Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part IV — Page 34
BarĀhĪn-e-a H madiyya — Part Four 34 mind from one’s own memory; rather, everyone possesses a vast stock of first-hand experiences of them. The deceitful, whose secrets remain concealed, are emboldened to perpetrate such tricks by the fact that these tricks can, and do, deceive the simple and ignorant people. The common and illiterate people, who often behave like cattle, never even think of conducting detailed investigations and getting to the bottom of the issue, nor does the short duration of the tricks allow for adequate thinking and reflection. Thus, the conjurors have plenty of margin to play their sleights of hand and there is little opportunity to unravel their mysteries. Besides, the help- less masses have no knowledge of the natural sciences, philosophy, and arts, and are completely unaware of all the diverse types of amazing qualities which the All-Wise God has invested within the universe. Hence, at all times and in every age they are prone to deception. And why would they not be deceived, for the properties of things are indeed amazing, and they cause even greater amazement in a state of igno- rance. For instance, a fly and some other creatures have the quality that if they die, but have not yet undergone significant disintegration, and their organs have remained intact in their original form and shape, have not putrefied and are still in good condition, and they have not been dead for more than two or three hours—as in the case of flies that die in water—if such creatures are buried under fine ground salt, and then an equal measure of ash is also spread over them, they come to life and fly away. This phenomenon is so well known that even children know it, but if there is a simple person who is unaware of this formula, and a deceiver—claiming to be the ‘Messiah of flies’—performs this trick before such an ignorant one and brings some flies back to life, mum- bling some mantras all the while, trying to create the impression that he performs the feat through the mantras, would the simple person have the sense or time to go about conducting investigations? Do you not see how, in this very age, deceivers are wreaking havoc in the world? Some boast of turning things into gold, claiming to be alchemists, some bury stones in the earth themselves and then bring