The Descent of the Messiah — Page 61
HADRAT MIRZA GHULAM AHMADAS Once they have read Mishkāt¹ and Hidayah², they come to be called Maulawī and start giving sermons to fill their bellies. If a woman gets ensnared by their sermons, they marry her. Or they occupy a shrine and run their livelihood through amulets and talismans. How can one master a language and gain insights into the Holy Quran while being engrossed in selfish desires? The Ar- abic language, which is the true key to its grammar and syntax, is such a limitless ocean that the statement of Imam Shafi'i in this respect is completely true when he says لَا يَعْلَمُهُ إِلَّا نَبِيُّ ]None can fathom it but a Prophet]³. This means that, except for a prophet, no one has perfect knowledge of this language and its myriad idioms and expressions. This quote also shows that it is not in everyone's capacity to gain prowess over this language in all its branches; in fact, to be able to fully encompass it is among the miracles of Prophets, peace be upon them. It is important to remember that criticising a recipient of revelation who receives many sentences as revelations from God in his Arabic writings is completely wrong. Even if God were to assist His servant by revealing a beautiful phrase from another book during the writing process, such a revelation would not diminish the miraculous power of the writing. Its miraculous na- ture would only be diminished if someone else were capable of producing something similar. Has anyone been able to do so thus 1 Mishkat Al-Maşabīh is a collection of Ahādīth compiled by Imam Khatib At-Tabrizi (d. 1248 CE). [Publisher] 2 Al-Hidayah fi Sharh Bidayatul-Mubtadi, commonly referred to as Al- Hidayah meaning The Guidance, is a book of Hanafite Islamic jurisprudence written by Burhan-ud-Deen Al-Marghinani (d. 1197 CE). [Publisher] 3 See Ar-Risalah, Imam Shafi'i, Darul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, 1939. pp. 42. [Publisher] 61