Perseverance — Page xx
Introduction xix Khal ī fat-ul-Mas īh al-Kh ā mis [the Fifth Caliph of the Promised Messiah as ], Hadrat Mirz ā Masroor Ahmad aba. We began typing Rashid’s handwritten memoirs from when he went through missionary training in Rabwah, Pakistan. We supplemented this with recollections he had in addition to what he had written down, as well as his later missionary activities in America. This book captures the before and after scenarios of his life. I have written these memoirs in first person so the reader may hear it as if coming straight from Rashid himself. In several areas, I elaborated with personal editorial for the benefit of the reader, but my explanations were approved by Brother Rashid. LIFE’S EXPERIENCES AND LESSONS LEARNED In the introduction of his famous book on history, “Al- Muqaddimah,” the renowned scholar Ibn Khald ū n (732-808AH / 1332-1406CE) quotes a well-known Arabic proverb: “He who is not educated by his parents, will be educated by time. ” This means that parents 3 , who sincerely care for their children, try to benefit them by teaching them their life experiences in the hopes that their children will not repeat the same mistakes they did. Their children, in effect, metaphorically “lengthen their years” through their parents’ experiences, and prosper thereby. However, 3 The term “parents” is broadly understood to include both, biological parents and spiritual parents (i. e. , teachers, scholars and elders), as is explained by Ibn Khald ū n himself. [Writer]