Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part III — Page 142
BarĀhĪn-e-a H madiyya — Part three 142 humiliate them and expose their weakness. The blind, of course, are totally incapable of saying anything in such a matter. In the same way, those who possess no sense of smell believe it when hundreds of trust- worthy and truthful people speak of good smell or foul odour. They do not doubt them at all for they know well that so many people do not tell lies and must be speaking the truth and that without a doubt it is their own impaired sense of smell that prevents them from experienc- ing these scents first-hand. Likewise, human beings also differ with respect to their inner fac- ulties. Some are weak and covered in the veils of their egos, while there have always been others who, due to their lofty and pure nature, have been receiving revelation from God. For those who are weak and cov- ered in veils to deny the personal characteristic of those who possess a lofty nature would be the same as if a blind person, or one with weak sight, were to deny the observations of one with excellent sight, or as if a person congenitally lacking the sense of smell were to deny the expe- riences of one who possesses a sense of smell. The ways to disprove such a denier are the same in the spiritual realm as they are in the physical realm. For instance, if a person who is congenitally bereft of the sense of smell denies the existence of good and foul smell, and asserts that those who claim to have such a sense are liars or are mistaken, then he can be persuaded to admit his mis- take in the following manner. He should be asked to select a few pieces of clothing and rub some with perfume and leave others untouched and then test the sense of smell of a normal person, so that by repeated experiments he would be convinced of the reality and existence of the sense of smell and that, indeed, there are people who can distinguish between that which is fragrant and that which has no smell. In the same way, a seeker after truth can be convinced of the exist- ence of revelation through repeated observations. When hidden matters and secret mysteries, which cannot be discovered through reason alone, are disclosed to a recipient of revelation, and when a revealed book is found to contain wonders, which are not to be discovered in any