The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 367
366 ΑΙΝΑ-Ε-ΚΑMĀLĀT-E-ISLAM-DAFI UL-WASĀWIS The prophecy, as you state yourself in your letter, was indeed that if Mirza Ahmad Baig of Hoshiarpur does not give his daughter in marriage to my humble self, and marries her to someone else, then he would die within three years from the date of the marriage. The basis of this prophecy was not that I had asked for the hand of Mirza Ahmad Baig's daughter without any rhyme or reason; on the contrary, the basis of this was that this party of opponents, of whom Mirza Ahmad Baig was one, was composed of my near relatives who were inveterate ene- mies of the Faith, and one of them was so far advanced in his enmity as to openly revile Allah, glorified be His eminence, and the Messenger of Allah, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. He called himself an atheist and had even published a public announcement asking for a Sign. All these people thought that I was an impostor. They demanded Signs and used to ridicule Fasting, Prayer, and the tenets of Islam. Hence, God Almighty desired to complete His argument against them and He chose a manner of showing a Sign which would affect all such faithless relatives. A God-fearing man can appreciate that life and death are not in man's control, and it is not within the power of man to make a proph- ecy in which the death of a person is linked to that person marrying his daughter to some other person within a time limit set for that person's demise. The prophecy clearly pointed out that the death or survival of Mirza Ahmad Baig depends upon the nikāḥ [marriage] of his daughter. Accordingly, he continued to live for five years; that is, as long as he had not given his daughter in marriage elsewhere. Then, on 7 April 1892, Ahmad Baig gave his daughter away in marriage and, in accordance with the prophecy, died within three years, on 30 September 1892, in the sixth month counting from the date of the marriage. It had been also stated in the same public announcement that although death was to take place within three years of the date of the nikāḥ, other visions indicated that it would not take very long. And thus did it occur; that is, there was only an interval of six months, and