Approaching the West — Page 6
A pproaching the West—6 English interpreters. Ḥ a ḍ rat A ḥ mad (peace be on him) understood the Western mindset with an astonishing clear and deep insight. He would appreciate their secular advancement in technology, agriculture and scientific fields, but pity their moral and spiritual degradation! He had full conviction that if the West was approached properly and prayerfully, it would incline towards the truth of Isl ā m and discard the false creed of the Divinity of Jesus and accept the Unity of God! In his book Iz ā lah Auh ā m (1891), he wrote, The rising of the Sun from the West (as predicted by the Holy Prophet of Isl ā m to happen in the latter days) means that Western countries, which have for centuries been in the darkness of non-belief and error, shall be illuminated by the Sun of righteousness, and shall partake in the blessings of Isl ā m. I once saw myself (in a vision) standing on a pulpit in London and delivering a reasoned speech in English on the truth of Isl ā m and thereafter catching several white-feathered birds sitting on small trees, whose bodies resembled those of partridges. I understood this to mean that, though it may not be given to me to proceed personally to London, my writings would be published among those people and many righteous Englishmen would fall prey to truth. Western countries have so far not been conspicuous for their attachment to spiritual truths, as if God had bestowed divine wisdom