Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 577
EPILOGUE-SIGNS 577 Meaning: 'O woman, repent! Repent, for the calamity is on your daughter and daughter's daughter. This is the Word of God and had been published beforehand. Subsequently, when Ahmad Baig's death, which was one part of the prophecy, cast extreme fear in the hearts of his relatives and they thought that the second part of the prophecy would be similarly ful- filled-for, when one part of the prophecy had been fulfilled within the prescribed time frame, they were terror-stricken, preoccupying themselves in almsgiving, penitence, and remorsefully seeking forgive- ness—the result was that Allah the Exalted delayed the fulfilment of the prophecy. And as I have already pointed out, these people were so awe-stricken because this prophecy was not only about Ahmad Baig's son-in-law but also about the death of Ahmad Baig himself. Indeed the prime target of the prophecy was none other than he himself. Thus, when Ahmad Baig died within the prescribed time limit, and the prophecy was fulfilled with total clarity, the hearts of his relatives were filled with extreme fear. And they wept and cried so much that their wails could be heard from the ends of the town. They would quote the prophecy again and again and to the best of their capacity busied themselves in remorseful penitence, istighfär [seeking forgiveness], and almsgiving. It was then that God the Benevolent too delayed the fulfil- ment of the prophecy. * How shameful it is then to go around shouting that a certain prophecy has not been fulfilled despite the knowledge that prophecies 1. These people also object that an attempt was made for the fulfilment of the prophecy. It seems that either these people are ignorant of the Holy Quran or have secretly put on the garb of apostasy. O ignorant people! God has not de- clared any attempts at the fulfilment of prophecies to be unlawful. Do you not even remember the hadith in which it is written that Ḥaḍrat 'Umarra made a companion of Holy Prophets wear gold bangles with a view to fulfilling a prophecy? And there is also a hadith that says that if you see a dream or a vision, and you can yourself make it come true, then try to make it come true by your own efforts. (Author)