Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part III — Page 20
BarĀhĪn-e-a H madiyya — Part three 20 this rejoinder by admitting that such profound truths of the highest degree are not given in their books—but rather, they consist of only such simple, trivial, and shallow teachings which even a common man can comprehend by paying slight attention to them, and that even an unintelligent boy can reach their depths by a cursory look at them, and the acquisition of their knowledge does not merit any distinction, and at best they are like books comprised of stories, or like books which are written to be read by children or common men. If it is so, the plight of these books is only to be regretted. This is because it is very clear and evident that if the subject matters of a book are limited to the obtuse intellect of a common man and fall utterly short of the standard of con- taining subtle verities, it cannot be held in esteem. Rather, such a book in the eyes of the wise is as commonplace as its subject matter is crude and without substance, and its contents do not deserve to be consid- ered philosophical works, or to be ranked at the level of sublime truths. Thus, anyone who claims that all of the contents of his revealed scripture are crude and insignificant and are devoid of all those subtle truths, the knowledge of which is the exclusive prerogative of great scholars and thinkers, he not only denigrates his holy book but also loses any right to boast about his superiority over others. Because in having in-depth knowledge of his book, common people are his partners and equal to him, and he cannot have such superiority of knowledge over them as would distinguish him from the common people or bestow on him the title of a learned man or scholar. No doubt in that case he would be one from among the ignorant masses because the quantum of his knowledge is no more than that of common people. And undoubt- edly the knowledge of such frivolous and worthless books cannot be considered to be matters relating to the unseen. But the condition is that the books under discussion be dissemi- nated and known so widely that it was possible for an unlettered per- son to learn of their teaching by paying even a little attention to them. If the subject matter of these books is not publicized and well-known, no matter how nonsensical and crude it may be, it will be regarded as