Arba'in — Page 153
ARBAIN NUMBER FOUR 153 A BRIEF NOTE FOR THE HASTY CRITICS and a Statement about Barāhīn-e-Ahmadiyya Since it is also God's tradition that when a man is sent by God, many short-sighted people with no fear of God direct ad-hominem attacks towards him. Sometimes they declare him a liar; at other times, they say that he breaks his promises, usurps the rights of others, embezzles money, and is dishonest and treacherous. At times they call him lewd, pleasure-seeking, foppish, and glutton- ous. At other times, they call him ignorant. 1* 1. It is so unfortunate that ignorant people began announcing the false claim of Pir Mehr Ali Shah Golarhvi's triumph in the contest to show an intellectual Sign. They hurled abuses at me and declared that I was il- literate and a fool in comparison to him. They gave the impression that I was in awe of his genius and intellect, and had that not been the case, he was ready to compete with me in writing a commentary [of the Holy Quran] in Arabic, which is why he had come to Lahore. They claimed that I had fled on seeing his magnificent glory and great knowledge. O heaven! Send forth curses upon the liars! Amin! Dear readers: As of the time of this writing, on this day-Friday, 7 December 1900-God has put something in my heart to disgrace the liars. I swear by God, whose Hell is aflame for the liars, that upon see- ing vehement denials I myself had requested for this unusual contest to take place. And had Pir Mehr Ali Shah not added the condition that the debate must be on religious tenets and that I must take bai'at [a pledge of allegiance] at his hand-a condition that entirely negated the very purpose of my request [for the contest]-I would have come to Lahore even if there had been mountains of snow in Qadian and Lahore