The Descent of the Messiah — Page 6
THE DESCENT OF THE MESSIAH mittees to devise schemes against me. Did all these efforts not end in failure? Had this been a mission devised by man, it would certainly have been annihilated through their strenuous efforts. Can anyone cite a single precedent in which so much effort was deployed against an impostor but, instead of being destroyed, he grew a thousand-fold? Is this not a wonderful sign that, despite all efforts to destroy this seed and leave no trace of it on the face of the earth, it germinated and burgeoned, growing into a tree with its branches spreading far and wide? It has now grown so large that thousands of birds are resting upon it. Along with this, another magnificent Sign is the revelation that was recorded in Barāhīn-e-Ahmadiyya twenty-three years earlier in which God says: "People will try to destroy this Move- ment and will put to use every machination to bring this about, but I shall increase this Movement and perfect it and it will grow into an army. It shall dominate the world until the Day of Judge- ment. I shall spread your fame to the ends of the world. People will come to you in hordes and financial aid shall reach you from all sides. Enlarge thy abodes, for all these preparations are being made in heaven. " Observe how this prophecy of old has come to pass today. These are the signs of God that are visible to those with insight, but those who are blind deem no sign to have ap- peared. The twentieth year of this century began yet their Mujaddid has still not appeared. The heavens have given their testimony in the form of the solar and lunar eclipses that occurred dur- ing the month of Ramadan-a sign that is not only to be found in Ad-Dāraqutni of the Sunnis but is also mentioned as a sign for the Promised Mahdi in the Shiite book Ikmālud-Din that is seen as authentic. Yet, these people have also acted with great dishonesty in rejecting this Hadith. Is this Hadith not authen- tic enough when it is agreed upon by both sects? Similarly, the 6