Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 87
! ! 87 Three - Part Lecture First S peech D elivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashir - ud - D in Mahmud Ahmad , Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra Ladies’ Jalsa Hall Febru a ry 5, 1923 Knowledge L eads to Intellectual Development At one point during the last Jalsa , I mentioned that experts should give lectures in their respective fields to advance our general knowledge. It makes no difference w hether this learning be religious or secular because intellectual development comprises of all types of knowledge. Sometimes, a person may gain standing in the religious realm , but is then disgraced because of his lack of worldly knowledge. A Narrative The Promised Messiah as narrated an account of a well - known elder. One of the K ing’s courtiers was an admirer of this pious man. The courtier would plead with the K ing to pay a visit to this man, but the K ing ignore d him. One day, upon the courtier’s insistence, the K ing finally decided to visit this so - called pious man to ascertain just how wondrous and virtuous he truly was. Accordingly, when the K ing visited him, the elder thought about impress ing the King. To this end, he thought it would be appropriate to give the K ing some advice and thus display his knowledge , thereby increasing the King’s devotion towards the elder. With that in mind he began his address, “ Rulers must treat their subjects fairly and should not oppress them. Among the Muslim rulers, a king named Sikander lived a thousand years before the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa. ” Upon hearing this, the K ing’s expression changed , and he realized that the man was an utter ignoramus and so the King walked out. Not only was the man destroyed by his own egotism, but h e was disgraced by h is ignorance of fundamental knowledge.