Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 696
696 HAQIQATUL-WAḤI-THE PHILOSOPHY OF DIVINE REVELATION within the prescribed time frame. As a matter of fact, they need not be fulfilled if the person who is warned repents or recants. Such proph- ecies can be, and have continued to be, warded off by resort to pro- found regret, repentance, almsgiving, and charity on the part of the person who has been warned. The Holy Quran and earlier Scriptures bear witness to this. Bear in mind that the prophecy of wa’ïd means a prophecy portending divine punishment. When God wills to send down some calamity upon a person on account of his sins, the way of Allah is that most of the times He averts such calamities if the person involved has recourse to repentance, seeking forgiveness, charity, and almsgiving. And when someone becomes subject to such a trial and turns to God Almighty as a result, then mostly such a one is shown mercy. This is how the chastisement upon the people of Prophet Yūnus [Jonah] was averted. The whole world knows that repentance, seeking forgiveness, charity, and almsgiving serve to avert calamities and a prophecy of wa'id is nothing more than a calamity of which warning is given through someone commissioned by God. Thus, if it is true that a calamity can be averted through repentance, seeking for- giveness, charity, and almsgiving, then why cannot such prophecies be averted, the warning of which may have been communicated through someone commissioned by God? Furthermore, the ignorant enemies do not know that prophecies portending chastisement can be averted through mere penitence and entreating forgiveness of God and need not contain a condition. However, the prophecies concerning Ātham, Ahmad Baig, and his son-in-law were conditional. In other words, it was written that they would be visited by a calamity if they persisted in their arrogance and did not retract. Thus, Ātham proved through his silence, his refusal to take an oath, or to prosecute, or to make hostile remarks against Islam, that he had given up his rebellious misconduct. Furthermore, he clearly demonstrated his retraction by hanging out tongue and placing both his hands on his ears right in the middle of our debate in the presence of some sixty to seventy witnesses, and no one can deny this. The audience at that time not only consisted his