Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 331
APPE N DI X to B AR Ā H Ī N-E-A H M ADIY YA — PART F IV E 331 Arabic word َ بَّد َٔ تَا [ ta’abbada ], which appears in the couplet. َ تَأَبَّد [ ta’ab- bada ] is derived from اَوَابِد [ aw a bid ], which means animals of wilder- ness, like deer etc. اَوَابِد [ aw a bid ] is derived from اَبَد [ abad ] which means ‘something that lives forever’. Since the deer and other such animals mostly do not die a natural death—rather, they are hunted and are killed by others—they were called اَوَابِد [ aw a bid ]. His Statement— If the words of man can coincide with the Words of God, then what would be the difference between the Word of God and the word of man? My Answer— I have just explained that the Holy Quran is a miracle in the sense that the writing of any human being cannot be identical to a long passage—which should not be less than ten verses—of the Holy Quran. Such a passage of the Holy Quran possesses so much elo- quence and elegance and other insights and verities that its like cannot be offered by human efforts. The Quranic text is, therefore, a miracle provided it is no less than ten verses, as the Quran points out explic- itly. But as for one sentence—which is equal to, at most, one or two verses—it is possible that the word of man may appear to correspond with the Word of God. Even then some hidden insights and a kind of light, are inherent in the Word of God. Besides, an element of its miracle is hidden. To illustrate, the distinction between man and deer is obvious on looking at them as a whole, but the eye of deer is similar to the eye of man. Nevertheless, the human eye has certain capabilities that the eye of a deer does not have at all. His Statement— When the revelation مقامھا و محلّھا الدیار عفت [‘Temporary residences and permanent ones will be wiped out’] was published, it was stated in its context that it was concerning the plague, but now it is stated that it is concerning the earthquake.