Life of Ahmad — Page 94
HE STAKES HIS ALL FOR ISLAM as 94 copies gratis and many in the vain hope that people would buy it or return it. He himself could not estimate the exact size of the book and therefore he did not fix any definite period within which it would be completed and printed. In 1884 four parts were published, and they made up about 150 Juz , the size which he had originally promised. So from the business point of view the first subscribers got full value for their money. In September 1886, Ahmad as announced that as the original plan of the book was altered, he did not think it necessary to produce the 300 Juz he had intended; and still later when he found that he could not complete the book at all on the previous lines— God had commissioned him as a Reformer—he announced that he was prepared to return the money received for the book if its published portion was duly returned to him. A large number of people took advantage of the offer and actually got their money back. This announcement was repeated several times; in May 1893, in 1895, and on December 15, 1900 etc. The offer still stands. He had never intended to make money out of this holy undertaking; and it is certain that he did not gain anything out of it. In appealing for contributions towards the publication of this great work, Ahmad as had never let any of his friends go begging for the purpose. He wrote to M i r ‘Abb a s Ali of Ludhiana on October 24th, 1883 as follows: