The Light of Truth — Page xiv
xiv THE LIGHT OF TRUTH-PARTS I & II and at-tibāq (antithesis). Commenting on its eloquence in his Foreword for Nūrul-Haqq, Maulānā Jalal-ud-Din Shamsa, a Companion of the Promised Messiahas and Arabic scholar, observed: Anyone with a true taste for Arabic rhetoric and literary excel- lence will admit that the eloquence and expressiveness found in this book are of the highest order. Even the greatest writers, poets, and critics of the Arab world would not dare criticise its rhetoric or literary merit. (Rūḥānī Khazā'īn, vol. 8, p. xi, pub- lished by Islam International Publications Ltd, 2021) A brief excerpt of prose, given in fragments below, illustrates the use of multiple rhetorical devices, including as-saj: Arabic Text (with Tashkil) وَوَاللَّهِ إِنَّ فِسْقَ النَّصَارَى قَدْ عَظُمَ فِي الدِّيَارِ وَأَخْنَوْا عَلَى النَّاسِ بِأَنْوَاعِ التَّبَارِ اتَّسَخَتْ أَبْدَانُهُمْ مِنْ أَوْسَاحَ الذُّنُوبِ فَمَا مَالُوا إِلَى التَّوْبِ وَبَلَغَ أَمْرُهُمْ مِنْ كَثْرَةِ الْأَدْرَانِ إِلَى الْحِمَامِ، فَمَا عَجُوا إِلَى الْحَمَّامِ وَصَارُوا بَادِيَةَ الْجُرْدَةِ كَالْأَنْعَامِ فَمَا آلَوْا إِلَى حُلَلِ الْإِنْعَامِ وَأَحَبُّوا الذَّهَبَ وَالْإِيمَانُ فَرَّ وَذَهَبَ Translation By God, the immorality of the Christians spread greatly in our country and cast the people into all kinds of ruin. Their bodies became soiled from the filth of sin, but they did not incline towards [the use of] a water pail. This excessive filth of theirs ultimately led them to their [spiritual] demise, yet at no point did they seek to bathe. They became bare like cattle instead of reaching for the garments of blessings. They fell in love with gold, and their faith flew off and departed. This short passage from pages 192–193 also illustrates why no trans- lation can ever fully convey the literary excellence of the Promised