Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 23
THE RENAISSANCE OF ISLAM 23 rest, for it was the month of June and the heat was intense. I retired into an upper room and a servant began to massage my feet. Presently I fell into a light slumber and received the revelation [Arabic]: 'We call to witness the heavens where all decrees ori- ginate, and We call to witness that which will happen after sunset. ' I understood that what was to happen after sunset was my father's death, and that this revelation was by way of condolence on behalf of God Almighty. Holy is Allah! How Glorious is He that He conveyed His condolence on the approaching death of a person who was dying sorrowful over the waste of his life. Most people would be surprised at this interpretation that God Almighty should have condoled with me. It should, however, be remem- bered that when God, Glorified be His name, treats someone mercifully He deals with him like a friend. When I received this revelation, which presaged the death of my father, the thought passed through my mind, due to my humanity, that some of the means of income which were available to my father would now be closed and we might be confronted with difficulties. Thereupon I received another revelation [Arabic]: Is not Allah sufficient for His servant?' This revelation conveyed great comfort to me and it found a firm place in my heart. I call God Almighty, in Whose hand is my life, Himself to witness that He has fulfilled this comforting revelation in a manner which I could not have imagined. He has provided for me as no father could have provided for anyone. I have been the recipient of His continuous bounties which I find impossible to count. My father died the same day after sunset. This was the first day on which I experienced a sign of divine mercy through revelation, concerning which I cannot imagine that it would ever cease to have effect during my lifetime. I had the words of the revelation engraved on a semi-precious stone and set in a ring which I have with me securely. Nearly forty years of my life passed under the care of my father, and with his departure from this life I began to receive divine revelation continuously [Kitabul Bariyyah} pp. 190-5, footnote].