The Green Announcement — Page 12
12 derstanding, otherwise there were no grounds for any misgivings. I have reiterated time and again that I never issued any announcement categorically stating that this particular boy would be the Promised Reformer and live to an old age. Even though I myself was inclined towards this view on account of the apparent signs, I never issued any announcement to this effect, because, if my interpre- tation turned out to be wrong, it would have caused the general public, who are not conversant with the subtleties of Divine knowledge, to be misled. But ignorant people are still bent upon being misled and are ascribing to me statements that I have never made. They do not seem to realize that their criticism is based solely upon the objection that I made an error in interpret- ing the prophecy. The first answer to this objection is that I never made any error in interpretation of which I was so sure that I would publish it as an announcement. Sec- ondly, let me ask, for the sake of argument, that if a Prophet or Saint was to make a mistake in interpreting or explaining a prophecy, would this detract from his status as a Prophet or a Saint? Obviously not. People raise these objections only because they lack knowledge and aware- ness. Even the most obvious fact may seem dubious to some people due to the ignorance prevalent in this age and because of their lack of interest in religious knowl- edge, otherwise it is a commonly accepted fact that Prophets and Saints can make mistakes in explaining and identifying visions and prophecies which God has not fully elucidated, but these errors do not in any way detract