Invitation to Ahmadiyyat — Page 294
294 prophecy of Hadrat Mirza [Ghulam Ahmad] Sahib as had been fulfilled. Here I will quote a few: ‘Ahmad and his adherents may be pardoned for taking some credit for the accuracy with which the prophecy was fulfilled a few months ago. ’ 13 ‘The Qadian man predicted that if Dowie accepted the challenge ‘he shall leave the world before my eyes with great sorrow and torment. ‘If Dowie declined’, the Mirza said, ‘the end would only be deferred; death awaited him just the same, and calamity will soon overtake Zion. ’ That was the grand prophecy: Zion would fall and Dowie would die before Ahmad. It appeared to be a risky step for the Promised Messiah as to defy the restored Elijah to an endurance test, for the challenger was by 15 years the older man of the two and probabilities in a land of plagues and famines were against him as a survivor, but he won out. ’ 14 ‘Dowie died with his friends fallen away from him and his fortune dwindled. He suffered from paralysis and insanity. He died a miserable death, with Zion city torn and frayed by internal dissensions. Mirza comes forward frankly and states that he has won his challenge. ’ 15 These quotations from the American newspapers show that the prophecy made an impression not only on Christians but also on free-thinking editors of the American newspapers. They had been so impressed by the grandeur of the prophecy that they felt