Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part IV — Page 35
Chapter One 35 them out, presenting them as goddesses to the Hindus, while others have gone to the extent of mixing the oil of jam a l got a 1 with writing ink. They use that ink to write a charm for a simple person, so that the resulting loose motions may be attributed to the charm. There are thousands of similar frauds and deceptions being practised in this very day and age. Some of these frauds are so subtle that even some very wise people are taken in by them. In this age, many profound subtleties of the natural sciences and amazing qualities of physiological composi- tions and faculties are coming to light daily through new experiments. These new phenomena can be exploited by pseudo miracle-workers to practise novel forms of deceit and trickery. The above discourse proves that miracles, which apparently resemble such tricks—even if they are true—remain covered by the veil of uncertainty and there are great dif- ficulties in substantiating their truth. Sixth Preliminary Point Just as obscure miracles cannot equal miracles which are proven ration- ally, in the same way, prophecies and news of the past that resemble those made by astrologers, diviners, soothsayers, and historians cannot equal prophecies and news of the unseen that do not consist of mere reports, but are accompanied by divine power; because, other than the Prophets, there are many people in the world who foretell earthquakes, pestilences, wars and famines, the rising of one nation against another, etc. , etc. , and often some of their predictions do come true. Therefore, in order to dispel these doubts, only those prophecies and news of the unseen will be considered grand and perfect that are accompanied by such Signs of divine might as can never be matched by fortune tellers, 1. A purgative nut, Croton tiglium. The reference is to a deceptive tactic used by some of the so-called p i rs who would take the ink and mix it with this purga- tive. [Publisher]