The Light of Truth — Page 323
is accompanied by notice of the money can be deposited in advance. If they are prepared to write a book of their own in response to my challenge deposited, the deadline for such and wish to have the prize All praise belongs to Allah, who lavished His bounty upon us with generosity and kept His promise and fulfilled His word. He showed certain Signs and silenced the deniers-men and women alike. Therefore, I decided to display His radiant splendour for those seeking the path of guidance. The support of Allah the Munificent and the help of Allah the Merciful never left me until the Sign of the lunar and solar eclipses was manifested by Allah, the Gracious, the Compassionate. A desire was then placed in my heart that I should compose a treatise in this Part of Nūrul-Haqq as a means of guidance for the seekers. I com- posed it, therefore, for the sake of Allah, the Beloved, the Truth, and made it one of the two parts of Nūrul-Haqq. Along with it, there is a prize of Rs. 5,000 for those who caw nonsensically like the raven and for those who tell lies about the Holy Quran and follow Satan, and who criticise the balaghah [eloquence] of the Quran and do not consider it to be from the Gracious God. Through the writing of this treatise and Part One, I desired to expose the sheer ignorance of the foolish ones and the error of those simple-minded ones, and lay bare their trickery before the wise, and show the truth to whoever would see. After I decided to write this book, I received a revelation from the Mighty Lord that the disbe- lievers and the mukaffirin [those who label other Muslims as disbelievers] alike would be unable to produce a book similar to this in its prose and its poetry while also matching its knowledge and wisdom. Therefore, whosoever wishes to prove this revelation of mine to be false should bring forth a word similar to mine; for the Mahdi is guided in matters regarding which others are not guided, and those who stubbornly oppose him can never reach the equal of his word, even if they were to soar upon the winds. This book, which is the finest and most refined, has been named Part Two of Warning: This book, along with its first part, has been prepared to expose the truth concerning the so-called scholarship of Reverend 'Imad-ud-Din, Sheikh Muhammad Husain of Batala, editor of Isha'atus-Sunnah, and their supporters and helpers; The Light of Truth you are a scholar, so show your knowledge-indeed, to claim scholarly knowledge is no easy thing. be accepted. O enemy of mine, Husain, fear Allah! O you who are immersed in falsehood, fear Allah! You said that a request is the end of June 1894. After this [date], it shall be understood that they have fled in retreat and no request will This treatise is a like a sharp sword that shall silence every person who steps forth for a duel. The first people I address with the promise of a prize are those Christian converts who are like cattle, and their 'Imad, who [arrogantly] cranes his neck like an ostrich, and his brethren who say that they are maulawis and skilled in the Arabic language and the literary sciences; next, al-Bațālawī, Sheikh Muhammad Husain, who misleads the common people with words that are like a mirage or clouds lacking rain. After these people, I then address every opponent from the heretics and everyone who says he was suckled at the breast of literary sciences, and his knowledge comprises the most excellent knowledge despite their opposition in faith and doctrine. So now we will observe them: Will they come forward and stand on the battlefield just as they stand upon the minbar of falsehood and transgression; or, will they turn their backs [and flee] and thus bear witness against them- selves that they are among the ignorant? PRINTED AT MUFID 'AM PRESS IN LAHORE CITY, IN 1311 AH. PRICE: RS. 6 ANNAS NO. OF COPIES: 3,000