Truth Prevails — Page 110
( 110 ) And in Barahin-i-Ahmadiyya , Part V, he writes further with respect to this Ilham : “Hazrat Ibrahim had to break relationship with some people who were to him close of kin. So this was a prophecy concerning myself that I too shall have to do the same with respect to some people with whom I am closely related; and this has actually come to pass, exactly as foreshadowed here. ” This is the interpretation given by the Promised Messiah himself, in regard to the Ilhams under reference here, which Mr. Faruqi has been wrongly trying to apply to Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II; and now that we have had the honour, and opportunity, to show him how the Promised Messiah interprets them, are we to hope he would hasten, as he should, to bring himself in line with the Promised Messiah, in whom he still professes to believe. This particular prophecy was published in Barahin-i-Ahmadiyya , part IV, in 1884. But, the prophecy about the Muslih Mau’ud was made on Febuary 20 1886; and Hazrat Khalifatul Masih was born, within a stipulated period of nine years, from the date when the prophecy was made, on January 12, 1889. Thus at the time when the Ilham came to the Promised Messiah, none of the promised children had yet been born to him, so that this Ilham could be said to be applicable to him, and the boy held to be of an undesirable character. The Promised Messiah has, himself, clearly brought out the fact that he was being visualised here in the likeness of Hazrat Ibrahim, not of Hazrat Noah. As Ibrahim, the Promised Messiah has here been advised to cut himself away from some of his close relatives, since their aims and objects in life offended against the essential moral values which determined the pattern of his own life. And he is here spoken of as Ibrahim because, as in the case of Ibrahim, he was to be the father of another great son, like Ismail. An Ilham bearing on this question came to the Promised Messiah as follows: “His grief and anxiety would bring out the tree of Ismail. So keep it concealed, even until it comes forth. ” ( Tazkira , page 588) The word Ismail means ‘Allah has heard you’. This was a hint that he would be born as a result of your prayers. By saying ‘keep it concealed’ it was intended to convey that fulfilment should be left to unfold itself, in its own good time. Eager, injudicious anticipation might lead to the creation, consciously, or unconsciously, of mental pictures as might endanger proper recognition of the reality, when it came. And so, indeed, it has happened. The events themselves have pointed out that the Ilham was about Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II, like Hazrat Ismail, who travelled to a verdureless valley, accompanied by his mother, to settle there, for the rest of their lives, bringing into being a new township named Rabwah. This Ismail has been called a tree, since many people were to find shelter, and a resting place, under his patronage and protection, in the new settlement; and since missionaries and