The Need for the Imam — Page 48
48 spect to its content this revelation took the form of spiritual verities, and in respect of its diction it took the form of eloquence. My friend should also remem- ber that Bai‘at , as I have explained before, is a transaction. I do not believe that even a thousandth part of the truths and profundities of the Holy Quran which distinguish the sermons of my learned friend, Maulaw i Abdul Karim Sahib, can be expressed by this gentleman. The reason is that his revelational ex- perience is still defective, and so is his learning. I am not sure if he has ever had the occasion to study the Holy Quran from a scholar. 43 For God’s sake, do not be offended. You have not yet understood the significance of Bai‘at , and you do not realize what you have to surrender and what you get in return. In our Jam a ‘at and among those ser- vants of God Almighty who have pledged Bai‘at 43 Note:—I do not deny that springs of spiritual knowledge could open to you. This, however, is not the case yet. Dreams and visions are subject to figurative and metaphysical interpre- tation but you took your dream literally. The Mujaddid of Sirhind saw in a vision that the Holy Prophet sa was granted the rank of Khal i lull a h through him. And what is more Shah Wal- iullah Sahib saw in a vision as though the Holy Prophet sa had pledged Bai‘at at his hand. But because of the depth of his knowledge he did not think the way you did, and interpreted the vision. [Author]