An Introduction to the Hidden Treasures of Islam — Page 393
393 of thousands of people will come to me so much so that the roads of Qadian will wear out. With what glory, this Prophecy has reached its fulfilment, the A ryas of Qadian are its witness, especially L a lah Sharampat R a ’i and Mal a w a mal. 24 The next day the A ryah Sam a j organ Shubh Chantak made a violent attack on the Promised Messiah as and stated that none of the A ryah Sam a jists named by the Promised Messiah as had witnessed anything. The Book Such an attack by the A ryah Sam a j was against the facts. So, the Promised Messiah as decided to reply back. He started writing a book which was published on February 20, 1907. In this book, he recalled some of the signs which were within the knowledge of Lal a Sharampat R a ’i and others, and the Promised Messiah as swearing by God and challenged them they should take an oath and swear by God that they had not been the witnesses to these signs and if they were telling lies then God would punish them and their children within one-year time. If they did not take the prescribed oath and made an attempt to cover up the truth, even then it was his hope that God would not spare them, for it was not the Promised Messiah as ’s insult but His. On the publication of this book, the manager of the journal, Achar Chand, during a course of discussion with the editor of al- H akam , Sheikh Ya‘q u b ‘Al i , claimed, “Like Mirz a Sahib, I also declare that I would not die of plague. One simply just has to witness the Divine spectacle, that all the staff of Shubh Chantak soon became victims of plague. First the sons of Somr a j and Bhagat R a m died of the plague, then Bhagat and Achar Chand. Somr a j approached a local H ak i m for medical treatment. He, in turn, sought the permission of the Promised Messiah as to treat him. 24 For details see Qadian Kei A ryah Aur Hamm , p. 5-7, R uha n i Khaz a’ in, vol. 20, pp. 421-423.