Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 89
C H AP T E R T WO — FU L F IL M E N T OF PR OPHE C IE S 89 people. This is because I was neither the successor of a saint nor affil- iated with a shrine, so that those who were devoted to my ancestors should rally around me and make my task easy; nor had I descended from some renowned scholar, thereby retaining the link with hundreds of his disciples; nor had I received formal education or certification from a scholar, so that I might have relied on my accumulated wealth of knowledge. I was not a monarch nor lord or ruler of any land, so that the awe, inspired by my governance, might have made thousands of people follow me. Instead, I was a humble man with no means, living in a remote village, completely cut off from the distinguished people who are—or can be—the centre of people’s attention. In short, I did not enjoy any such kind of respect, popularity, or renown which would make me think that this burden of spreading the message could be easy for me to accomplish. Naturally, I perceived this mission to be extremely difficult and seemingly impossible. Besides this, other difficulties appeared as some aspects of this message were of a nature that there was absolutely no hope that people could accept them. There was not even so much as the expectation that the people could acknowledge the fact that the descent of non-law-bearing reve- lation had not ceased after the time of the Prophethood [of the Holy Prophet s as ] and would continue until the Last Day. On the contrary, it was clearly known that upon a claim of revelation, the gift received from them would be a declaration of apostasy, and all the ulema would present a united front to persecute and destroy such a claimant; for, in their view, after our holy master—the Protector of the Quranic Recitation and the Messenger of Allah, may peace and blessing of Allah be upon him—a seal has been placed on divine revelation until the Last Day, and now it is completely impossible for anyone to experience con- verse and discourse with Allah. In short, they believe that this blessed Ummah has been eternally denied the kind of blessings whereby God Almighty may honour them with His converse and promote the growth of their spiritual knowl- edge and inform them directly of His existence. Now, in their blind