-Habeeb by Hazrat Muftee Sahib, page 179) 31. Towards the time of his death, the Promised Messiah had turned to prayer even with greater reliance than ever before in his life. For, a closer perception of the power and might and grandeur of the Divine Being, on the one hand, and the entire and absolute futility of all material means, on the other, as seen and realised by his inner eye, had begun to lift him, ever more and more, towards the heavens.. During the last period of his life, by the side of his room in his house, he had another small room built, which he used solely for the pupose of praying in the seclusion and peace of complete retirement unto himself. This room was called the Baitul Do'aa, or the room for praying. In this small room he would sit undisturbed by whatever might happen to be occuring around him; and in that seclusion and secrecy he prayed to the Almighty God for the success of his Mission, and the revival and restored glory of Islam. In this connection an old companion, Hazrat. Muftee Muhammad Sadiq relates that the Promised.. Messiah once said: "It occurred to me that no reliance could be placed on this life. Seventy years of my life have already passed while there is no time appointed for death. Allah alone knows when it might come, while a good deal of our work yet remains to be done.. Here on one side, the power of the pen has been found to be weak. As for the sword, it is not the Divine Will to permit its use at this time and in this age. So we raised our hands to the heavens, and

64 to seek power from Him we have built for ourselves a small room for retiring into, for the sake of praying there in peace; and I prayed that Allah may turn this small room, this Masjidul Bait and Baitul Do'aa into the House of. Victory." (Riwaayaat Hazrat Muftee Sahib, Zikr-i-Habeeb, pages 103 & 110). It is to be noted most carefully that this is real and true humility before God, that, while being the Sultanul. Qalam (King of the pen), and eminently victorious in this field, as against the grace and favour of God, in utmost sincerity of feeling, he tenders an unqualified admission of the weakness of his pen, even to the extent of nothingness.. This is the real and sincere feeling of humility before Allah which prompted him to write in one of his poems : “I am a mere worm of the earth,. Not even fit to be. Called a human being;. For men an object of contempt,. And for human beings. A source of disgrace and shame;. People say that one unworthy. Is never acceptable before God;. But Lo and Behold, for, verily,. I have been vouchsafed admittance. To the Blessed Audience,. Even though I am so unworthy !”. The truth is that the whole secret of man's sucsess lies in help from Allah. In the field of religion this help comes through prayer and supplication; while in matters of this world it comes through a strict adoption of the divinely provided material means recessary for the purpose. is the reason why all the Prophet of God, the Auliya, and the saints have laid the utmost stress upon Prayer, in all times and all circumstances, this being the central link. This

65 between the Creator and His creatures. The Holy Prophet has most truly said: "Prayer is the inner marrow of all acts of worship, without which man's devotion to his Creator remains like a bone wholly empty inside." (Tirmazee) 32. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that all members of the Ahmadiyya Movement should develop the utmost concentration, humility and a burning of the heart in prayer, making it the greatest mainstay of their lives, not only in words, and as a mere matter of form, but as the most living reality. They should cultivate the most firm conviction that Allah listens to the supplications of His servants and creatures. But at the same time they should always bear in mind that while on the one hand Allah grants the prayers of His servants, in His great wisdom. He also sometimes insists that they submit to His will. The mere fact that some prayers have not been answered should not, therefore, be taken to mean by anyone that it effects the basic philosophy of prayer in any way.. For the ordinary people Allah, in any case, is the absolute. Master and Lord; and the Master has every right that in view of the iniquities of some servant He should withhold from him the blessed fruit of the acceptance of prayer, in some ways and in certain circumstances. For His specially devoted servants, however, God is also the Friend, in addition to being the Master; and the most reasonable position of friendship is that in certain things your friend accepts your wishes as preferable, while in others you accept the will and wish of your friend to be binding on you. But in all such cases it is the grace and mercy of God which, really speaking, manifests itself, whatsoever the circums-

66 tances. Explaining the philosophy of prayer, the Promised. Messiah wrote in one place: (so "How powerful (Qadir,) indeed, and how sustaining (Qayyum) is the God we have found! What wonderful powers He possesses—He whom we have found! The truth is that for Him nothing is impossible, except that which runs counter to. His Book or His Promise. So, when in prayer do not do so you stand up like the ignorant Naturees called rationalists) who out of their own fancies fashion a self-concieved law of nature.. For they are indeed the rejected ones.. Their prayers will not be heard. But when you stand it for prayer is up essential for you to feel convinced that your God has the power over all things.. Then your supplications shall be heard and you shall witness such miraculous workings of the might of God as we have witnessed....Allah is a most valuable and a precious Treasure. Learn duly to appreciate it. In every step you take, He is your helper...... Do'nt you follow those who have taken this world to be all in all.. Rather it should be that in all your actions and works, whether they pertain to this world, or to the Hereafter, your endevour to seek help and succour from Him should continue without interruption.........May. God open your eyes, so that should you perceive that your God is really the beam on which all your efforts lie for. If the beam support and sustenance. falls, can the smaller supporting sticks and ribs of the roof maintain their position?. Congratulations and blessings for the man who realises this ; and undone indeed is the one who fails to understand this secret!" (Kashtee Nooh) i |

On this note I bring my talk to a close, and I pray to. Allah to make us heirs to all those values of the Spirit and the Matter, which descended on this world through our. Master the Holy Prophet Muhammad (on whom be peace), and which have been revived and regenerated through his worthy deputy and devoted servant, the Promised Messiah and Mahdee, receiving at his hands a new light to satisfy the needs of the current times, so that Islam should prevail all over the world; and so that, through the endeavour of the Ahmadiyya Movement, the Light of Muhammad. Salla Allaho alaihe wa sallam) should encompass the whole globe and this revelation and prophecy of Hazrat Ahmad in all its greatness and glory be fulfilled: "Be happy and rejoice. For thy time indeed is near. At hand, and the step. Of the followers of Muhammad. Is going to plant itself most firmly. On a minaret exceedingly. High and lofty !" create. Therefore, O, ye my friends and dear ones, firmness in your footsteps, for an upward climb, even to the eminence of the utmost glory, is waiting for you! "And our last words are that all praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds."