The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 438
438 Essence of Islam-III me, the contentions between us have exceeded all limits. My Community is much smaller in number than yours, and at the moment does not exceed four or five thousand. Nevertheless, be sure that this tree has been planted by the hand of God Who will not let it be destroyed. He will not be pleased till He carries it to perfection. He will wa- ter it and enclose it within a compound and will foster it in a wonderful manner. Have you spared any effort in trying to destroy it? Had it been a human project, it would have been destroyed long ago. It is He Who commanded me to invite you to a Mubāha- lah so that the enemy of truth may be ruined and the lover of darkness may fall into the abyss of chastisement. Hitherto I had not wanted to call for Mubāhalah, nor did I wish to pray for anyone's ruin. Mr. 'Abd-ul-Haq of Ghaznī, presently of Amritsar, desired to hold a Mubāha- lah with me, but I put him off for a long time. At last, on his insistence, a Mubāhalah was held, but I made no sup- plication for his ruin. But now things have come to such a pass that I have been called dajjal, I have been named Satan and I have been accounted a liar and an impostor. My opponents have cursed me in their public announce- ments and in their meetings I have been mentioned with contempt. Now you seem to be intent upon denouncing me as if you have not the slightest doubt in my being a disbeliever. Everyone of you considers reviling me as an act of great merit. You have declared it the way of Islām to call curses on my head. In the time of all this bitterness and distress, God was with me; He comforted and consoled me throughout. Can an insect stand up against a whole world? Will a particle set itself against the universe? Can the soul of a liar pos- sess such steadfastness? Can a low impostor possess such