The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 344
BATALĀWI'S STATEMENTS & THEIR RESPONSES 343 of a building which the latter had built on land belonging to our family. In the plaint, a fact had been inaccurately stated, and the proof of this rendered the action liable to dismissal, in which case not only Sultan Ahmad, but I as well, would have to suffer the loss of proprietary rights. The defendant, seizing the opportunity, cited me as a witness. I went to Batala and stayed at the residence of Babū Fateh Din, Sub-Postmaster, which was situated close to the Batala courts. The case was in the court of a Hindu judge whose name I no longer recall, but who was lame of one leg. Sultan Ahmad's lawyer came to me and said, 'The case is about to be called, what statement are you going to make?? I said my statement would be in accordance with the facts and the truth, whereupon he said 'Then there is no need for you to go; I will go myself to withdraw the case. So, I ruined that case myself, with my own hands, merely for the sake of truth; I preferred truth to gain God's pleasure and did not mind the material loss at all. These last two examples are not without proof either; witnesses to the first are Shaikh Ali Ahmad, Lawyer, Gurdaspur, and Sardār Muhammad Hayat Khan, C. S. I. Moreover, the file must be preserved in the Gurdaspur District records. Witnesses to the second incident are Babū Fateh Din and the lawyer himself, whose name I do not remem- ber at this time, and also the judge whom I have already mentioned and who has now perhaps been transferred to Ludhiana. The suit was brought about seven years ago. Also, I recall that Nabi Bakhsh, Patwari [Village Land Revenue Accountant] at Batala, was also a witness to what happened in this case. Now, Hadrat Shaikh Şahib! If you also have any instance of a trial of this degree of seriousness, in which you had seen your life, honour, and property at risk in the event that you had spoken the truth, yet you stuck to the truth caring not for your property or life, I would beseech you in the name of Allah to come forward with that incident along with the full proof thereof. It is, however, my belief that most of the mullahs or maulawīs of this age are just talk; they are ready to sell their faith for a single penny; for, our Noble Prophet, may peace and