The Effect of the Teachings of the Promised Messiah (as) On His Followers

I now proceed to describe briefly the effect which the teachings of the Promised Messiah (as), have produced on his followers. It must be remembered that the advent of the Promised Messiah (as) was not the outcome of modern currents of thought, nor did he reflect in his person tendencies of the so-called new learning of the present day. As a matter of fact, the teachings of the Promised Messiah (as) were diametrically opposed to all the currents of modern thought. If we look carefully into the matter we find that modern thought exhibits two tendencies: first, that there is no need for man to have any deep relationship with God, that man should indeed be completely independent. Accordingly, we see that all the religions, whether new or old, are making efforts to adapt themselves to this tendency. They are striving even to change the form and significance of acts of worship and so to adapt and to reduce them as to recapture and restore people’s interest in them. The second tendency is, that the established ways and modes of society need not undergo any change, not because they can be proved to be truly beneficent but because people have become accustomed to them and are not prepared to depart from them. The old as well as new religions are making efforts to adapt their teachings to this tendency because they realize that they have not the power to resist it. Accordingly, we see that the followers of all these religions are striving to restate their position with respect to such matters as the taking and giving of interest, the social separation of the sexes, polygamy, etc. They are revising the teachings of their respective religions so as to make them conform to the established social customs of the age. Unlike all these, however, the Promised Messiah (as) based his teachings purely on religion and not on any modern current of thought. This distinction marks him out as the true reformer of the age, for he was not like the horn of time trumpeting out the notes blown into it by the latter. He opposed both the tendencies of the present day, i.e., (1) freedom from the bonds of religion, and (2) social slavery. He neither abolished worship nor made any reduction in it. On the other hand, he revealed to the world the spirit and reality underlying acts of worship, and by creating in the minds of the people a sincere fervour for worship, strengthened the relationship between man and his Maker. He not only called the attention of the people to the necessity of obligatory prayers but also exhorted them to cultivate the habit of performing optional ones. For, as he explained, worship is not a penalty imposed upon man, but is a certain means of spiritual progress. Fasting, which had not only been discarded by the followers of other religions but also by the educated section of the Muslims of these times, he explained the philosophy of and proved that fasting was indispensable for spiritual advancement. Similarly, he discovered to the world the spirit underlying the Divine commandments regarding pilgrimage, and sacrifice, and exhorted people to act faithfully on these commandments of God.

He released the people from the bonds of social slavery and explained to them their error in blindly following the present day laws of society. He proved the excellence of the social teachings of Islam by cogent reasons. He exposed the evils underlying the taking and giving of interest, showed the beneficence of the Islamic injunctions under the purdah or Hijab, proved the need of polygamy under certain circumstances, and explained the importance of the institution of divorce. In short, he openly and vigorously advocated those teachings of Islam concerning which the Muslims were too timid to raise their voice out of fear of opposing the current of modern thought with respect to these matters.

I will not refer to the doubts and superstitions prevalent among the uneducated people, which the Promised Messiah (as) strove to root out, for it may be said that time itself was reforming them. The teachings of the Promised Messiah (as), put forth in opposition to the generally accepted ideas of his age, produced, however, this salutary effect that hundreds of thousands of men who had found themselves powerless against the current of the times gained strength to pause and reflect. As a result of this independent thinking, they came to the conclusion that the teachings of Islam were adequate in every respect and that the code of Islam was perfect in all matters. Those who were a prey to a thousand doubts and misgivings in regard to the existence of God,—nay, even those who were atheists out and out, and were steeped in materialism,—obtained a new life through him and not only became believers in the living and powerful God but also began to find bliss and joy in His worship and remembrance. So that today they present this spectacle to an astonished world. Their minds are enlightened with the new learning of the West and are imbued with whatever may be beneficent in the new thought of the age, yet their hearts are full of Divine love and their heads remain bowed down before their Lord. They spend their days and nights in the remembrance of God and though they are equipped with the highest secular learning they set their faith above everything else, and their lives present true models of the teachings of Islam.

The Promised Messiah (as) liberated people from the bondage of the social laws of the time and opened out to them a field of free and independent thought so much so that despite the opposition and hostility of the followers of all religions, and despite the tendencies of the age, his followers are engaged, day and night, in the social reformation of the world in conformity with the teachings of Islam. They are striving to correct the life of ease and luxury lived by others into one of reformation, chastity, and good morals. The Promised Messiah (as) has not created fanaticism or religious frenzy among his followers, neither has he made the love of his own person the essence of his religion and the centre of his system, as is the way of those who seek to inspire a spirit of sacrifice and self-denial among the people at the cost of other noble qualities. He has assigned to everything its proper place, and has made every effort to keep alive and strengthen the faculty of reason in man. Notwithstanding their rational outlook his followers are ever ready to sacrifice their lives and belongings for the service of religion. Their example is like that of the blessed companions of the Holy Prophet (sas) concerning whom the Holy Quran says:

‘Some of them have fulfilled the object of their lives and the desire of their hearts, and the others are waiting for the same.’1

There have been two occasions in Afghanistan when Ahmadis were called upon to lay down their lives for the pleasure of their Lord and they did so with unparalleled devotion and cheerfulness. I have said ‘two occasions,’ and I mean thereby only such occasions on which the Ahmadis concerned were called upon by their persecutors to renounce Ahmadiyyat and thus save themselves but they refused to do so and stuck fast to the faith which God had granted them through the Promised Messiah (as). The number of Ahmadis who have given up their lives in Afghanistan and have allowed themselves to be ruthlessly butchered for their religion runs into nearly a dozen.

It may be observed that the number of martyrs which may be claimed by a community is determined by many factors, one of them being the number of opportunities of this particular kind of sacrifice afforded to the community. It would serve but little purpose if, in order to gauge the spirit of sacrifice in a particular community, we were to look only to the number of martyrs it has produced without taking into consideration various other factors by which this number may be affected. It must also be remembered that martyrdom is not the only means through which man’s spirit of sacrifice may find fulfilment. There are many other ways in which this spirit may fulfil itself. Indeed there are other ways which offer a higher and a nobler fulfilment of the spirit of sacrifice than even martyrdom.

To revert. One of the two martyrs was Sahibzadah Sayyid Abdul Latif (ra), of Khost, in Afghanistan, who was held in such high esteem in that country that he had been selected to perform the coronation ceremony of the late Amir Habibullah Khan. When the Sahibzadah Sahib received news of the Ahmadiyya Movement his attention was caught and he began to study the literature of the Movement. As a result of this God opened his eyes and he entered the Bai‘at of the Promised Messiah (as). As he was desirous of seeing the Promised Messiah (as) in person he obtained the late Amir Habibullah Khan’s permission to perform the pilgrimage, intending to pay a visit to Qadian on the way. So he came to Qadian, saw the Promised Messiah (as) and profited by his company. He became so much absorbed in his love for his Master that he decided to postpone his going on the pilgrimage and stayed on at Qadian to add to his knowledge and strengthen his faith. After a stay of some months he prepared to go back to his native land and, as he was leaving Qadian he remarked that he felt that his motherland was summoning him to open there the way for the acceptance of the truth through the sacrifice of his blood. ‘I see,’ he said, ‘handcuffs round my wrists and fetters on my legs.’ Accordingly as soon as, on his return, he entered the territory of the Amir he was arrested by his order, for the news of his acceptance of the Promised Messiah (as) had already reached the country. On arrival in Kabul he was asked whether he had really accepted the Ahmadiyyat. He admitted that he had, and after a long discussion with the ‘Ulema’ and after the latter had issued a Fatwa to the effect that he should be put to death because of his apostasy, the Amir ordered that he should be stoned to death. As, however, the Sahibzadah Sahib, by virtue of his learning and piety, occupied a very eminent position in the country and commanded a following of thousands, the Amir repeatedly summoned him to his presence and tried to persuade him to recant and have his life spared. On every such occasion, however, the Amir received a firm and unshakable answer from the Sahibzadah to the effect that as he had found the truth he would never forsake it.

The Amir then ordered that the Sahibzadah Sahib should be tortured to make him renounce his faith in Ahmadiyyat. All these efforts, however, were unavailing. The Sahibzadah Sahib bore all torments without flinching and with a resignation and cheerfulness at which all marvelled. The Amir, at last, directed that the execution should be carried out. Thereupon the Sahibzadah Sahib was taken outside the city whither the Amir himself repaired, and many people from the town also assembled to watch the sight. A pit was dug and the Sahibzadah Sahib was buried in it up to his waist. The Amir now went to him again and asked him to reconsider the position and recant, but he received the same answer, namely, that, as he had found the truth, he could not give it up. He also added that on the first Thursday after his death he would rise from the dead and come alive. Having despaired of the Sahibzadah Sahib’s making a recantation the Amir himself threw the first stone at him. This was the signal for a deluge of stones being hurled at him from all sides. The Sahibzadah Sahib, however, remained firm and steadfast and looked cheerful and happy. His head was at last shattered and, the neck having been broken, hung down on one side, but his persecutors continued to rain stones at him till his body was buried under a big heap of stones and the soul of this righteous servant of the Lord departed for ever from its earthly abode. Then the people went back to the city and a guard was appointed by the Amir to watch over the body of the martyr lest his friends should make an effort to remove it and give it a formal burial. Soon, however, came the punishment of God and the ‘resurrection’ which the blessed martyr had predicted came on all of a sudden. On the Thursday after his martyrdom cholera appeared in the city of Kabul in an epidemic form, and soon became very virulent. The visitation was both unusual and unexpected, and so many lives were lost that the people felt and admitted that the epidemic had come in fulfilment of the dying words of the martyr. There were some deaths even in the royal family.

These events have been simply and briefly narrated by a European writer in his book, Under the Absolute Amir. The writer is Mr. Martin who was at the time Engineer-in-Chief at Kabul. He, being unfamiliar with the Ahmadiyya Movement, has permitted some errors to creep into his narrative, but on the whole it presents a correct picture of the event in simple, pitiful language. Its value is enhanced because Mr. Martin was quite a disinterested person.

The second martyr was Maulawi Abdur Rahman who had been a disciple of Sahibzadah Abdul Latif. His martyrdom took place before the martyrdom of the Sahibzadah Sahib. He was ruthlessly strangled to death because of his being a follower of the Promised Messiah (as).

Besides these two martyrs who were executed by the order of the Afghan government, there have been several other cases of Ahmadis who have been martyred by the fanatic people of the country. It was only during the last month that the news came that two Ahmadis were cruelly put to death by the people on account of their faith in Ahmadiyyat.

Besides death, there are Ahmadis who have had to endure other troubles and torments for the sake of their faith. On every such occasion they have shown a spirit of complete resignation to the will of God and have borne all manner of persecution with patience and fortitude. For instance, during the course of the present year there was a rising in Khost against his majesty the Amir of Afghanistan. When the rebels found themselves helpless against the forces of the State, they, in their fury, fell upon the helpless Ahmadis of the district and burned to ashes two of their villages on the excuse that the Ahmadis had instigated the Amir against them.

Two or three times, at least, in a year it so happens that the people excite the local officials against the Ahmadis and, relying on their support, set ruthlessly to torture such of them as they can lay their hands on. Many of the followers of the Promised Messiah (as) have undergone the hardships of imprisonment, many have been cruelly beaten, many have been subjected to social boycotts and inconveniences, many have been robbed and looted, and some have been accorded the shameful treatment of having their faces blackened and being made to ride on donkeys in that condition to be humiliated and ridiculed among the people.

For the last quarter of a century Ahmadis have endured all these troubles and have borne all these persecutions in Afghanistan for the sake of their Lord, but have never wavered in their faith. They are rapidly advancing both spiritually and in numbers. It would, however, savour of ingratitude not to mention that since the accession to the throne of the present Amir, his majesty Amir Amanullah Khan, the persecution of the Ahmadis has been officially prohibited and matters have considerably improved. As, however, the Amir’s territory is passing through a period of transition as regards stability of government and discipline, the government has so far not been able actually to put an end to the persecution of the Ahmadis. But we hope that if the Amir’s government continues to act in a spirit of justice and equity, the Afghan Ahmadis would before long not only be protected from being persecuted by the government but would also be safe from the oppression of the minor local officials and the public.2

So far I have related the condition of the Ahmadis in Afghanistan, but as will appear from what follows, the condition of the Ahmadis in India is no better. It is true that under the British government no one dare openly put Ahmadis to death, but short of death they have been persecuted in diverse ways. They have been made the victims of cheating, trickery, falsehood and other similar practices. They are also subjected to diverse forms of physical persecution and they bear all these troubles with cheerfulness and resignation. Death is a great trial but that which sorely taxes the patience of a man is trouble that approaches slowly and continues for long. The Indian Ahmadis have had their full share of this latter kind of persecution. A vast majority of the followers of the Promised Messiah (as) have had to endure such persecution. There are many whose bodies bear marks of the beatings received by them for the sake of Ahmadiyyat. Many have been forcibly turned out of their homes and dispossessed of their properties and belongings.

Instances have not been wanting of boys and girls still in their teens who were beaten, turned out of home and disinherited by their parents for no other fault than that they believed in Ahmadiyyat. They cheerfully bore all these hardships and remained steadfast in their faith. There have been instances of Ahmadis who have been either forced to resign from government service or have been dismissed on the false pretence of incompetence through the spitefulness of their Indian officers. Often a solitary Ahmadis in a village of non-Ahmadis is harassed and put to all sorts of embarrassments. He is abused and given a cruel beating, but when the matter comes to the notice of the police, the poor helpless Ahmadi can find no one to give evidence in his favour and so the police dismiss the case and the persecution continues unabated. Burial grounds are often closed to the Ahmadis and at some places the dead bodies of Ahmadis have been shamelessly disinterred and thrown out to be devoured by animals. Ahmadis are often denied the use of wells, and they have sometimes been forced to travel miles to obtain a supply of drinking water in the hot weather. Cases have occurred where boys and girls, even infants hardly able to walk and speak, have remained without drinking for long periods on account of their being the children of Ahmadis parents. This treatment was accorded to them in a country where the daily temperature sometimes rises as high as 115°F in the shade. Ahmadi shopkeepers have been boycotted and crops of Ahmadi farmers have been destroyed. Ahmadi lecturers and preachers are stoned while they are engaged in addressing meetings and disturbances created to prevent the people from listening to them. There have been cases in which Ahmadi wives have been forcibly separated from their husbands and married off to others. Children have been separated from their fathers. Ahmadi women have been beaten and turned out of their homes by their non-Ahmadi husbands. Ahmadi lawyers and doctors have been boycotted. Men belonging to other professions have been similarly persecuted and brought to the verge of destitution. But the Promised Messiah (as) has infused into them such a spirit and has breathed into them such firmness of faith that they cheerfully bear all these trials, and in defiance of all persecution, they continue openly to proclaim their faith and to prove by their conduct that they put their faith above every worldly object.

The teachings of the Promised Messiah (as) have had such an effect on the members of the Ahmadiyya Movement that although they do not differ from others in their dress and external appearance, they are easily picked out by the people. This is due to the moral qualities which distinguish them from others. Their speech, free from vulgarity and obscenity, their readiness to serve others, their self-denial and their abhorrence of fraud, deceit and similar practices make them conspicuous in all assemblies. Any person who is acquainted with their character can pick out an Ahmadi in a railway train or a public meeting or any other place of gathering, though he may not know him.

Even an uneducated Ahmadi is generally found to be intelligent and fairly conversant with religious subjects. The teachings of the Promised Messiah (as) have wrought an astounding transformation in the character of Ahmadis. On the one hand they have abandoned the irreligiousness and indifference found everywhere in the world, are inspired with love for the Word of God, His apostles and the Promised Messiah (as), endeavour constantly to convert themselves, as it were, into mirrors for the reflection of Divine attributes, pass their days and nights in the remembrance and worship of God, and are eager to acquire spiritual blessings in exchange for their material benefits in this age of worldly competition, and, on the other, they are among the most exacting critics who are not prepared to accept anything which is not founded on reason. They accept only a rational explanation of everything and try to persuade others of the truth of their affirmations by reason. They are not only opposed to, but promote the spread of modern sciences and learning. They do not look upon science as being opposed to religion but as subservient to it. In short, they maintain their independence in all matters, that is to say, they neither blindly believe in the sayings of their forefathers, nor do they necessarily accept every new idea as true. They test everything by the criteria of knowledge and reason, and accord every fact the position which has been given to it by God.

Another wonderful change wrought by the Promised Messiah (as) among his followers is that they maintain a much higher standard of education than other communities. The proportion of educated persons in the Ahmadiyya Community is much higher than among other communities of India, although on account of their poverty the Ahmadis have not been able to establish any schools of their own. There are many among them who have taken to education in old age. The women are so fond of learning and teaching that many homes in Qadian have been turned into private schools. Old women above seventy years of age occupy themselves with learning translation of the Holy Quran. There are always present in Qadian a large number of men and women of every age who have come from different provinces and countries to receive education. If there is one place where East and West appear to be united it is Qadian. At other places where there is provision for Western education, there is none for religious instruction, the home of which is the East, and where the study of religion is provided for there is indifference towards modern sciences, the centre of which is in the West. Among the Ahmadiyya Community, and particularly at Qadian which is the headquarters of the Movement, both these are united. Here, notwithstanding, Mr. Rudyard Kipling’s observation to the contrary, the East and the West have met. While Ahmadis are engaged in learning the Western sciences, they have so strong a faith in the teachings of their religion and are so devoted to it, that the sacrifice of life, property, and home for the sake of religion is to them a trifle. Even the minor commandments and directions of their religion are carefully observed by them in their pure and true form.

Particular attention is among them paid to the rights of women and to their release from undue restraint, without doing anything contrary to the teachings of their religion.

They are much more deeply tolerant than the members of other communities. They look upon the disputes, which constantly recur between different communities of India in connection with the observance of certain religious ceremonies, as childish. They constantly try to inculcate a spirit of tolerance among other people. They permit even the opponents of Islam to address them in their mosques and calmly listen to their arguments and endeavour to explain their own points of view to them.

A very important revolution which the Promised Messiah (as) has brought about in his followers is that they give to religion priority over all things of the world. Every Ahmadi looks upon his property as a sacred trust from God. Those who have been properly instructed in the teachings of the Movement contribute one-sixteenth of their income monthly towards the funds of the Movement for religious and charitable purposes. Besides this—the normal monthly subscription—they contribute towards many other funds. Thus every member of the organized portion of the community contributes from one-tenth to one-third of his income to the funds of the community according to the degree of his zeal and spirit of sacrifice. This appears so strange in the eyes of some people that they imagine the community to be very rich while others suspect that they receive aid from government. The truth is that the government neither does, nor can, aid them, and the Ahmadis are so poor that there is perhaps no other community in India so poor on the whole as they are. But every one of them, at the sacrifice of his personal requirements contributes what appears to others to be a heavy proportion of his income for the religious, moral, and intellectual reformation of the world.

The Ahmadi women are not behind Ahmadi men in this respect. They have proved by their example that they live not for ornaments and dress but for God. Last year I made an appeal for the construction of a mosque in Germany and called upon the women of the community alone to contribute towards the fund. Thereupon hundreds of them sold their jewellery ornaments and their best dresses to provide their quota of contributions to the fund, which swelled to more than twice the amount they had been asked to collect.

In short, so deep and so marked is the effect of the teachings of the Movement on every member of the community that all observers are struck by it. This is admitted even by the bitterest enemies of the Movement, but they try to draw a veil over it, ascribing it to ostentation and hypocrisy. How blessed is this hypocrisy which has healed the sick and quickened the dead. Would that such hypocrisy were to prevail everywhere in the world!

I now close this paper with a word.

Hear all men and women! We have been created by God so that we may absorb His attributes in our own persons and become manifestations of His glory. So long as we do not attain this object we cannot claim to have achieved success. Of what value is our material progress? It is nothing but a pastime. Of what benefit can all this progress be to us if we displease God, and thus close upon ourselves the door of eternal spiritual advancement? We may make great inventions but if we do not seek the knowledge which would light up our eternal life we would be like a school-boy who spends his whole day in play and is content with defeating his adversary in the field of sport but pays no heed to the contest which will reform all his life.

Real life is that which knows no end; real pleasure is that which is never destroyed; real knowledge is that which is always on the increase. Therefore, turn to eternal life, everlasting joy and real knowledge, so that you may enjoy peace, both here and hereafter, and may succeed in pleasing God and thus achieve the object of your existence.

God, Who has seen your perplexity and distress, has thrown open for you the door of His mercy and has Himself come to call you towards Him. So prize His favour and His love, and reject not His blessings. Do not look down upon or turn away from His favours, for He is the Creator and the Master before whom no pride or conceit is of any avail. Come forward and enter the door of His grace so that His mercy may embrace you and the mantle of His grace may enfold you.

O people of England! God has bestowed on you honour in this world, which has increased your responsibility, for he who has a larger share of favours carries heavier responsibilities. Through God’s grace you have ruled the oceans for hundreds of years, your country is called the queen of the oceans, but have you ever turned your attention to that King Who is the Fountainhead of all honour and a favourable glance from Whom has raised you to this eminence? Have you ever tried to discover the ocean of Divine knowledge which surges in the heart of a true seeker? Ah! you went to the north and you went to the south, you examined all waters on the face of the earth, you ransacked the deeps, but alas! you never dived to sound the depth of the ocean of spiritual knowledge, nor did you ever send out expeditions to discover it. You have roamed round the globe in search of land, exploring new regions, and your fleets have scoured the seas in all directions, but you never went forth in search of the Beloved One Who is the Creator of land and sea. Is it wise to collect the dry leaves that drop from a tree and throw away the fruit?

I convey to you the glad tidings that God’s mercy has again been stirred, as it had been stirred hundreds of years ago,—in the days of Muhammad (sas), in the days of Jesus (as) of Nazareth, of David (as), Moses (as), Isaac (as), Abraham (as) and of Noah (as).

The sun of knowledge has risen today as it used to rise in the time of the former Prophets. So, instead of staying in the close air of your chambers come out and inhale the cool and refreshing air of Divine mercy in the expansive regions of the world of the spirit, and brighten your eyes with the pleasant light of the sun of Divine knowledge, for these suns do not rise every day. I say to you and to all those peoples who are living in peace under the British flag: ‘Look! The hand of God’s blessings is over you, so bend your knees respectfully before Him.’

I say to the people of Wales, O Wales! look at thy industry and labour and see how much of thy labour is for God.

O Scotland! thou art proud of thy freedom and liberty but, hast thou given proof of thy love of freedom in trying to understand and accept the words of God as thou hast in other matters?

O people of Ireland! your patriotism and zeal are proverbial, but have you been equally zealous in your love for God? Have you been as anxious to obtain a knowledge of God as you have been for the attainment of home rule?

O you founders of colonies, you possess the aptitude and the eagerness to colonize new lands, but why are you indifferent to the colonization of that island of Divine wisdom which has made its appearance in the ocean of knowledge.

I say to you all again, See! God has laid the hand of His blessings over your heads. So bend your knees respectfully before Him, for He is the King of kings and the Emperor of emperors. Bow your heads before Him so that He may anoint them with the blessings of Faith, just as he has anointed them with the blessings of this world.

The blessings of God are unlimited. He is the God of all lands and of all peoples. His true servant shuns the limitations of boundaries and forms. He is indeed a lover of his own country and of his own nation, but the range of his sympathy travels far beyond his own country and of his own people. He transcends all such limitations. He is a well-wisher of all mankind, and feels bound to all men with the bond of brotherhood which is the peculiar heritage of man, all being creatures of the One God Who is the Lord of the worlds. The black and the white, the Western and the Eastern, his fellow-nationals and foreigners, are in his eyes all alike. Sympathy for every one of them is deeply rooted in his heart, and his breast swells with the love of all of them. He is in reality a true manifestation of the Lord of the worlds. So I do not confine my address to any particular people or to any particular country. I invite all nations of the earth to the message of that God Who has not been niggardly towards any one in the distribution of His favours, Who has thrown open the doors of His Mercy to the people of all countries alike. And I say, ‘O people of America and Europe! O inhabitants of Australia and Africa! and O residents of Asia! wake up from your sleep of indifference and open your eyes, for, the sun of the love of God has risen from the unknown land of Qadian so that it may remind every one of the love of the Eternal King which He bears towards His servants, so that the darkness of doubt and suspicion may be dispelled, the coolness of indifference and carelessness may be removed, the highwaymen of vice, wickedness, oppression, murder, strife, and all sorts of evils,—who are always lying in ambush to rob man of the riches of his faith and peace, may take to their heels and hide themselves in the dark caves which are their real abode; that pure-minded and holy men who live heavenly lives on this earth may, in the light of this sun, crush the head of the serpent that bit Adam and Eve, and may break the poisonous fangs of Satan and deliver the world from his wiles.

O ye who dwell in the lands of the East and the West, be of good cheer and do not be cast down, for, the bridegroom has come at last, whose coming had so long been awaited. Be not sad or sorrowful. It is not the time to grieve or to be sorrowful, rather is it the time to rejoice. It is not the time to despair but to be hopeful and aspiring. So deck yourselves with garlands of holiness and adorn yourselves with the ornaments of purity, for your long-felt desires have been fulfilled, and that, for which you had been longing for centuries, has come to pass.

The Lord, your God has Himself come to your homes: your Master Himself seeks to be agreeable to you. Let us forget our petty squabbles, and let us all be united at the hands of the blessed Messenger of God, to sing the songs of our Lord’s praise and chant hymns of adoration. Let us lay such a firm hold on His mantle that our Beloved may never again be separated from us. Amen!

And our last words are that all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.