The Essence of Islam – Volume V — Page 124
124. Essence of Islam-V days when I was so unknown were regarded by people as ludicrous, unreasonable and like the ravings of a maniac. Who could then have known that, in keeping with these prophecies, it would actually come to pass that thousands would come to visit me in. Qadian, several hundred thousand would enter into the fold of allegiance with me, and I would not remain alone as I had been at the time. God gave me these tidings when I was unknown and solitary, so that they should stand out as great signs in the sight of a man of understanding and a seeker after truth, and so that the seekers may become convinced in their hearts that this enterprise is not, and cannot be, of human origin. [Brāhīn-e-Ahmadiyya, part 5, Rūḥānī Khazā'in, vol. 21, pp. 65-70]. My purpose in writing the book Dāfe'-ul-Balā, which was about the plague, was to warn people so that they may purify their hearts and keep their tongues, their eyes, their ears and their hands from all that is not worthy of saying, seeing, hearing, or doing, and that they may fear God so that He may have mercy on them and may remove the terrible epidemic that has broken out in their country. Alas! presumptuousness increased even further and tongues wagged more than ever. In their pamphlets they spared no effort to hurt and revile me. They used all means, except those which were beyond them, to persecute me. They went to such lengths in cursing and abusing me that they left the Shias far behind, for the Shias seem to think that it is they who have perfected the art of cursing