Invitation to Ahmadiyyat — Page 312
312 1. The word ‘earthquake’ is often used for war and indeed for every great calamity. The Holy Quran itself uses it in this sense: ْذِا ْمُكْوُءٓاَج ْنِّم ْمُكِقْوَف َو ْنِم َلَفْسَا ْمُكْنِم َو ْذِا ِتَغاَز ُراَصْبَاْلا َو ِتَغَلَب ُبْوُلُقْلا َرِجاَنَحْلا َو 40 َكِلاَنُه َيِلُتْبا َنْوُنِمْؤُمْلا َو اْوُلِزْلُز اًلاَزْلِز اًدْيِدَش َنْوُّنُظَت ِهّٰللاِب اَنْوُنُّظلا۰۰ When they came upon you from above you, and from below you, and when your eyes became distracted, and your hearts reached to the throats, and you thought diverse thoughts about Allah. There and then were the believers sorely tried, and they were shaken with a violent shaking. Since the Arabic dhildh a l can be used for any great calamity, and the Holy Quran itself uses it to denote war, the words of the prophecy can rightly be said to point to something other than a literal earthquake. 2. When the Promised Messiah as published this prophecy, he appended to it a note which said: It is possible that it may not be a common earthquake but some other dire calamity, which would be an example of Judgment Day, the like of which has not been witnessed before, and which would bring about great destruction of life and property. 41 Thus, prior to the event, the mind of the one to whom the proph - ecy was revealed was drawn to the idea that the earthquake could refer to some other calamity. The critics insisted that he should