Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part IV — Page 164
BarĀhĪn-e-a H madiyya — Part Four 164 God, the Exalted, the Maker, and also His perfect attributes, as well as the Hereafter, with the eye of certainty. And the instrument that leads to this highest stage of certainty is the Word of God, through which man comes to know with absolute certainty about the existence of God and His perfect attributes as well as the world of reward and punish- ment. By bestowing this stage of perfect cognizance upon hundreds of thousands of people, God Almighty has proven that this instrument for recognizing God does, in fact, exist in the world. Anyone who does not obtain light from this heavenly instrument is like a blind person who treads a path with ditches everywhere and huge pits all around, and he does not know where the path to safety is, nor does he know which side is safe for him. Nor is he aware of the consequence of taking a step. Neither can he himself see, nor does he hold on to a guide. He does not know where he will end up, nor has he any surety that he will achieve the objective for which he is going forth. Rather, his eyes are blind, and so is his heart. Another doubt which assails the mind of the Pundit is that a revealed book cannot be the basis of anyone’s faith. Why can it not be the basis? In support of this argument, he writes: Prior to accepting a revealed book, it is necessary that one should have a firm belief in God; and every Prophet or Rishi upon whom the word of God descended had first believed in the Speaker of the word and then believed in the word itself, because it is necessary that before one believes in the word, he should believe in the Speaker of the word. Thus, [he concludes that] it is evident that the Prophets did not believe in the exist- ence of the One who sends down the word through the same word. Rather, before it was revealed, they already had that cer- tainty of belief on the basis of the testimony of their own inner nature. It seems that the Pundit has employed every last bit of his intellect in