Tadhkirah — Page 5
E ARLY Y EARS – 1881 5 You do not know that this time may well be near; so wait eagerly for it. In this dream the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, nurtured me with his blessed hands, through his holy words and his light and the gift of fruit [from his blessed garden]. [ A ’ i na-e-Kam a l a t-e-Isl a m, pp. 548–549, R uha n i Khaz a ’in, vol. 5, pp. 548–549] (B) My humble self saw Hadrat Kh a tamul-Anbiy a ’ , may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in a dream in 1864 or 1865 6 in my early youth, when I was still pursuing my studies. In my dream I had in my hand a religious book which I felt was of my own authorship. Upon seeing the book, the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, enquired from me in Arabic: ‘How have you named this book?’ I submitted: ‘I have named it Qu t b i. ’ The interpretation of this name has now come to my mind on the publication of this well-publicised book [ Bar a h i n-e- Ahmadiyyah ]—that it is a book, which in its reasoning and arguments is firm and unshakeable like the polar star. Presenting the firmness of the contents of this book, I have issued a challenge and announced the award of a prize of 10,000 rupees [for anyone who might be able to refute it]. In short, the Holy Prophet sa took that book from me. The moment the blessed hands of the Holy Prophet sa touched it, it became an attractive and lovely fruit resembling a guava, but as large as a watermelon. When the Holy Prophet sa 6 The time quoted here seems to be a rough estimate. This dream belongs to the early youth of the Promised Messiah as when he was pursuing his studies, after which he stayed in Sialkot for some time. Tiry a qul-Qul u b , page 57 [which is quoted below under year 1862], shows that the death of Raja Tej a Singh, which occurred in 1862 as shown in Tadhkira-e-Ru’as a’ -e-Punj a b , happened when the Promised Messiah as was in Sialkot. Thus, the dream was seen much earlier than 1864. Allah knows best. [Mirza Bashir Ahmad]