Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 387
2 May 1908 387 actions. The appointed time had come and all godly people had conveyed this news. In his book, Hijajul-Kiramah, [Nawwab] Siddiq Hasan Khan has listed the sayings of many godly people, and seers of visions to establish that all the great saints and people who saw visions have unanimously given the news that the Mahdi and the Promised Messiah would definitely appear in the four- teenth (century) [of the Islamic calendar]. No one has gone beyond the fourteenth century [in his prediction]. Then, fur- ther ahead, he goes on to write, ‘I wish he is born in my lifetime so that I might be able to convey the salam [greeting of peace] of the Holy Prophet s as to him. Otherwise, I instruct my prog- eny, who will find his time, to convey my salam to him. ’ Nevertheless, I know that very few such people are granted the ability of accepting the truth because this is, in fact, the practice of Allah. Before the advent of the Holy Prophet s as , there was a person who used to preach with great fervour that, ‘O People! The Prophet of the last epoch is about to come and that all the Signs and requirements for his advent have been fulfilled’; yet— SubhanAllah [Glory be to God]!—when the advent of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, took place, he became first to deny him. The fact is that being a contemporary [of the claimant] also engenders an uncalled-for pride and arrogance, which becomes the reason for failing to accept guidance. Siddiq Hasan, too, tore my book into pieces and showed disrespect. It was not long before he came under Divine censure. In the end, he wrote to me with great humility and meekness, requesting me for prayers. I prayed for him and God informed me that He had safeguarded his honour. And this is what transpired, and the