Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part IV — Page 352
BarĀhĪn-e-a H madiyya — Part Four 352 chapter 8, verse 12 of the Gospel of Mark wherein it is written that the Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a Sign from heaven, to test him. He sighed deeply from the depth of his heart, and said, ‘Why do people of this generation seek a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign shall be given to the people of this generation. ’1 Although the apparent indication of these lines is that the Mas ih did not bring forth any miracle, their real import is that he had not manifested any miracles up to that time; hence, he did not refer to the past occurrence of any miracle. There were very few truthful and sincere people among the Jews, in view of whose good faith a miracle could have been shown; but, later on, when truthful and sincere people appeared and came to the Mas ih as seekers after truth, they were not deprived of observing miracles. For instance, the Mas ih ’s foreknowledge of Judas Iscariot’s evil intentions was a miracle that he showed to his disciples and faith- ful believers. Although all the other miracles attributed to him were considered unacceptable and objectionable by his critics on account of the story of the pool and the above-mentioned verse—and cannot be used now as proof—the occurrence of this aforementioned miracle is not impossible in the eyes of an impartial critic. In short, the manifestation of miracles and extraordinary Signs is conditional upon the truthfulness and sincerity of the seeker. And the indications and signs of truthfulness and sincerity are that there be no intervention of rancour and haughtiness and the Sign should be sought with patience, steadfastness, humility, and meekness with the intention of being [rightly] guided and then, until the manifestation of this Sign, one should wait for it with patience and reverence so that the Benevolent God should manifest that through which a true seeker should attain the stage of perfect certainty. In short, reverence, sincer- ity, and patience are the most important conditions for the manifesta- tion of divine blessings. It would be appropriate for anyone who wishes to benefit from divine grace to become the embodiment of reverence, 1. In the King James Version, these verses are Mark 8:11–12. [Publisher]