Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part IV — Page 160
BarĀhĪn-e-a H madiyya — Part Four 160 evidence of the existence of God’s Being and attributes. Man’s own thoughts cannot attain this status; for, as man is weak by virtue of being a creature, so are his thoughts overwhelmed by weakness. Whatever springs from the fountain of the All-Powerful is one thing, and what is born of human nature is quite another. It is advisable that the Pundit take another look at pages 212 to 2151 of Part III so that he may know the difference between the Word of God and human thoughts. The way the Pundit harps upon his pride in reason is also totally unwarranted. In Part III, I have argued in detail that the existence of created beings cannot categorically prove the existence of the Creator; it proves only the need of His existence and that, too, by way of con- jecture. However, the Word of God unequivocally and certainly proves His actual existence, not just the need of His existence. Likewise, observing created things does not furnish any proof that God is eternal and everlasting, because created things have neither existed eternally, nor are they everlasting. Therefore, how can they possibly prove some- thing that is eternal? Ha dith [a nascent creation]—i. e. that which is newly born and created—can prove the need of the existence of the Almighty God only up to the extent of its own limit, meaning the limit marking the point of its coming into being and creation. Beyond that, it cannot be proven on the basis of a ha dith whether or not Almighty God had existed forever and eternally prior to the existence of the universe. Thus, the knowledge about the existence of God the Maker, that is acquired through the existence of newly created objects is extremely narrow, confined, and defective. It certainly does not pull man out of the whirlpool of doubt and misgivings, nor does it deliver him from the darkness of ignorance. Rather, it casts him into various kinds of perplexity. That is why those whose spiritual cognizance was founded exclusively upon rational knowledge did not come to a good end, and 1. In the first English translation of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Part III, published in 2014, this referenced text appears on pages 143–147. [Publisher]