The Descent of the Messiah — Page 65
HADRAT MIRZA GHULAM AHMADAS tain deep intellectual themes without possessing comprehensive knowledge? Were all these scholarly books written with texts sto- len from Hariri and Hamadhānī? If so, where do we find in Harīrī and Hamadhānī the thousands of religious and Quranic insights and verities that have been written in these books? What kind of civility is it to open one's mouth so shamelessly? If these people had any sense of honour, they would have died of embarrassment as the very person they regarded as ignorant and completely inc- ognisant of the knowledge of Arabic has written so many books in eloquent and elegant Arabic. Their own competence is such that it has been demanded of them for nearly ten years to write a single book that could compete with mine, but they have nothing other than to say, as did the disbelievers of Mecca لَوْ نَشَاءُ لَقُلْنَا مِثْلَ هَذَا “If we wished we could certainly utter the like of this". ¹ When they have plenty of time to abuse and curse me, why do they not have time to write a small book in Arabic? When they are able to publish thou- sands of posters full of invective, how do they have nothing with which to publish a book in Arabic? I do not believe that any sane person would accept their excuses. To cite a few sentences out of some twenty thousand and claim that they have been stolen from someone else is blatant shamelessness, and none but Pir Mehr Ali Shah could have accomplished such a feat. O ignorant one! If scholarly and religious books, that consist of thousands of insights and verities, can be written simply by stealing from fictitious stories, then who has stopped you from doing the same? Are not the markets full of books from which you can steal? Why did you have to endure these curses that came your way from me in your state of inactivity? And why could you not publish the commentary of a single Sūrah in eloquent and elegant Arabic so that the world could see how much knowledge of the Arabic tongue you possess? If your intention was honest, 1 Sūrah Al-Anfal, 8:32. [Publisher] 65