Malfuzat – Volume I — Page 42
42 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in this book, the Messiah as learnt this book from a teacher, lesson by lesson. In contrast, our Chief and Master, our Perfect Guide, was unlettered. He was never taught by a teacher and this is a fact which even adversaries have not been able to deny. Hence, Jesus as benefited from two facilities. Firstly, he came to preach to his own kinsfolk and secondly, the main thing that he had come to teach the people, they accepted already. Indeed, they were guilty of certain moral flaws. However, despite all this ease, even the disciples themselves could not be reformed. They remained covetous. Some of the disciples even stole from the wealth that Jesusas owned. As such, the Messiah (as) said, 'I have nowhere to lay down my head. ' How- ever, I am astonished as to what this statement implies, especially when one has a shelter, a home, and such ample wealth that if someone were to steal a portion of it, this would go undetected. In any case, mention of this is incidental. The main point is that despite all these facilities, no reformation took place. Peter was given the keys to the kingdom of heaven, but he could not refrain from cursing his teacher. In contrast, let one fair-mindedly reflect over the sacrifices made by the com- panions of our Perfect Guide, for the sake of their God and Messenger. They were exiled, persecuted, made to bear all sorts of misfortune and gave their lives. However, they continued to advance with sincerity and devotion. So what was it that made them so truly devoted? It was the ray of the fervour of that true divine love which had penetrated their hearts. Therefore, no matter which Prophet one compares him to, the Holy Prophets cannot be matched, whether it be with re- spect of his teaching, his purification of souls, turning the hearts of his followers cold to the world, or valiantly sacrificing blood for the sake of truth. This is the rank of the companions of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Moreover, the mutual love and affection that existed amongst them has been illustrated by Allah in two sentences: وَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوْبِهِمْ لَوْ أَنْفَقْتَ مَا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيْعًا مَّا الَّفْتَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَلَكِنَّ اللهَ أَلَّفَ بَيْنَهُمْ And He has put affection between their hearts. If thou hadst expended all that is in the earth, thou couldst not have put affection between their hearts, but Allah has put affection between them. In other words, the affection between them could never be fostered even if a mountain of gold had been spent for this purpose. Now another community is 1 al-Anfal, 8:64