Claims and Teachings - Ahmad The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 75
75 The EaHy Life and Mission of the Promised Messiah, I have been inspired by God to execute this mission and to invite men to the truth. God has committed to me a message, and has commanded me to deliver it to the world. I have taken this work in hand at the bidding of my Master, and it is nothing but doing my duty and paying the debt which I owe to the world. Let it be known that I claim my descent from noble and respectable ancestors. I have received information from on high that their original home was Samarqand. After their settlement in this country, the reigning monarch, knowing their position and nobility, entrusted them with the command of armies and the government of provinces. In course of time one of my forefathers became the head of an independent state. He and his descendents ruled over it ably and peace- fully until the time when the Sikh hordes overran this fair country. The brief term of Sikh ascendency was marked by complete anarchy and bloodshed, and the people were plunged into unspeakable misery. The state of my ancestors could not hold out against the rapacious Sikhs ; they seized upon it and threw the reigning chief into prison. Afterwards they turned him and his family out of house and home- It was winter and the nights were terribly cold. Shivering with cold and utterly prostrate with grief at their sad lot, the sufferers were turned out one dismal stormy nights from their father' land, and were compelled to seek asylum in a neighbouring state whose ruler was friendly to them. He opened to them his hospitable door and received them as honored guests. At last the measure of Sikh iniquity became full to the brim, and the time came when the plundering career of these marauders was to receive a check.