Arba'in — Page 153
Number Four 153 A Brief Note for the Hasty Critics and a Statement about Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Since it is also God’s tradition that when a man is sent by God, many short-sighted people with no fear of God direct ad-hominem attacks towards him. Sometimes they declare him a liar; at other times, they say that he breaks his promises, usurps the rights of others, embezzles money, and is dishonest and treacherous. At times they call him lewd, pleasure-seeking, foppish, and glutton- ous. At other times, they call him ignorant. 1 ٭ 1. ٭ It is so unfortunate that ignorant people began announcing the false claim of P i r Mehr Ali Shah Golarhvi’s triumph in the contest to show an intellectual Sign. They hurled abuses at me and declared that I was il- literate and a fool in comparison to him. They gave the impression that I was in awe of his genius and intellect, and had that not been the case, he was ready to compete with me in writing a commentary [of the Holy Quran] in Arabic, which is why he had come to Lahore. They claimed that I had fled on seeing his magnificent glory and great knowledge. O heaven! Send forth curses upon the liars! A m i n! Dear readers: As of the time of this writing, on this day—Friday, 7 December 1900—God has put something in my heart to disgrace the liars. I swear by God, whose Hell is aflame for the liars, that upon see- ing vehement denials I myself had requested for this unusual contest to take place. And had P i r Mehr Ali Shah not added the condition that the debate must be on religious tenets and that I must take bai‘at [a pledge of allegiance] at his hand—a condition that entirely negated the very purpose of my request [for the contest]—I would have come to Lahore even if there had been mountains of snow in Qadian and Lahore