Arba'in — Page 194
194 abusing me. Every week I receive one announcement or another in which P i r Mehr Ali Shah is praised exorbitantly and the sheet is filled with filthy abuse directed at me. The public is being repeat- edly deceived and misinformed. The people keep hearing how unfair I have been to P i r Mehr Ali Shah, a man of holy stature, who took the trouble to come all the way to Lahore to write a commentary in competition with me. They have been told that when I came to know that he is a revered genius of this age, prover- bial in his eloquence, and unmatched in knowledge and insights of the Quran the world over, I hid in some nook of my house; then it should not be difficult for P i r Sahib to write a comprehensive Arabic commentary of S u rah al-F a ti h ah in competition against me within the extended duration of seventy days, while remaining at his own home. He can even solicit help from others. If his supporters are honestly taking his side, then they should put pressure on him to do so. Otherwise, my invitation shall become a shining proof for genera- tions to come, of how much effort I made to try to have P i r Sahib com- pete with me including offering a prize of Rs. 500, but that P i r Sahib and his supporters did not incline towards this at all. It is clear that if a wrestling duel between two wrestlers is inconclusive, a second duel is arranged. Why is it then that while one party is ready to enter a second duel so that the doubts of ignorant persons are removed, but the other party, who claims to have been victorious in the first match, is hesitant to enter the match the second time, and makes vain excuses? For the sake of God, I ask all readers to consider whether this excuse is devoid of ill-intent, that first you should hold a debate on religious tenets; then on the testimony against me of three of my enemies, take bai‘at at his hand. And do not concern yourself at all with the fact that you had made a promise with God to no longer engage in such debate on reli- gious tenets. Then after bai‘at, he is at last going to give me permission to write a commentary to compete with him! This is the response of P i r Sahib, concerning which it is said that he had accepted my conditions in the invitation! Author