Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 2
B AR Ā H Ī N-E-A H M ADIY YA — PART F IV E 2 buyers, and the strong criticism filled with the filth of ill-suspicion and obscene language during this protracted time, and such a prolonged period of delay—and [such objections] could genuinely arise in minds because of such a prolonged delay—the wisdom of divine providence did not enable me to complete this book. This shows that man does not have the power to step outside the limits established by divine decree and determination. I regret the fact—indeed, my heart aches to think of the fact—that so many people who had agreed to buy this book passed away from this world even before it could be completed; however, as I have already written, man is subject to divine decree. If the will of God does not coincide with that of man, then man cannot achieve his plan even if he exerts himself in a thousand ways. But when the time comes for the fulfilment of the Will of God, those very things that appeared to be the most difficult occur with the greatest of ease. At this point the question naturally arises: Since there is wisdom and appropriateness in all that God Almighty does, then what was the wisdom that a book of such tremendous religious service—wherein the purpose was to refute all the opponents of Islam—remained incom- plete for approximately twenty-three years? The answer to this is best known to God alone. No man can comprehend all His mysteries, but to the extent that I understand, it is that the first four parts of Bar a h i n- e-Ahmadiyya that had been published consisted of such matters that, until those matters had been manifested, the arguments of the four Parts of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya would have remained hidden and concealed. Therefore, it was essential that the writing of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya remain deferred until such time when, with the passage of time, those concealed matters became exposed and the arguments contained in the four parts became apparent; for, the word of God that lay hidden here and there in the four parts of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya —that is to say, His revelation to this humble one—stood in need of being explained. Moreover, it was necessary that the truth of the prophecies contained therein should become manifest to the people. Therefore, the All-Wise