Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part IV — Page 10
BarĀhĪn-e-a H madiyya — Part Four 10 that most of the affluent among them view religion as something that is deserving of sympathy from the poor alone—they themselves being exempt from any such responsibility to the extent that even extending a hand to carry this burden is prohibited for them. My humble self had ample experience of this during the publication of this book. I widely publicized that the appropriate price of the book, owing to an increase in its volume, should now be 100 rupees and those who can afford it should pay accordingly—since it is being given to the less privileged for a meagre 10 rupees—as compensation for the loss is essential. It is unfortunate that, with the exception of seven or eight people, all the rest listed themselves among the poor. What a poor example of making up the loss! Whenever I investigated as to who had sent a money order of five or ten rupees as payment for the book, I found that they were sent mostly by some naww a b [a princely chief ] or ra’ i s-e-a‘ z am [a great chieftain]. Among the exceptions, Naww a b Iqb a lud-Dawlah of Hyderabad, as well as another ra’ i s [chief ] of Bulandshahr District—who had requested that his name should not be disclosed—have each sent 100 rupees for a copy of the book. An official, Muhammad Afzal Khan, has sent 110 rupees, while Naww a b [Muhammad Ali Khan ra ] of Kotla Mal i r has sent 100 rupees for three copies. A Hindu nobleman, Sard a r Atar Singh, Ra’ i s-e-A‘ z am of Ludhiana, out of his magnanimity and generosity, has sent twenty-five rupees as a donation. The Sard a r, despite being a Hindu, has shown sympathy for Islam. Miserly and close-fisted Muslims—who enjoy grand titles and appellations and sit on enormous wealth like Q a r u n [Korah]1—should compare their own attitude with that of the Sard a r. Given the fact that there are some among the A ryas who sympa- thize even for other religions, whereas there are very few among the 1. Q a r u n [Korah] was one of the people of Hadrat M u s a [Moses], but he later became a chieftain of Pharaoh. His enormous wealth and pride is mentioned in S u rah al-Qa s a s , 28:77 of the Holy Quran. [Publisher]