Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 716
716 HAQIQATUL-WAḤI-THE PHILOSOPHY OF DIVINE REVELATION objections that all Prophets would be exposed to such criticisms! Even the number of the obligatory Prayers was first fixed to be fifty but was then reduced to five. Study the Torah and see that hundreds of the chastisements stipulated by God were cancelled at the intercession of Haḍrat Mūsā. Also, the punishment that had been written down in the heavens for the people of Yunus was cancelled as a result of their repentance and an entire populace was saved from that chastisement. Instead, Ḥaḍrat Yūnus himself fell into a great trial for he was over- come with the impression that the prophecy was unconditional and that God's will to punish was irrevocable. What a pity that these peo- ple learn no lesson from Yūnus's episode! Haḍrat Yūnus, despite being a Prophet, suffered so deeply simply because he wondered how the definitive will of God had been held back and how God saved the lives of 100,000 people because of their repentance, paying no attention to what Yūnus thought about it. How ignorant are those people who believe that God cannot change His will or, in other words, avert [the fulfilment of] a prophecy portending chastisement. For my part, I believe that He can avert such punishments and has always been warding off chastisement, and— indeed will always continue to do so. I do not believe in such a God who is unable to ward off a promised calamity in response to penitence and seeking forgiveness and who cannot change His will in response to humble seekers of forgiveness. Indeed, He will continue doing so forever and always. It is on record in the earlier heavenly Scriptures that there was a king who had been left with only fifteen days of his life. God changed the fifteen remaining days of life into fifteen years in response to his cries and humble supplications. This indeed has been my own personal experience that [even] a frightening prophecy can be staved off by prayer. Thus, if the imaginary 'God' of these people does not have this power, I do not believe in him. I believe in that God whose attrib- ute has been written down in the Holy Quran as being: