The Descent of the Messiah — Page 66
THE DESCENT OF THE MESSIAH you would have sat down in a gathering to write a commentary in a contest with me so that the face of the liar and shameless one could be humiliated in an instant. After all, the entire world is not blind and there are still some who can think. I have published announcements time and again asking you to write a small book in Arabic in contrast to mine and then choose arbitrators from among those who know Arabic. If your book proves to be more eloquent and elegant, all my claims would be falsified. I admit right now that if the commentary that you write against mine proves to be superior in words and mean- ing and you point out errors in my commentary, I will give you a reward of five rupees for every such error. In short, before making absurd criticism, you must demonstrate your prowess in Arabic by writing an Arabic commentary, for in a field in which a person possesses no expertise, his criticism is not worthy of acceptance. A mason can criticise another mason, and a blacksmith can criti- cise another blacksmith, but a sweeper does not have the right to criticise a skilled mason. Your own ability is such that you cannot write even a single line in Arabic. This is why, in Saif-e-Chishti- yā'ī, you claimed plagiarised material as your own. Why do you not feel ashamed of such ability? O good man! You should first establish your knowledge of Arabic and point out any errors in my book and obtain five rupees from me for every such error, and then, by writing a book in Arabic in competition to mine, falsify the miraculous nature of my claim. Alas, a period of ten years has elapsed but no one has come to compete with me in a way befitting a gentleman. The most that anyone has done is to point out that such and such a word is wrong or that a certain sentence appears to have been taken from some other book. However, it is clear that unless a person is proven to be learned, his criticism cannot be acceptable. Is it not possible that he might himself be mistaken? If a person is not able to write in 66