Arba'in — Page 160
160 that he used: He wrote in his published announcement that first, I should enter into a debate on religious tenets with him, and then, if Sheikh Muhammad Husain Batalavi and two of his colleagues declare on oath that the beliefs presented by Mehr Ali Shah are correct, then without any hesitation I should enter in his bai‘at there and then in that meeting! Now, look! Does any deception greater than this occur in the world? I simply challenged him to see a Sign or show a Sign, and I said that both parties should write commentary by way of a miracle in Arabic on any one of the S u rahs [Chapters] of the Holy Quran. The party whose commentary and Arabic diction is proven to reach the calibre of a Sign from the perspective of eloquence and fluency would be deemed the recipient of God’s support. It was very clearly written that there would not be any discussions on religious tenets. The contest would be only to see and show a Sign. But P i r Sahib discarded my entire invitation and submitted a request for a debate on religious tenets and made it the basis for the final decision. He wrote [deceptively]that he had accepted my challenge with only one additional condition! O deceitful man! May God hold you to account! In what way did you accept my invitation when, in fact you asked me to enter into your bai‘at depending on a debate on religious tenets, while you knew well that I could not accept it because I had already published an announcement of my pledge concerning that kind of debate. Then, how was it that my invitation was accepted? Furthermore, after having entered into your bai‘at, what opportu- nity would there remain to act upon my invitation? Is your decep- tion such that people cannot see through it?