Seerat-i-Tayyiba — Page 3
3 SEERAT-I-TAYYIBA Today a little more than half a century has passed since the death of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, in 1908. At the time he passed away I was hardly more than 15 years of age, which portion of a man’s life cannot be said of full understanding and maturity. But of the Character and Personality of the Promised Messiah, three specific and particular aspects are so clear before my eyes and mind as if even today, with these material eyes and ears, I were witnessing those scenes fresh before me, and clearly hearing the echoes of that sweet and enthralling voice. As I have just said, these three aspects of the Character and Personality of the Promised Messiah pertain to ( 1 ) his Love of God; ( 2) his great devotion to the Holy Prophet Muhammad; and ( 3) his kindness to and affection for mankind; and I propose to set down here a few incidents, from his normal daily life, which would bring these aspects into bold relief. Essentially, however, this brief Paper is of the nature of an attempt to reduce the flowing water of an open, sweeping river to a size and volume easily poured into a flask and even at that, a flask that is, rather, unusually small (As usual in sessions of the Annual Gathering, the Paper had to be of a length easily finished in on reading lasting no more than 50 or 55 minutes). But if God so wills, by His Grace He can so bless even a brief Paper of this kind that it should, to a point, become full and satisfying on the subject.