Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part III — Page 81
Footnote Number Eleven — Fourth Objection 81 Fourth Objection: If perfect certainty depends upon a revealed book, it would have been better for all mankind to receive revelation, so that they could all directly attain perfect divine cognition and thereby partake of divine grace directly without being dependant on anyone else. If revelation is indeed an established fact, then everyone should be able to receive it; but if not, then no one should. Answer: Divine revelation is conditional upon the recipient’s poten- tial and eligibility. It is not possible for all people to become Messengers of Almighty God or for divine revelation to descend upon everyone. Allah the Almighty refers to this in the Holy Quran as follows: َو اَذِا ْمُهْتَءٓاَج ٌةَيٰا اْوُلاَق ْنَل َنِمْؤُّن ىّٰتَح ىٰتْؤُن َلْثِم ۤاَم َيِتْوُا ُلُسُر ِهّٰللا١ؕ ُهّٰللَا ُمَلْعَا ُثْيَح 1 Part Number 8— ُلَعْجَي ٗهَتَلاَسِر This means that when a Sign is shown to the disbelievers to demon- strate the divine origin of the Quran, they say, ‘We will never believe until the Book of Allah is revealed to us directly’. God knows best where and when to confer prophethood; that is, He knows who is and who is not able [to receive revelation]. In other words, He bestows the grace of revelation only upon him who possesses the requisite ability and capacity. To elaborate, the Eternally Wise has created all individuals differ- ent from one another for various reasons, so that the whole chain of the children of Adam resembles a line rising to the loftiest heights on the one end, and descending to the lowest depths on the other. At the higher end are the pure souls whose capacities are perfect in regard to their own distinct ranks, while at the lower end are those who are more akin to animals, devoid of all reason. In the middle are people with average faculties of intelligence etc. Observation of the diversity of capacities in different people is a sufficient argument to prove this 1. S u rah al-An‘ a m, 6:125 [Publisher]