The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 458
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 458 is brought to a level where he, as if, beholds the Being and attributes of God the Exalted and the truth of His Messengers, etc. , in plain sight; and the truth becomes so plainly obvious that no possibility of any kind of doubt remains. For example, no one can entertain a doubt as to the existence of the sun. For if such miracles were to be manifested, the very purpose of faith would be lost and to believe would no longer be worthy of spiritual reward. 1 With regards to the last point, it should be remembered that there are different levels of the veil of concealment, which is maintained in miracles. In other words, there is more secrecy in certain miracles, and relatively less secrecy in others. In this respect, miracles can be categorized into two types: Firstly, the custom of God the Exalted demonstrates and logic also dictates the same, that those miracles which are manifested for the guidance of non-believers and as the completion of proof against them, are covered with more obscurity. In miracles of this nature, only enough light is shown as may faintly show the way to a person. Research scholars have written that the example of a miracle in general can be likened to the glow of a moonlit night, with some clouds. Upon the manifestation of this light, those people who still possess the faculty of sight are able to find their way, while those who are blind or suffer from nyctalopia, or have covered their eyes with the veil of prejudice, are unable to receive guidance towards the right path. 2 Therefore, despite the manifestation of these kinds of miracles, the distinction between a good-natured and evil person is maintained and the spiritual reward of faith is not done away with. The second category is of such miracles as are manifested upon those believers, who have already derived light from the first category of miracles and taken the right path. For such people, the level of concealment is naturally decreased. Often, they are shown such miracles, which are not as clear as plain sight, but the veil of concealment is relatively less than in the first category. The purpose of this is so that these people can progress towards a lofty status in their faith and divine understanding. As such, Allāh the Exalted states in the Holy Qur’ān that faith begins with belief in the unseen and then according to his capacity, a person gradually progresses through the ranks of being among the righteous, the martyrs, the truthful and 1 * Al-Baqarah (2:4) * Ḥadīd (57:26) * An-Nisā’ (4:61) * Yūnus (10:78/91-93) 2 Barāhīn-e-Aḥmadiyyah, Part 5, Rūḥānī Khazā’in, Volume 21, p. 43