The True Nature of the Mahdi — Page 26
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 26 awe at the greatness of Islam, reaped some benefit in that as long as he remained silent, he continued to live. And when he stated, on the instigation of the Christians, that he had never feared the grandeur of Islam, then, because he had lied, God caused him to die soon after this, so that He should manifest to the people that the Prophecy had been fulfilled—as it had already been mentioned in my Revelation. So, the Prophecy about Abdullah Atham was fulfilled in two ways. First, the Merciful God granted him respite, as it is the practice of Allah pertaining to Prophecies of Wa’id. Second, when fifteen months, that is the period which was fixed in the Prophecy, elapsed, the idea came to his mind that the respite that he had enjoyed was not due to his living in fear [of the fulfilment of the Prophecy], but rather it happened by chance. Thus, when he stubbornly stuck to this idea, and also told a few lies and thought that then he had at last been saved, so God Almighty withdrew His protection from him and he died within six months after my last An - nouncement, so that people should realize that he ben - efitted from the condition [laid down in the Prophecy]; yet when he acted against the condition, he was instant - ly punished. Thus, in the case of Atham two Prophecies were fulfilled: (1) his benefitting from the condition [and not dying]; (2) his acting in defiance of the condi -