The Descent of the Messiah — Page 54
THE DESCENT OF THE MESSIAH therefore, to wash away this shame, he must have tried his hand at writing a commentary in response to mine and to publish the commentary of Sūrah Al-Fatihah in eloquent and elegant Ara- bic, so that people may acknowledge that he too is well versed in Arabic and can produce a commentary. Alas, this thought did not prove to be true. When I received his book, Saif-e-Chishti- yā'ī, I was very happy to hold it in my hand believing that I would now see his Arabic commentary and that, in contrast, the val- ue and excellence of my own commentary would become even more apparent to the people. However, when I looked at the book and found that it had been written in Urdu and there was claim. At first, the Pir boasted that he would participate in this competition from where he was [i. e his home]. However, after this, he was informed of my circumstances, that the pen of this person flows like a river in writing Arabic and all the Maulawis of the Punjab and India have retreated from the competition in fear. The Pir thus realised that he had ensnared himself unnecessarily. Finally, in keeping with the analogy of the drowning man clutching at a straw, he devised the following scheme to evade the contest: He published an announcement saying that while he was ready to write a commentary in competition to mine, a necessary condition on his part was that we should first hold a debate about our respective beliefs and discover whose beliefs are correct, definitive and well-grounded; and that Maulawī Muhammad Hussain Batalwi-who holds similar beliefs with regard to the descent of the Messiah-should be the arbitrator of this; and that if Maulawī sahib decides that the beliefs of the Pir are correct and whatever he has understood regarding the Messiah son of Mary is in fact true, then I should immediately offer my allegiance to him in that very gathering and enter the fold of his servants and disciples; and that we can then compete in writing the commentary. This announcement was not such that its cunningness and deceit could remain hidden from people-the wise realised that it was no more than a shameful ruse for evading the contest. Consequently, many people entered my allegiance, including many of his disciples who became dis- gruntled with him. This was to the extent that the number of people offer- ing allegiance reached seventy thousand, and the reality of the Maulawīs, hereditary Pirs, and shrine-dwellers became evident to the public who real- ised that they only tried evading the truth through such devices. (Author) 54