The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page xvii
1. ِ بِسْم ِ اللّٰه ِ الرَّحْمٰن ِ الرَّحِیْم 2 نَحْمَدُہ ٗ وَنُصَلِّی ْ عَلی ٰ رَسُوْلِه ِ الْكَرِیْم ِوَعَلی ٰ عَبْدِہ ِ الْمَسِیْح ِ الْمَوْعُوْد ِ - Preface - Volume II The actual introduction to Sīrat Khātamun-Nabiyyīn sa [The Life and Character of the Seal of Prophets, may peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him] can only be written when this work reaches completion, however, there are a few things in particular which must be submitted with respect to volume two specifically. Initially, in 1919, when I began the work of writing on the topic of Sīrat myself for the Review of Religions, Qadian, at the time, the purpose of this work was very limited. As such, the first volume of Sīrat, which was printed in book form in 1920 was based on this very limited purpose, which was to make a brief and simple biography available to the Muslim youngsters of India. No academic research or extensive analyses were in view at the time. It is for this reason that in volume one, even references were not cited. A short time afterwards, when Ḥaḍrat Khalīfatul-Masīḥ II ra , Head of the Aḥmadiyya Muslim Jamā‘at based in Qadian, took an interest in completing this work and instructed me to complete the second volume of Sīrat in the beginning of 1929, he also advised that taking into account people of all academic backgrounds, this second volume should contain more research and analysis in particular as compared to volume one. The extent to which I have been able to follow these instructions is now presented before readers in the form of Sīrat Khātamun-Nabiyyīn , volume two. In certain parts of the current volume, if I have prolonged discussions more than is neccesary, this is perhaps due to my natural inability to maintain 1 In the name of Allāh, the Gracious, the Merciful [Publishers] 2 We praise Allāh and invoke blessings upon His Noble Messenger [Publishers]