The Heavenly Sign — Page 56
56 Nish a n-e- A sm a n i prove? Maybe you have never watched the Manna and Quails show in which for the charge of one paisa they can rain raisins. Were you to watch the European conjurors who, using a secret trick, sever the head from the body and then replace it, perhaps you will become their disciple. I remember that once in the city of Jalandhar, when a conjuror Miht a b ‘Al i by name, who later repented and joined my Jam a ‘at, performed a trick at a gathering in my house, an old man like you exclaimed, 'This is a miracle!' Gentlemen, performance of such feats cannot disclose the truth. On the contrary, in this age, it makes the matter all the more dubious. There is no scarcity of such entertainers and magicians whom you would consider miracle-makers, were you to watch their shows. But a sensible person, who knows all about these tricks, can never call them miracles. For instance, if a man were to conceal a piece of paper under his armpit and then bring it out as a pigeon, a man like you may call him a Man of Miracles, but a sensible man, who is aware of the tricks of such people, will never call it a miracle. He will call it a trick or sleight of hand. This is why, according to the Holy Qur’an and the Torah, playing tricks with fire or turning wood into snake or sleight of similar kind, are not the signs of true prophets. Rather, it is the fulfilment of prophecies made by him and prophecies which testify to his truth, that is the criterion. If, along with accepting the prayers of a person, according to His Own desire, God also reveals a hidden matter to him, which turns out to be true, this would serve as an