The Light of Truth — Page 45
REFUTING OBJECTIONS O Empress of India! May Allah protect you from all calamities and may His benevolence be with you in every good deed you intend to do, and protect you from every misfortune and adver- sity. We come to you asking for help, for a man has assailed us with his tongue and by his rancorous words. We have heard that you are adorned with virtuous qualities, and your sense of justice possesses nothing of immorality, and you have made mercy and compassion a part of your nature, and you are displeased with the oppression carried out by the unjust. This is your character, yet we—despite the shadow of your protection-have been stung by the evilness of some who oppose us. We have been bitten fiercely by the fangs of those who bite. Every unknown son of an unknown person assails us, and every despicable ignoramus blasphemes our Noble Prophet, and tries to label us as traitors. As for the details of what I mentioned in brief, O Queen- may your good fortune increase and may Allah bless you in your worldly affairs and make your end a good end-let it be known that a man who left Islam and accepted Christianity, i. e. the Christian who calls himself Padre 'Imād-ud-Din, has recently published a book to mislead the common people and entitled it Tauzīnul-Aqwāl. In it, without any basis, he very dishonestly attributes certain matters to me: He has alleged that I am a troublemaker and an enemy of the state; that he has seen traces of treason in my modus operandi; that I am not a sincere counsellor of the government; that he is certain that I will do such and such; and that I am a traitor. In summary, he incited the government in these ways in order to harm me. Along with this, he did his utmost to scorn and insult me, and poured forth all the filth of his tongue against some of my companions too. He attacked our holy religion in many of his statements and insulted Khairul-Rusul [the Best of 45