Bounties of the Gracious God — Page 37
Details of My Statement in Brief 37 of what He had said. If this had not happened, how could this sign have been manifested and how could His protection and support for me have been made evident? And, by Allah, if the inhabitants of the said town had not perished, I surely would have perished and be counted among the impostors, for I had already announced that peace and security was on our side. For the seekers of truth this should constitute the touchstone of my truthfulness. And, if something contrary to this happens, then it would be a sign of my falsehood and the deniers must reject me. Thus this contest became the focus of people’s attention, and my condition was like a person who was unsure of whether he was going to survive the war or was going to be killed. Hence Allah desired to grant me victory, as He has granted me victory in many contests before. Therefore, this is not a fault of the government; rather it is a sign from my Lord that He has shown and manifested. We must neces- sarily accept that it was a major calamity and a great disaster, and even now people tremble at the very thought of it and we do not find any precedent of this calamity in the past times. What would be the condition of the people whose bodies have been rent asun- der by this sudden calamity and whose hearts have been marred by the anxiety resulting from it? How they slapped their faces and beat their chests in the face of this tragedy and, all at once, their living companions joined the rank of the dead? And yet it was not for any fault of the British government, for at the time of such great catastrophes it acted with a good intention, and for the sake of saving the lives of its citizens and stopping this epidemic opted for [the inoculation], and this it did after much experimentation and spending enormous amounts of money as compared to other governments. So the officials of the British government are not to