Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part IV — Page 196
BarĀhĪn-e-a H madiyya — Part Four 196 us, all our efforts would go in vain; indeed, we ourselves would perish altogether. Therefore, embarking on any of our enterprises, particularly starting the Heavenly Book, which is the finest and most delicate of all momentous affairs, the invocation of the name of the Omnipotent God who is رحمٰن [ Ra h m a n ] and رحیم [ Ra hi m ] with the intention of seeking His blessings and help, is such a self-evident verity that we are perforce drawn towards it. In fact, every single blessing comes about in this very manner; namely, the Being who is the Absolute Controller, the Cause of all causes, the Source of all graces, who is called ‘Allah’ in the terminol- ogy of the Holy Quran, may be pleased to manifest His attribute of ra h m a niyyat first, and bring into existence whatever is needed before one’s own effort through His pure grace and munificence without the intervention of any action. And when the attribute of ra h m a niyyat has accomplished its function fully and perfectly, and man, equipped by His grace with appropriate capabilities, has put forth his effort and toil with due diligence, then Allah the Exalted may manifest His attribute of ra hi miyyat and bestow good results upon whatever toil and effort man has made, and grant him his desired objective by saving his efforts from being lost. With respect to this second attribute [ ra hi miyyat ], it is said that he who seeks, finds; he who asks, is granted; and he who knocks, for him it is opened. In other words, God Almighty, through the grace of His attribute of ra hi miyyat, does not let the labour and effort of anyone go in vain and, ultimately, one who seeks, finds. In short, these verities are so self-evident that everyone can recog- nize their truth through personal experience. There is no person from whom these manifest verities can remain hidden, provided that he pos- sesses some intelligence. However, this fact is not intelligible to those whose vision, on account of hard-heartedness and ignorance, is limited to material means and who have no knowledge of the subtle deter- mining factors of the Being who is the Controller of all means, nor are they broad-minded enough to consider that thousands—indeed countless—heavenly and mundane factors that are needed for the