The Descent of the Messiah — Page 17
HADRAT MIRZA GHULAM AHMADAS be upon the liars]. Let them remember that the village or city in which a Messenger of God appears becomes relatively safe and does not suffer the kind of maddening destruction that causes people to die like moths. At the same time, the door to death is not closed either. This is the reason why, even though many Ahādīth describe Mecca and Medina as abodes of peace and the Holy Quran also confirms this-cholera at times breaks out in Mecca to the limits of human endurance. Similar incidents also occur in Medi- na. Yet, these occurrences do not change the fact that these two holy sanctuaries are indeed abodes of peace. Similarly, I do not deny that Qadian may be affected by an epidemic and that the plague may take a few lives, but Qadian will never see the kind of devastation that has decimated some of its neighbouring villag- es. This is because the Almighty God has promised in His holy revelation that a deadly plague shall not visit Qadian. He said: لَوْلَا الْإِكْرَامُ لَهَلَكَ الْمَقَامُ That is, "Had I not meant to manifest your honour, I would have destroyed this place, namely, Qadian through the plague. " That is to say: "Even in this village, there are people who are extremely evil, mischievous, impure, liars, and deceivers. All of them deserved to be destroyed by Divine wrath. But I did not wish to do so, because you are present among them as an inter- cessor, and I desire to manifest your honour. Therefore, on this occasion, I will forego the punishment of bringing upon them a dreadful calamity and death. However, I shall not leave them entirely unpunished. They too shall partake of the punishment to some extent, so that the eyes of the evildoers may be opened. " Furthermore, if Qadian is visited by the kind of plague that has spread in its vicinity, where hundreds of people died and en- 17