Malfuzat – Volume I — Page 16
16 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad blessings of Allah be upon him, did not care during the tribulation of Ta'if, so too, he demonstrated an indifference to this promise of sovereignty and preferred to be stoned. Hence, unless the Holy Prophets experienced a special kind of pleas- ure in this, what was the need for him to abandon comfort and bear hardship? No other Prophet, except for our Messenger, peace and salutations be upon him, was confronted with a situation where he was promised something in exchange for refraining from carrying out the work of his ministry. The Messiah as was not faced with such circumstances. In the history of the world, only the Holy Prophets was met with an offer of sovereignty to step away from performing his duty. This honour is specific to our Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Similarly, our Perfect Guide experienced both eras of hardship and triumph, and in this way he was able to manifest a perfect example in both times. Allah the Exalted desires that the righteous experience both these forms of pleasure. On certain occasions, they experience this in the form of worldly pleas- ures, comfort and bounties, and on other occasions, in the form of difficulty and hardship, so that their morals may grow towards perfection in both respects. Cer- tain morals are manifested in times of authority, while others come to light in times of affliction. Our Noble Prophets experienced both these situations. There- fore, the extent to which we are able to present the diverse morals of the Holy Prophets is not within the power of any other nation to present in favour of their own Prophet. For example, the Messiah as can only be shown to have exhibited patience. He continued to suffer brutality, but how will it be established that he attained a station of power? There is no doubt that he was a truthful Prophet, but it cannot be proven that he exhibited a moral example in all respects. Since he is mentioned in the Quran, we believe in him to be a Prophet. Otherwise, the Gospel alone does not prove that the Messiah (as) demonstrated a moral character that accords with the grandeur of the Prophets who are strong in determination. In the same way, if our Perfect Guide had died in his initial thirteen year period of hardship, many aspects of his lofty character would have remained hidden as was the case with the Messiah. However, when he was later blessed with an era of triumph and those who had oppressed him were presented before the Holy Prophets, it was then that his attributes of mercy and compassion were truly proven. This also demonstrates that the deeds of the Holy Prophetsª were never the result of restrictive circumstances; he never acted under duress; rather, all his deeds were natural. Similarly, there are many other moral qualities of the Holy