Life of Ahmad — Page 273
as THE PHARISEE OF BATALA 273 righteous in this manner and is able to reveal some Divine secrets through His assistance shall be considered truthful. Listen to me, all ye who are present here, that I declare, on a most solemn oath, that if Muhammad Husain can, by turning to God, show any heavenly signs or reveal any Divine secrets as I can do, I shall be prepared to be slaughtered with any instrument that my opponents like and they can claim also from me any damages they like. A warner came into the world and the world accepted him not, but God will accept him and will establish his truth with mighty signs. In conclusion, I have to say that I have finished this discussion; if Muhammad Husain has anything to say on the subject, he can publish it separately in his journal. It is not at all right to lengthen preliminary matters any more. I am, however, prepared to carry on the debate on the original subject regarding the claims that I have made. ' The directness with which Ahmad as invited Muhammad Husain to cut short the useless discussion of irrelevant matters and the sincerity with which he appealed to the public regarding the truth of his claims and mission had instantaneous effect and Muhammad Husain, who had spent 12 days in avoiding the situation, painfully realized that he could no longer succeed in his evasive game. Consequently, he lost his temper and violated the conditions under which the debate was arranged. He interrupted the reading of