Life of Ahmad — Page 487
as LETTER TO THE AM i R 487 praise your Majesty, 114 I was so much pleased that words were inadequate to express my feelings; because I am always grieved to feel that there is in this age a great dearth of men of high character. I thank God that there is in your Majesty a man who is protecting a very large number of men against ruin. In fact, your people are very lucky to have a just and good king like yourself. Those people are very lucky indeed to get such an extraordinary gift after a long, long time. Many are the blessings of God but the highest of them are two: (1) Men who are filled with truth and truthfulness and get spiritual power and then draw the victims of darkness and indifference into the light Divine and then bestow upon them a treasure of knowledge and purify men through their holiness: (2) Men who acquire kingdoms from God, not by chance but by their own God-given ability and thus become the vicegerents of God through His infinite wisdom and their orders become the decrees of heaven; and the life, property and honour of thousands are entrusted to them. Of necessity such men are the shadow 114 These words addressed to Am i r Abdur Ra h m a n cannot be called flattery. He is known to have introduced law and order in his country and it is a fact of history that Afghanistan enjoyed comparative quiet during his reign (1880—1901). It is also said that in 1895 the Am i r subdued the 'infidels' of Kafiristan. In addressing the Am i r in this way Ahmad as is therefore, only giving him his due according to the teachings of the Quran, which enjoins upon Prophets to speak to kings in mild and gentle words.