The Essence of Islam – Volume V — Page 78
78. Essence of Islam-V that instead of six years, which is the limit I have set for him, he may stretch it to ten years in my case. . Lekh Rām at present would be no more than thirty years old. He is a well-built young man enjoying excellent health, and I, on the other hand, am more than fifty years old, weak, chronically ill, and suffering from several ailments. Nevertheless, the contest will make amply clear as to which is the word of a mortal and which is the word of God Almighty. . The critics' contention that this is no longer the age for such prophecies, is no more than a assertion commonly uttered by people. I, however, believe that this is the age for the acceptance of the immutable and perfect truths and verities, and there has probably never been such an age. It is true that no fraud or deceit can remain hidden in this age, but this is all the more pleasing for the righteous, because only a person who knows how to differentiate between truth and falsehood can truly appreciate the truth and embrace it with joy and eagerness. There is such attraction in the truth that it draws people towards itself. Evidently, people of this age are accepting hundreds of new facts which their forefathers did not accept. If the people of the age are not thirsty for the truth, then what is the reason for the beginning of such a wonderful revolution? The present age is undoubtedly a friend, and not foe, of the truth. To say that this is the age of wise people, and gone is the time of the simple-minded, amounts to the condemnation of the age. . . Āryas, however, are at liberty to