Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part IV — Page 347
SuB-Footnote Number Three 347 goodwill, and carries out appropriate research with patience and stead- fastness, according to his personal capacity and ability. Out of these matters which constitute the knowledge of the unseen, no doubt should be harboured at all that fortune tellers and astrologers also have a share in such knowledge. Because these people [the men of God] do not disclose the matters of the unseen through any special skill or by any rules of forecasting, nor do they claim to be the knowers of the unseen, but the Benevolent God who is compassionate to them and attends to their circumstances with special favours and attention, informs them for some good reason about certain matters prior to their occurrence so that what He intends to do is successfully accom- plished in the best possible manner. For instance, He wants to disclose to the creatures of Allah that such a person is the one who is helped by Allah and whatever bounties and favours he receives are not ordinary and casual; rather, they are manifested by the special divine determi- nation and favours. Likewise, whatever victory, help, good fortune, and honour he is granted is not the result of any plan or stratagem of his; rather, it is God alone who has willed to make him victorious and support him with His help. Thus, before these bounties and victories come about, the Benevolent and Merciful God, in order to prove this objective [of His], gives them the glad tidings of granting these boun- ties by way of prophecy. The purpose of these prophecies is not to give the news of the unseen; rather, their real objective is that it should be established with certainty and categorically that the person in question is the recipient of the help of Allah and he is from among those select persons for the support of whom the favours of the Honoured One especially manifest themselves. It is obvious from this discourse that such a recipient of divine support has nothing in common with astrologers and the like. His prophecies are not the real objective; rather, they serve as signs and indications for recognizing the real objective. Moreover, the people whom God Almighty chooses especially for Himself and purifies with His own hand and admits among His people are not only known by