Life of Ahmad — Page 477
as CONFERENCE OF RELIGIONS 477 desire for personal advertisement or display. He, therefore, persuaded the gentleman to try and give a practical form to the suggestion and the first notice of the conference was actually printed and published at Qadian. The Promised Messiah as directed one of his disciples to render the gentleman every possible assistance, and himself promised to contribute an essay. When, however, he began writing the essay, he was overtaken by a severe attack of diarrhoea. Nevertheless, the essay was finished. While he was writing it, the revelation came to him: 'The essay has come out best,' meaning that his paper would excel all others at the conference. Accordingly, he issued a handbill announcing beforehand that his essay would carry away the palm at the conference 112. The sittings 112 Before being read out in the conference, this paper was read to the disciples of the Promised Messiah as who happened to be present in Qadian at the time. Kh. Kam a l-ud-D i n was among these and when the reading was finished he gave expression to the view that the paper contained but an ordinary, unimpressive discussion of the questions; that it was meant to be read before a distinguished audience in which eminent scholars of other religions were to present their view-points in comparison with which this paper would fall flat; that, indeed, he would not be surprised if it were to excite the ridicule of the audience and thus humiliate the Ahmadis. The Promised Messiah as tried to dispel his excessive pessimism and announced that God Almighty had revealed to him that his paper would gain the distinction of being unanimously acclaimed to be the best paper read in the conference. The Khw a ja Sahib’s sense of disappointment and his misgivings, however, remained in spite of this positive, definite and authoritative annouucement from his spiritual master whom he had accepted as the chosen servant of God, expressly raised by Him to lead erring humanity to paths of spiritual progress and peace, a claim to which special and extraordinary Divine aid is a necessary and unfailing adjunct. No wonder that the other Ahmadis who realized the full import of the Promised