کوئی اُس پاک سے جو دل لگاوے
کرے پاک آپ کو تب اُسکو پاوے
One who attaches their heart to the Pure One,
Must first purify themselves, then alone shall they find Him.
Many people of all nations claim that they love God Almighty, but what needs to be discerned is whether God Almighty loves them in return. The love of God Almighty is such that it first removes the veil of the heart—a veil that prevents man from firmly believing in His existence, whereby his belief in God Almighty is vague and lacks understanding to such a degree that in trying times, man often altogether denies His existence. This veil can never be lifted without divine discourse. Thus, man plunges into the fountain of true divine understanding on the day that God Almighty Himself addresses him by giving the glad tiding ‘I am present.’ As a result, man’s consciousness of God does not remain confined to his mere conjectures or rational fancies; rather, he comes so close to God Almighty, as though he were seeing Him. It is the absolute truth that man only attains perfect belief in God Almighty when Allah, the Glorious, Himself enlightens one of His own existence.
The second sign of God Almighty’s love is that He not only gives His beloved servants the knowledge of His existence, but He also especially manifests signs of His mercy and grace to them; He accepts their prayers though they may apparently seem beyond hope, and informs them of their acceptance through His revelation and word. It is then that their hearts find contentment and realise that He indeed is the Powerful One who hears their prayers and answers them, delivering them from difficulties. That is the day when one understands the true philosophy of salvation and learns about the existence of God Almighty. Although others can also experience true dreams that awaken and caution them, the manner in which the elect of God enjoy this blessing is unique in degree, majesty and quality. This divine discourse is a prerogative of God Almighty’s chosen ones. When such a loved one prays, God Almighty manifests Himself with Divine Majesty, causing His spirit to descend upon him, and thereby giving him glad tidings of the acceptance of his prayer with His loving words. One who is repeatedly blessed with this discourse is called a Prophet or a Muhaddath (مُحَدَّث). The sign of a true religion is that its teachings continue to produce such virtuous individuals who attain the station of a Muhaddath—to whom God Almighty speaks directly. The principal sign of Islam’s divine origin and truthfulness is that virtuous people, with whom God Almighty converses, have always appeared in it.
This is the essential criterion of a true, living and divinely accepted religion; we know Christianity is devoid of this divine light which Islam alone possesses. Our entire debate with Dr Clark hinges on the purpose and condition that if he refuses to take up this challenge, then it must be surely understood that, for the refutation of Christianity, this argument alone outweighs a thousand others—that the dead can never compete with the living, nor can the blind equal the seeing.
5 May 1893
Humbly,
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad,
Qadian, District Gurdaspur