Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 439
! ! 439 Address to the Ladies at the Occasion of Jalsa Salana Delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashir ud - D in Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra 1943 After Tashahhud, Ta‘awwuz , and the recitation of Surah Al - Fatihah , Haz rat Khalifa t - ul - Masih II ra recited Surah Al - Kauthar : n ا ۡﻧ َﺤ ۡﺮ َو ِﻟ َﺮ ِّﺑ َﻚ َﻓ َﺼ ِّﻞ n ا ۡﻟ َﻜ ۡﻮ َﺛ َﺮ َا ۡﻋ َﻄ ۡﻴ ٰﻨ َﻚ ِا َّﻧ ۤﺎ ا َۡﻻ ۡﺑ َُرت ُﻫ َﻮ َﺷ ﺎ ِﻧ َﺌ َﻚ ِا َّن “ Surely We have given thee abundance of good ; So pray to thy Lord, and offer sacrifice. Surely, it is thy enemy who is without issue. ” ( Holy Qur’ān, Ch. 108: V. 2 - 4) Hazrat Khalifat - ul - Masih II ra said: As Jama'at members have been made aware through newspapers , I have been feeling quite poorly since last May, therefore I am unable to speak properly today due to a cough and sore throat. Therefore, today I intend to speak briefly in the women’s Jalsa. Likewise, the speech in the men’s session will also be shorter as compared to previous years. Now that speeches given on the men’s side can also be heard through loud speakers on the women’s side, I do not consider this third speech as truly necessary. Nevertheless, as God Almighty has bestowed both men and women with a n atural spirit of competition between them both , therefore in consideration of their feelings , I have c o me over to speak for a few minutes. Before I elaborate further concerning this surah , I would like to draw the attention of the Jalsa organizers to a complaint I received regarding the fact that the women on the stage are served tea. This is dis liked by the other ladies. In my opinion, the sisters sitting on the stage should respect the feelings of their fellow sisters and avoid