Chapter One

[Continued from Part III]

Some people have fallen prey to the delusion that language is a human invention, and since it is an invention of man, he can achieve the utmost heights in eloquence, fluency, and other excellences, as needed, related to language. For, it is totally unreasonable and irrational to suggest [as they say] that man should fail to make progress with regard to something he has himself invented. [They further argue that] since reason dictates that there is nothing to stop man from making all kinds of progress and reaching a stage of perfection in linguistic eloquence and fluency, and given this condition, it should not be impossible to compose even the likeness of Quranic eloquence.

I would like to make it clear that this misconception has already been dispelled by what I have written earlier, where I clearly and explicitly stated that man’s knowledge can never equal the knowledge of God Almighty, and that the disparity that exists in respect of the intellectual faculties between the inferior and superior and the powerful and weak must necessarily be reflected in their linguistic expression. In other words, the speech that emanates from a superior power will be superior and the one that comes from an inferior power will be inferior. This difference becomes obvious and clear when we look at the disparity between the abilities of human beings and realize that a man of inferior abilities cannot compete with someone possessing superior abilities, even though all humans belong to the same species.

Besides, it is not correct to say that each and every language is a human invention. It has been proven by thorough research that the Omnipotent God, who created mankind with His perfect power, is also the One who invented and created languages for mankind and bestowed upon man a tongue that he may be able to speak. If language had been a human invention, no newborn baby would need to be taught how to speak; and he would be able to invent a language of his own when he grew up. But it is patently manifest that no child can speak anything without being taught to speak a language. Whether you raise a child in some Greek forest, or leave him alone in the British Isles, or take him to some territory below the equator, he will still require instruction to be able to speak. Without being taught, he would be unable to speak.

Someone may say in support of this notion [i.e. languages have been invented by man] that we ourselves observe that languages are constantly undergoing hundreds of natural changes and alterations, from which it is proven that man is involved in the changes. It should be borne in mind that this idea is a serious misconception. It is not through human intention or volition that languages change, nor can any law be laid down which establishes that human nature causes a language to change at certain times. On the contrary, careful study shows that all changes in language—as indeed in all things celestial or terrestrial—only come about through the special will and power of the Cause of all causes [i.e. Allah].

It can never be established that mankind, jointly or severally, invented all the languages that are spoken in the world. If anyone harbours the doubt that, as God Almighty always causes languages to change through a natural process, why is it not possible that languages may have originated in the same way in the beginning without any particular revelation, then the reply is that the general law of nature at the beginning of the universe was that God created everything solely through His omnipotence. Reflection upon the heavens, earth, sun, moon, and on human nature itself would reveal that the beginning of time was the age of the manifestation of pure divine power, in which the usual [physical] means were not involved at all. Whatever God created in that age was done with such a magnificent omnipotence that it astonishes the human mind. Observe the celestial bodies—the earth, the heavens, the sun, the moon, etc.—how this immense task was accomplished without resorting to any means, builders, or labourers, solely by His will and a single command.

Hence, when, at the time of creation, all things were initially brought about by divine command, and were caused by divine will without any involvement of natural causes and physical means, why then should we think, like the disbelievers, that God was incapable of creating languages even though He created everything else solely through His power? He who proved His perfect powers by creating man without the agency of parents, why should His power be regarded inadequate in the matter of languages? In short, when every sensible person has to admit that the age of the first period of creation was an age of the manifestation of God’s pure omnipotence, and that the general prevailing law in that age was that everything would be brought about directly without the medium of usual causes, then to exclude languages from this rule would be a violation of the [then operating] law of nature and a sign of sheer ignorance and folly.

The circumstances of today cannot serve as the rule when discussing that age [i.e. the first period of creation]. For instance, today no child is born without the agency of a mother and father, but if the birth of man had also been dependent upon the existence of parents in the beginning, then how could this world have come into being? Moreover, there is a great difference between changes that naturally occur from time to time in languages and the scenario in which a language appears ex nihilo. Some change taking place in an existing language is one thing but the birth of a language with all its features from absolutely nothing is an altogether different matter.

Moreover, even now God Almighty reveals His word in various languages to His servants and can bestow revelation upon them in different languages—some of which they do not even know at all—as I have proven in Sub-Footnote Number One.1 Given this situation, it would be the height of folly to believe that the Omniscient God did not have the power to bestow the same revelation at the origin of creation. Because when even now we have a clear proof of His unlimited power—that He reveals to His servants languages of which they have no knowledge whatsoever, and which they have not learnt from their parents, nor were they ever taught to them by a teacher—how can we believe that at the origin of creation, when there was a dire need, it was beyond the perfect power of God Almighty to teach languages to man? What justification is there for believing that God was weak and powerless, as a consequence of which man had to undergo severe hardships after being created—namely, that he remained dumb and speechless for a very long time and, in that unfortunate period, he could get through and survive by using gestures alone, experiencing many difficulties and troubles along the way, and remained incapable of making long discourses and expressing subtle matters that could not be expressed by gestures? Thus, he continued to suffer the loss that is necessarily incurred due to the inability to communicate and comprehend. And although man faced all these troubles, God did nothing to remedy his situation and was incapable of fulfilling his needs. And God created man out of absolutely nothing through His perfect omnipotence and bestowed upon him a tongue, eyes, ears, and the faculties to make diverse types of progress and likewise, He bestowed upon him, through His omnipotence, so many favours that it is not possible for man to count them; yet the same Powerful God could not teach man language, which was absolutely necessary for him. At long last, having suffered the ordeal of speechlessness for a long time, man invented language on his own.

Can such a belief about God’s divine power be held praiseworthy? Can a believer entertain the suspicion against the Perfect and Omnipotent God that He, at the very first stage of manifestation of [His] powers, when He had willed to disclose His divine powers to [His] ignorant servants, remained incapable of manifesting some of His much needed powers to them? Can it be imagined that He who, through a single command, created thousands upon thousands of creatures without any pre-existing matter and substance, did not have the power to create languages? Can reason accept that He who created man for a great purpose and made him the best of creation through His express will, had left him incomplete in his creation so that man himself could accidentally complete what was left out of him? Can He—who, from the very beginning had knowledge of all languages, and in whose deep and penetrating sight everything that could and would exist, was as if it already existed, and whose perfect power can teach and communicate everything—deserve that one should harbour the suspicion against Him that, while seeing man unable to speak, He intentionally refrained from teaching him language with the result that, on account of His indifference, man continued to live like animals and barbarians for ages until at last it occurred to him on his own that some language should be invented?

This view is so evidently false that it is refuted by the perfect powers of God, His perfect mercy and His perfect guidance, which have been witnessed in every age. It is the height of ignorance and inner blindness to harbour the suspicion against God, whose wonders of revelations disclose unknown languages to His servants even today, that, at the beginning of time, He refrained from sending down such revelations when they were needed most.

The thought may cross someone’s mind as to why God does not reveal the knowledge of languages to present day savages who have to make do with gestures, and why a newborn child who is left in the wilderness is not granted any revelation. Such thoughts result from a misconception regarding divine attributes. Inspiration and revelation is not a phenomenon that can occur gratuitously, without taking into account the potential required of the recipient. Requisite potential is, in fact, an absolutely necessary condition for divine inspiration and revelation. The second condition is that there must exist a real need for the revelation.

In the beginning, when God created man, teaching languages through revelation was a matter that fulfilled both of these conditions. Firstly, the first man possessed the requisite ability to receive revelation—as should have been the case. Secondly, there existed a genuine need that demanded revelation. For, at that time, Hazrat Adam [Adam] had no kind friend, except God Almighty, who could have taught him to speak and could have, through His teaching, made him attain the level of decency and civility. In fact, it was God Almighty alone who fulfilled all the essential needs of Hazrat Adam and, by educating him in good morals and by cultivating in him good manners, exalted him to the rank of a true human being.

It is true, of course, that afterwards when the descendants of Hazrat Adam spread throughout the world and the branches of knowledge that God had taught Adam became widely known to them, some of them became teachers of others; and parents, too, began to play the role of kind companions of their children to teach them language. However, there was no one for Adam other than the One God who could teach him language and educate him in the manners worthy of humanity. In place of a teacher, instructor, or mother and father, it was God alone who, after He had created him, taught him everything. In short, it was a true and necessary need of Adam that God Himself should have trained him and should have fulfilled all of his needs. But there was no such need for his progeny, because millions of people now speak various languages and teach them to their children.

Moreover, as I have written above, the inherent potential, which is a necessary condition for receiving revelation, is not possessed by each and every human being. And if anyone has this inherent potential, he can even now be informed by God Almighty through revelation regarding his needs and God will never let him go to waste. The keen eye of God penetrates into the very depths of every human being’s abilities, and He does not deprive anyone who has the requisite ability from manifesting it. It never happens that a person who, in the knowledge of God, possesses the ability for divine cognition, Walayat [being a friend of God], Prophethood, and Messengership, should die without realizing his potential as a result of certain worldly accidents or as a consequence of being born among savages and that God should not exalt him to the highest rank inherent in the abilities bestowed upon him; rather, only he remains uncivilized, speechless, barbaric, and ignorant, who in his nature is defective, useless, and is just like cattle.

Moreover, when God, by conferring diverse types of languages on hundreds of millions of people, has opened the door of learning for people in general, there is no need whatsoever for the teaching of language by divine revelation, except in such a special case when a Sign is intended to be shown; and God Almighty, who is the All-Wise, does not do anything without there being a need for it, nor does He resort to useless and unnecessary methods.

Some ignorant Aryas, holding Sanskrit to be the language of Parmeshwar [God], consider all other languages, which comprise hundreds of divine wonders and marvels, to be the invention of man as if man also possesses a sort of divinity; and whereas Parmeshwar revealed only one language, men showed such prowess that they invented scores of languages better than that one. So I would inquire from the Aryas that if it is indeed true that Sanskrit alone issued forth from the mouth of Parmeshwar, and all other languages are the inventions of men and have no relationship with Parmeshwar, then do tell us what particular excellences are found in Sanskrit, but are wanting in other languages. For, the speech of Parmeshwar must surely have superiority over the inventions of men. He is called God only because He is Superior to all, Peerless, and Incomparable in His Being, in His attributes, and in His works.

If we assume that Sanskrit is the language of Parmeshwar and was revealed to the ancestors of the Hindus but that other languages were invented by the ancestors of other people because they were more clever and wiser than the ancestors of the Hindus, then can we also suppose that those other people were somewhat superior to the Parmeshwar of the Hindus in that they, through their perfect power, invented hundreds of excellent languages while Parmeshwar could invent no more than one? Those people whose very fibre is permeated with polytheism consider their Parmeshwar to be an equal entity with themselves in many respects. And why should they not? After all, they regard themselves as coeternal with God and partners in His Divinity!

Should someone entertain the objection as to why God did not content Himself with the creation of just one language, such an objection would result from a lack of reflection. If a wise person were to observe the diversity in the nature and disposition of people from different countries, he would be fully convinced that one language would not have suited all of them. The people of some countries can easily pronounce certain letters and words, whereas the people of other countries find the pronunciation of the very same letters and words to be much too arduous. Therefore, how could it be possible that the All-Wise God, loving only one language, should have ignored the principle of [‘Putting something in its proper place’] and should have abandoned that which would have been appropriate for the diversity of their nature? Would it have been proper that He should have confined people of different temperaments in the narrow cage of one language? Moreover, the creation of a diversity of languages establishes the multiplicity of the powers of God Almighty. The praise of God offered by His humble creatures in diverse languages is, in itself, a most attractive spectacle of the expressions of homage [to God].

Fourth Preliminary Point

Reflection upon all of the creations of Almighty God establishes the principle that the wonders and marvels which He has bestowed upon His creations are of two types. Some are those which are easily discernible. For instance, everyone knows that man has organs, such as two eyes, two ears, one nose, and two feet. These are facts which are discovered through a cursory glance. The others are those facts which demand deeper insight—for instance, the structure of an eye, through which both eyes work in unison with each other as one organ and enable one to see everything whether large or small, and the structure of ears through which they can hear different sounds and differentiate between them. These are the facts which cannot be discovered through a cursory glance. Rather, specialists in the physical and biological sciences have discovered these truths after extensive research and deep deliberation spanning over a lengthy period of time. And still, there are hundreds of other undiscovered subtleties and verities of the human body which the mind of no scientist and researcher has yet been able to comprehend.

Undoubtedly, the paramount objective of these subtleties and verities is to lead man to acknowledge the perfect powers of the All-Wise God who possesses absolute wisdom and has worked such wonders and marvels into the creation of man. However, some naive person might object here: ‘Why has God made something—the purpose of which is the recognition of God—so subtle and elusive that its understanding requires the exercise of reflection and observation over a long period of time, and even then, there is no guarantee that man would fathom all the secrets of divine wisdom in their entirety; and because of this very difficulty, man has not yet fathomed even a drop out of the whole ocean? All of these wonders and marvels should have been made obvious to fulfil the purpose for which the All-Wise God had invested them in the human body.’

So, the reply to this objection—and others like it that may arise in someone’s mind regarding the wonders of divine creations and their subtle and hidden qualities—is that undoubtedly the natural law of God, with respect to all of His creation and everything that proceeds forth from Him, is that He has not contented Himself with wonders that are easy to comprehend. Rather, He has concealed within everything (that has come into existence through the power of His hand) subtle wonders (that are extremely deep and profound). But, to regard this work of God as being frivolous and useless is the height of ignorance.

It should be borne in mind that, unlike other animals, God has not created man with the nature that his knowledge should remain limited and confined to merely a few obvious, tangible facts, but has endowed him with the ability to continue making unlimited progress in knowledge through observation and reflection. It was for this very reason that he has been endowed with the pearl of wisdom—a lamp that provides illumination during the night [of ignorance]—which has not been given to other animals. It is obvious that if all these divine wonders and marvels had been plainly clear and manifest, requiring no observation and reflection whatsoever, then what are the things that man—whose excellence depends upon the perfection of his faculties of observation and reflection—could observe and reflect upon? And if he were not to observe and reflect, how could he attain perfection? And since the very humanity of man depends upon his use of the faculty of reflection, the All-Wise God has kept many subtle verities and facts concealed in such a way that, until man employs his God-given faculties with the utmost diligence, these subtle verities are not disclosed. What the All-Wise God desires by this is that man’s path to progress should remain open and he should attain the bliss for which he has been created. In short, everything that emanates from God is not limited to obvious phenomena; the deeper you delve into them, the greater the subtleties you discover.

Now that it has been proven that the general law of nature regarding all things that emanate from God is that they are full of subtle verities and profound mysteries, the same law will compel a sensible person to admit that the Word of God, too, should not be devoid of subtle verities but should contain them all the more, because it is the Word of God and the repository of the eternal knowledge of the All-Wise, which He has made the instrument possessing the means to regulate all of the laws of nature that exist in the heavens and the earth. Had it [the Word of God] been imperfect, how could it accomplish such momentous tasks? If it could not free man from all, but only some of his faults, this would be tantamount to deserting him in the middle of a journey before taking him to his destination. In short, when God’s law of nature (which applies to everything that emanates from Him) establishes that God Almighty has certainly placed deep subtleties in all of these things and has not limited them to the obvious phenomena, this is enough to expose the falsehood of those who claim that the word of God should only contain such injunctions as can be easily understood, and that there should not be, nor are there, any subtle and profound verities in them.

In order to reinforce their notion, they have made an argument in this matter which states that the Scriptures are revealed only for the ignorant, the less intelligent, the unlettered, and the Bedouin; and, hence, their teachings should be in accordance with their mental level, since the unlettered cannot benefit from subtle points, nor can they know anything about them.

Let it be clear, however, that this notion grips their minds solely on account of their short-sightedness, and this low and insignificant view of theirs reeks of the utmost folly and ignorance. I wish they had pondered over the Word of God so that they would realize that to entertain such a suspicion against God’s Holy and Perfect Word amounts to throwing dust in the face of the moon. Even now, if such people peruse this book and reflect with an open mind over the hundreds of profound insights and subtle verities of the Divine Word, which I have comprehensively detailed at their appropriate places in this book, this absurd idea will leave their minds as surely as darkness is dispelled upon the rising of the sun.

It goes without saying that mere conjecture amounts to nothing against a fact established by experience and observation. When a particular property of something has become known through repeated experimentation, it would be sheer insanity and madness to deny it merely on the basis of conjecture. If these people only utilize their God-given intelligence, they would realize that this very conjecture is absurd. Indeed, such a statement is just like someone refusing to believe in the hidden properties of plants on the pretext that if God had purposefully placed these various beneficial properties in plants and minerals etc. for the benefit of mankind, why had He concealed them layer upon layer to such an extent that for ages people continued to die without treatment because they were unaware of this knowledge; and even until today all of these hidden properties have not been fully comprehended. However, it is obvious that after the reality of the general divine law (which is found to be the same in both heaven and earth) has been established, only those can harbour such doubts who do not at all reflect on the laws of nature and before they acquire a good understanding of the attributes and practices of God (as reflected in the mirror of nature), they venture upon describing the nature of His Being, as well as His attributes. Otherwise, should a man barely open his eyes and cast a cursory glance all around him, he would find that this divine practice is not merely confined to one or two things, nor is it so obscure to the extent that it is difficult to understand. Rather, it is patently obvious that, we can see that even an insignificant housefly (a lowly, despicable, and disgusting insect) does not lie outside of this law of nature, let alone to mention the finest jewels or the loftiest of creations. Can it then be imagined, God forbid, that the Word of God, which—like His Being—should be steeped in the colours of holiness and perfection, is so lowly and inferior that it cannot even reach the station of a housefly in its hidden subtleties?

Here it should also be clear that God has not concealed any of the requirements of faith. The deeper subtleties are those subtleties which are above and beyond the basic beliefs, and are meant for those souls who have the ability and potential to achieve higher degrees of perfection. Those who do not wish to remain content with these basic tenets—as do those who are ignorant and of a low level of intelligence—make progress in wisdom and divine cognizance through these subtleties, and ascend the lofty minaret of true certainty which is among the highest stages of human abilities.

It is evident that if all mysteries of knowledge were manifestly obvious, what difference would there be between the wise and the unwise? All fields of knowledge, in that case, would be futile, and the fine measure for evaluating human abilities, and the very means through which man’s faculty of observation increases and the soul attains perfection, would be lost. And if this very means were lost, then what would be left for man to observe and reflect? And if he were not to observe and reflect, he, too, like other animals, would be restricted to a certain known and finite limit and would not have the ability to make infinite progress. Consequently, he would be deprived of the bliss for which he had been created.

How can one harbour the suspicion against God, who has endowed man with the faculties of observation and reflection, and who has bestowed upon him the ability to attain perfection, that He has sent down His Book to prevent man from attaining any sort of perfection, rather than enabling him to achieve perfection? Is it not true that God has sent down His Word to deliver mankind out of darkness into light? Hence, if the Book of God cannot bring man out of darkness, but the writings of Plato and Aristotle can, would it not be a mere claim of God to say that only His Book can deliver man from all darkness?

No one can stand against a fact the truth of which has been thoroughly established by experience and inference. All exceedingly subtle verities of the highest order that I have derived from the Holy Quran and written in this book furnish conclusive testimony and decisive proof of the truth of my above claim. Anyone who is acquainted with these Quranic subtleties and verities will have to concede, provided he is not totally blind [with prejudice], that the Holy Quran encompasses hundreds of verities and divine insights that Plato and Aristotle could not have even dreamt of. Thus, does it not follow from all of this that the Word of God is a compendium of all of the subtleties of faith?

I reiterate that God did not overburden man by adopting this plan; rather, He first invested man with the faculty of observation and then provided him with the means for reflection. These are indeed the very divine favours on account of which man’s star of fortune shines forth, and sets him apart from animals. God has not invested animals with the ability to reflect nor have they ever reflected about anything. So see for yourself whether they have remained in the very same state or not. Moreover, the objection that God has sent His Book for the unlettered and Bedouin (and so it should be at par with their level of understanding) is not valid. First of all, it is false that the Word of God has been revealed for the guidance of only the unlettered. God has Himself declared that this Book has been sent for the reformation of the whole world and people of all dispositions. Just as it addresses the unlettered ones, so does it speak to the Christians, Jews, Magians, Sabians, agnostics and atheists, etc.; all groups are addressed and it contains the refutation to all of their false creeds. It has addressed them all, saying:

—Part Number 92

Think for yourself. When it is proven that the Holy Quran had to deal with the varying dispositions of the whole world, was it necessary or not that it should have manifested its grandeur and truth to every type of human nature and should have removed every kind of doubt? Moreover, although it is true that the unlettered are also among its addressees, it is not true that God had desired that the unlettered should have remained unlettered. In fact, He wanted that those faculties of humanity and intelligence which were present within their nature should move from innate potentialities to the realm of actualization. What purpose does the teaching serve if the ignorant are to be kept in ignorance forever? God Himself has created in man a desire for knowledge and wisdom. Consider the emphasis laid upon the acquisition of knowledge and wisdom in the verse:

3

Meaning that, God grants wisdom to whomsoever He wills and he who is granted wisdom is granted great wealth. Then He says:

4

Meaning that, the Messenger sas teaches you the Book and wisdom and all those truths and verities which were not possible for you to learn on your own. Again, He says:

5

Meaning that, only those who possess knowledge fear God. Then He says:

6

Supplicate, saying, O God, grant me progress towards ever higher stages of knowledge. And then He says:

—Part Number 157

Meaning that, whosoever is blind in this world and does not develop insight into divine knowledge will remain blind in the Hereafter as well; nay, he will be worse than the blind. Then He teaches the prayer:

—Part Number 18

Meaning that, O God, the Exalted, the Maker, manifest to us the straight path that You have shown to all people of excellence who were recipients of Your grace and favour.

Since the straight path of the people of excellence is that, unlike the blind, they search for verities with true insight, the essence of this prayer would therefore be: ‘O God, grant us collectively, all kinds of true knowledge, true insights, profound secrets, and subtle verities that You have been granting individually to all people of excellence in the world from time to time.’ Note that in this supplication too, it is knowledge and wisdom that have been sought from God—knowledge which had been severally bestowed on different people of the world.

In short, though God Almighty has laid down the principle of salvation in a very lucid and unambiguous manner in His Book—so that all people, literate or illiterate, can comprehend and understand it equally without encountering any kind of difficulty or confusion—yet, with regard to the subtleties and sublime secrets of divine knowledge, the All-Wise One has so willed that man should strive to discover them so that this very labour on his part may prove to be the cause of his self-perfection, because the sustenance and existence of all human faculties depend on such toil and exercise. If a person keeps his eyes permanently closed and never uses them to see, he will go blind within a few days (as has been established by medical experiments); if he keeps his ears closed, he will turn deaf; if he stops moving his hands and feet, they will ultimately be left without sensation and mobility; similarly, if he does not utilize his faculty of memory, it will decline; and if he does not use his faculty of reflection, it too, will gradually waste away until it becomes virtually extinct. So this is God’s grace and favour that He desired people to tread upon a path that is essential for the perfection of their faculty of reflection. Had Allah the Almighty desired to keep man altogether free from toil, it would not have been appropriate for Him to reveal His final Book, which was meant for all people (who speak different languages), in just one language which they are ignorant of; for, learning a foreign language is not possible without effort, even though it may be small.

Fifth Preliminary Point

A miracle which man’s intellect recognizes and testifies to be from Allah is thousands of times better than the miracles that are narrated in the form of mere fables and tales. There are two reasons for this preference. The first is that reported miracles cannot be considered by us—who were born hundreds of years after their occurrence—as witnessed and experienced phenomena. Moreover, since these are reports that have reached us, they cannot be accorded the same degree of credibility as seen and observed phenomena. Secondly, such reported miracles, as are beyond the realm of reason to understand, cannot fully satisfy even those who witness them. This is because there are many wondrous feats which are frequently exhibited by conjurors. Granted, they are no more than deceit and trickery, but how can we convince a malevolent opponent that the miracles worked by the Prophets—wherein some demonstrated the appearance of a snake and some revived the dead—were free from the kind of sleight of hand perpetrated by these conjurors. These doubts have not arisen only in our age; rather, it is quite possible that similar questions may have originated at the time of their occurrence. For instance, it is written in the Gospel of John, chapter 5, verses 2 to 59:

Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When [Yasu‘] Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

Obviously, when a person who denies the prophethood of Hazrat ‘Isa [Jesus] and his miracles reads this passage of John and discovers the ancient pool in the land of Hazrat ‘Isa, which always had the peculiarity that a single dip could heal every kind of illness—no matter how severe—the strong suspicion would inevitably arise in his mind that if Hazrat Masih [the Messiah] did, in fact, perform any wondrous miracles, he would have certainly done so by using the water from this pool. Many examples of such precedents have always been found in the world, and exist even today. Logically it is quite correct and stands to reason that if the blind, the lame, etc. were cured by the hand of Hazrat Masih, then he must have hijacked the prescription from this very pool and publicized among the ignorant and simple people—who do not get to the root cause of the issues and cannot discern true reality—that he worked such wonders with the help of some ‘Spirit’. Such a view becomes even more credible, particularly when it is an accepted fact that Hazrat Masih would often frequent that very same pool. In the eyes of an opponent, therefore, the miracles that the pool had been manifesting since ancient times cast grave doubts and suspicions on the person of Hazrat ‘Isa. It becomes extremely difficult to prove that the Masih was not—as the Jews believe him to be—a deceiver and a conjuror, but a righteous man who did not get any help from the ancient pool to work his wonders, and that he did indeed perform miracles.

One is relieved of such doubts after believing in the Holy Quran; however, how can someone who has not yet believed in the Holy Quran—be he a Jew, Hindu, or Christian—escape such doubts? Given the fact that there was a wondrous pool, a single dip into which could cure thousands of lame, crippled, and congenitally blind people; and which for centuries had been known to the Jews and other people of the land as possessing these wondrous qualities, and was much talked about; and innumerable people had been cured by plunging into it, and continued to do so every day, and it had always been crowded with people; and the Masih, too, used to frequent this pool and was aware of its peculiar qualities; how can someone’s heart be satisfied that he did not receive any help from its clay or water to work the very same miracles that the pool had been manifesting since ancient times, nor did he adapt it to prepare a new prescription of his own? Undoubtedly, such a notion would be unfounded and would hold little weight before an opponent. Without doubt when one reflects on that pool of peculiar qualities, many irrefutable objections arise about the Masih himself. The more one reflects upon it, the more entrenched one becomes in confusion. And the Christian community can find no way of escape, since looking at the condition of the world today only strengthens these doubts. Numerous instances of such deceit and trickery come to mind from one’s own memory; rather, everyone possesses a vast stock of first-hand experiences of them.

The deceitful, whose secrets remain concealed, are emboldened to perpetrate such tricks by the fact that these tricks can, and do, deceive the simple and ignorant people. The common and illiterate people, who often behave like cattle, never even think of conducting detailed investigations and getting to the bottom of the issue, nor does the short duration of the tricks allow for adequate thinking and reflection. Thus, the conjurors have plenty of margin to play their sleights of hand and there is little opportunity to unravel their mysteries. Besides, the helpless masses have no knowledge of the natural sciences, philosophy, and arts, and are completely unaware of all the diverse types of amazing qualities which the All-Wise God has invested within the universe. Hence, at all times and in every age they are prone to deception. And why would they not be deceived, for the properties of things are indeed amazing, and they cause even greater amazement in a state of ignorance. For instance, a fly and some other creatures have the quality that if they die, but have not yet undergone significant disintegration, and their organs have remained intact in their original form and shape, have not putrefied and are still in good condition, and they have not been dead for more than two or three hours—as in the case of flies that die in water—if such creatures are buried under fine ground salt, and then an equal measure of ash is also spread over them, they come to life and fly away. This phenomenon is so well known that even children know it, but if there is a simple person who is unaware of this formula, and a deceiver—claiming to be the ‘Messiah of flies’—performs this trick before such an ignorant one and brings some flies back to life, mumbling some mantras all the while, trying to create the impression that he performs the feat through the mantras, would the simple person have the sense or time to go about conducting investigations?

Do you not see how, in this very age, deceivers are wreaking havoc in the world? Some boast of turning things into gold, claiming to be alchemists, some bury stones in the earth themselves and then bring them out, presenting them as goddesses to the Hindus, while others have gone to the extent of mixing the oil of jamal gota10 with writing ink. They use that ink to write a charm for a simple person, so that the resulting loose motions may be attributed to the charm. There are thousands of similar frauds and deceptions being practised in this very day and age. Some of these frauds are so subtle that even some very wise people are taken in by them. In this age, many profound subtleties of the natural sciences and amazing qualities of physiological compositions and faculties are coming to light daily through new experiments. These new phenomena can be exploited by pseudo miracle-workers to practise novel forms of deceit and trickery. The above discourse proves that miracles, which apparently resemble such tricks—even if they are true—remain covered by the veil of uncertainty and there are great difficulties in substantiating their truth.

Sixth Preliminary Point

Just as obscure miracles cannot equal miracles which are proven rationally, in the same way, prophecies and news of the past that resemble those made by astrologers, diviners, soothsayers, and historians cannot equal prophecies and news of the unseen that do not consist of mere reports, but are accompanied by divine power; because, other than the Prophets, there are many people in the world who foretell earthquakes, pestilences, wars and famines, the rising of one nation against another, etc., etc., and often some of their predictions do come true. Therefore, in order to dispel these doubts, only those prophecies and news of the unseen will be considered grand and perfect that are accompanied by such Signs of divine might as can never be matched by fortune tellers, by those who make predictions on the basis of dreams, and by astrologers, etc. That is to say, they should possess such a surge of the perfect glory of God Almighty and such a magnificent display of His manifestation as clearly signifies His special grace. Moreover, they should bear news of such succour foretelling, in complete detail, one’s own victory and the opponent’s defeat, one’s own honour and the opponent’s humiliation, and one’s own good fortune and the opponent’s decline. I shall elaborate at the relevant place—and to some extent I have already stated—that these sublime prophecies are the exclusive prerogative of the Holy Quran and are such that their study opens for us a whole new world of divine glory.

Seventh Preliminary Point

The totality of fine verities pertaining to the science of religion and all of the sciences pertaining to the subtleties of the subject of divinity, and conclusive arguments relating to the principles of truth, together with the mysteries and insights that are set out in the Holy Quran, are, in themselves, such that human faculties are unable to discover them collectively, nor can the intellect of any wise man foresee them on its own. By reflecting upon the past ages in confirmation of this point, it is proven that there has never been a sage or a philosopher who was able to discover all of these sciences and insights. But in this case there is a wonder upon wonders. That is, those sciences and insights were bestowed upon one who was unlettered, and could not read or write at all; who had never even seen a school in his entire life, nor read a single word of any book, nor had been afforded the company of any learned or wise person. On the contrary, he lived his entire life among uncivilized and barbaric people; he was born and raised among them and kept company with them. The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, being unlettered is a matter so patent that no historian of Islam is unaware of it. Since this point will be very helpful in understanding subsequent chapters, I will here quote some verses of the Holy Quran to prove that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was unlettered. So let it be known that the particulars of these verses are as follows:

Allah the Almighty says,

—Surah al-Jumu‘ah, Part Number 2811

He is God, who has raised among the unlettered people a Messenger from among themselves who recites unto them His Signs, and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and wisdom, although they had been, before, steeped in manifest misguidance.

—Surah al-A‘raf, Part Number 912

I inflict punishment on whom I will, and My mercy encompasses all things, so I will ordain My mercy for those who abstain from every kind of idolatry, unbelief, and indecency, and pay the zakat, and also for those who truly believe in Our Signs.

These are the people who believe in that Messenger, the Prophet, in whose person are found two Signs of Our perfect power. First, there is the external Sign, meaning that there are prophecies regarding him mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel, which they themselves find present in their own Books. The second Sign found in the person of that Prophet himself is that, despite being unlettered, he has brought such a perfect guidance that he relates all essential verities which are acknowledged by both reason and the Shariah and which had disappeared from the face of the earth for the benefit of mankind, and he commands them to act upon it. And he forbids them every irrational thing which is deemed by reason and the Shariah to be untrue, and declares good things as lawful and declares the bad as unlawful, and removes from the Jews and Christians their heavy burden and the fetters that were upon them. So those who shall believe in him, support him, help him, and truly follow the light that has been sent down with him—they shall attain salvation.

Say to the people, ‘I have been sent to you all from Allah, the One who is without any partnership, and is Lord of the heavens and the earth; there is no god or being worthy of worship besides Him. He gives life and He causes death. So believe in this God and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may attain guidance.’

—Surah ash-Shura, Part Number 2513

Likewise, We have sent down to you the Spirit by Our command. You did not know what the Book was, nor belief, but We have made it [the Revelation] a light, whereby We guide whomsoever We please. And truly, you guide towards the right path.

—Surah al-‘Ankabut, Part Number 2114

And before this you did not recite any Book, nor did you write one with your [right] hand; in that case, those who follow falsehood would have some reason to doubt. Nay, it is a collection of clear Signs in the hearts of those who are given knowledge. And none but the wrongdoers deny them.

All of these [above] verses conclusively prove that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was unlettered; for, it is obvious that if, in fact, the Holy Prophet was not unlettered, many people would have arisen to contradict this claim of him being unlettered, because the Holy Prophet did not make this claim in a country whose people could be considered unaware and ignorant of his life. Rather, they were the people among whom the Holy Prophet had been raised since his birth, and had spent the larger part of his life in their company. Therefore, had he not been unlettered, he could never have claimed to be so in the presence of those from whom nothing of his life was hidden, and who were constantly looking for an opportunity to prove any deception on the part of the Holy Prophet, and to publicize it. In fact, their hostility had reached such an extent that, had they been able to, they would not have hesitated to fabricate evidence against him, and it is in this context that each one of their ill-suspicions was refuted so effectively that they were left stunned and speechless. For instance, some ignorant people of Makkah began to say that they did not like the Quranic teaching of Tauhid [Oneness of God]. They demanded that another Quran be brought forward which should honour the idols and teach their worship, or it should be modified to replace Tauhid with idolatry—only then would they accept it and become believers. The reply that God taught to His Messenger in answer to their demand was based on the life of the Holy Prophet and it was this:

—Surah Yunus, Part Number 1115

Those who hope not for the meeting with Us—that is, those who have completely severed their relationship with Us—say, ‘In place of this Quran bring another Quran, the teachings of which are different from, and contrary to, those of the present Quran, or make changes in this very Quran.’ Tell them in response, ‘I have no power to do so, nor is it permissible that I, of my own accord, should change anything in the Word of God. I follow only the revelation that descends upon me and I fear, lest I should disobey my Lord.’ [Say,] ‘If Allah had so willed, I would not have recited this Word to you nor would He have made it known to you. Before this, I have lived such a long time among you—that is to say forty years—‘then do you not possess wisdom?’ In other words, are you not well aware that I am not given to forgery, nor am I in the habit of lying. He then says, ‘Who is then more unjust than he who forges a lie against Allah or he who declares God’s Word to be a lie forged by man? Surely, the guilty shall not attain salvation.’

Thus, in the eyes of the Arabs, Christians, and Jews, the fact that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was unlettered, was so obvious and indisputable, that they could not dare deny it. In this vein they would even test his prophethood by asking him to relate numerous stories of the Torah that no man of letters could be ignorant of, and upon finding his reply accurate and true, as well as free from the grave errors that had crept into the tales in the Torah, the truly knowledgeable among them would accept him wholeheartedly. Regarding such people, the Holy Quran states the following words:

—Surah al-Ma’idah, Part Number 716

From among the followers of different religions, the Christians are most inclined towards Muslims. That is because amongst them there are also some scholars and monks who are not arrogant. And when they hear the Word of God that has been revealed to His Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears, because they recognize the truth of the Word of God and say, ‘O our Lord, we believe, so write us down among those who bear witness to the truth of Your religion. And why should we not believe in Allah and in His true Word while we earnestly wish that God should include us among the people who are righteous?’

—Surah Bani Isra’il, Part Number 1517

Those among the Christians and Jews who have been given knowledge fall down prostrate on their faces when the Holy Quran is recited to them, and say, ‘Our God is far too Holy to go against His promise. His promise was bound to be fulfilled one day.’ They fall down on their faces weeping, and the Word of God increases meekness and humility in them.

Hence, this was the case of the knowledgeable and fair-minded among the Christians and Jews. On the one hand, they looked at the Holy Prophet and found him totally unlettered, without an iota of training or instruction, and without any exposure to civilized society or the opportunity to attend scholarly discourses. On the other hand, they found that the Holy Quran encompassed not only the narratives contained in the earlier scriptures, but also hundreds of subtle verities that perfected and completed those earlier scriptures.

By pondering over the unlettered state of the Holy Prophet, and then, during such a time of darkness, observing his perfect knowledge, and witnessing his manifest and inner light, the truth of the prophethood of the Holy Prophet sas became as evident to them as the shining sun. Obviously, if these Christian scholars were not fully convinced that the Holy Prophet sas was unlettered and the recipient of divine help, it would not have been possible for them to renounce their religion—which enjoyed the support of the great Roman Empire, and which had spread beyond Asia into some parts of Europe, and which, because of its idolatrous teachings, appeared attractive and dear to the materialists—merely on the basis of some tenuous conjectures, nor would they have accepted a religion that was detested by all idolaters on account of its teaching of Tauhid and whose followers were constantly under the threat of annihilation and persecution from every direction. Thus, what drew their hearts toward Islam was naught but the fact that they found the Holy Prophet sas totally unlettered, yet fully strengthened by Allah, and found the Holy Quran to be beyond human capabilities. In addition, they used to read glad tidings in the earlier scriptures about that Last Prophet, so God opened their hearts to believe and they proved to be so faithful that they laid down their lives in the path of God.

When we look at the circumstances of even those among the Christians, Jews, and Arabs who were ignorant, wicked, and extremely mischievous, we find that they also firmly believed that the Holy Prophet was unlettered. That is why, when they tested his prophethood by questioning him about certain biblical stories and invariably received accurate answers, they could never dare say that he was somewhat literate and read the books before giving the answers. Rather, with great shame, they used to say—like a person who, having been silenced and disconcerted, resorts to making lame excuses—that some Christian or Jewish biblical scholars might have secretly told him these stories. Hence, it is obvious that if, in their heart of their hearts, they were not fully convinced of the Holy Prophet being unlettered, they would have tried their utmost to prove that the Holy Prophet was not unlettered and that he was taught at such and such a school or institution instead of indulging in such absurdities that only exposed their own foolishness. This is because the allegation that some Jewish and Christian scholars were the secret allies and helpers of the Holy Prophet is evidently false, since the Holy Quran repeatedly declares the revelation of the People of the Book to be imperfect, their scriptures perverted and interpolated, and their beliefs to be corrupt and false; and even proclaims them accursed and Hell-bound if they die in the state of disbelief, and refutes their spurious dogmas with powerful arguments.

Then how could it be possible that they, through the Holy Quran, would condemn their own religion, refute their own books, and become responsibile for uprooting their own religion? Hence, these worldly people were forced to blurt out these lame and baseless allegations because they could find no way to defend themselves with rational arguments.

The Sun of Truth was radiating its light in all directions so powerfully that they had to hide themselves like bats, and were totally incapable of taking a firm stand on any one position. Rather, their prejudice and intense enmity had rendered them like the insane and mad. First, having heard the Quranic account of the Israelite Prophets, they suspected that perhaps someone from among the People of the Book must have been secretly relating those accounts [to the Holy Prophet sas], as the Holy Quran quotes them saying:

—Surah an-Nahl, Part Number 1418

When they discovered that the Holy Quran not only contains those accounts, but also profound verities, they expressed a second opinion:

—Surah al-Furqan, Part Number 1819

Meaning that, a large group of people has come together to compile the Holy Quran, since it could not be the work of one man.

And when they were given the reply in the Holy Quran that if it had indeed been written collectively by a group of learned men, scholars, and poets, then they should also seek help from a similar group of people and produce the like of the Quran so that their truthfulness should be proven. And when they could not respond to this challenge, they put forward a third opinion, which was that the Holy Quran was composed with the help of the jinn, and it could not be the work of man. Then God gave such a reply that they were left completely dumbfounded, as He says:

[—Surah at-Takwir, Part Number 3020]

Meaning that, the Quran contains all kinds of matters relating to the unseen, and to disclose so much is beyond the ability of the jinn.

—Surah Bani Isra’il, Part Number 1521

And tell them that even if all of the jinn were to unite and along with them the whole of mankind gathered together, and even if they all collectively helped one another for the purpose of producing another Quran as the like of this Quran, it would be absolutely impossible for them to do so.

Thus, when the falsity of their assertions became evident to these ill-fated wretched ones and they could see no other way of countering the Holy Quran, they, with utmost shamelessness, like the mean-natured, resorted to finding ways of barring the propagation of the Holy Quran. As is mentioned in the Holy Quran:

[—Surah Ha Mim as-Sajdah, Part Number 24]22

Meaning that, those who disbelieve say, ‘Do not listen to this Quran, but make noise when it is recited before you so that you may have the upper hand by doing so.’

[—Surah Aal-e-‘Imran, Part Number 3]23

And some from among the Christians and the Jews said, ‘Let us believe in the Holy Quran in the early part of the day, and return to our own faith in the latter part thereof, so that by doing so people might be thrown into doubt and renounce the faith of Islam.’

—Surah an-Nisa’, Part Number 524

Have you not seen these Christians and Jews—who have only superficially read the Gospel and the Torah, and who believe in false deities and idols, and who say to the idolaters that their belief of idol-worship is much better than the Muslim doctrine of Tauhid, which amounts to nothing—these are the very people whom God has cursed, and he whom God curses, shall not find for himself a helper.

In a nutshell, if the Holy Prophet had not been unlettered, the opponents of Islam—particularly the Jews and Christians, whose opposition was based not only on doctrinal differences, but also on envy and malice that the Messenger had not appeared from among the Israelites, but rather from their brothers, the Ishmaelites—could not have remained silent in regard to a claim that was in clear contradiction to the facts. Undoubtedly, it was perfectly clear to them that the words flowing from the Holy Prophet’s mouth could not be the words of an unlettered person, nor could they be the work of ten or twenty men, and this is why they asserted in their ignorance:

[—Surah al-Furqan, Part Number 18]25

And those who were wise and truly knowledgeable among them had fully realized that the Quran is beyond human capability to produce, and the door to certainty was opened to them in such a manner that God says regarding them:

[—Surah al-Baqarah, Part Number 2]26

Meaning that, they recognize this Prophet as they recognize their own sons.

As a matter of fact, this door of knowledge and certainty was opened not only for them, but it remains open for all, even in this age. For, in order to ascertain the truth of the Holy Quran, the same miracles of the Quran, the same effects of the Furqan [Holy Quran], the same divine support from the unseen, and the same indisputable Signs, exist even today as they existed at that time. Since God intended this perfect Faith to abide forever, He kept alive all of its blessings and Signs, and as He intended to uproot the interpolated, false, and imperfect faiths of the Christians, the Jews, and the Hindus, they were left with mere tales, without any trace of divine blessings and heavenly support. Their Books speak of signs of which there is not an iota of proof in their hands and refer only to tales of the past, whereas the Holy Quran presents such Signs which can be witnessed by everyone.

Eighth Preliminary Point

Any miracle shown by a wali [friend of Allah] is, in reality, a miracle of the one whom he follows and to whose ummah he belongs. This is quite obvious and self-evident, for when the demonstration of a Sign is dependent solely upon obedience to a person or a particular book, and can never happen without [such] obedience, then it stands clearly proven that, although it is apparently manifested through a follower, it is, in fact, a manifestation of the Master Prophet, whose obedience is the prerequisite for its manifestation.

The secret as to how a Prophet’s miracle can be shown through another person is that when someone acts exactly in conformity with the commands of his law-bearer [i.e. Prophet], and abstains from that which he has forbidden, and follows the Book that he has given, then, in such a case, he completely loses his own identity and comes under the protective care of his law-bearer. Thus, if the law-bearer is a true guide to the right path—like a skilled physician—and brings a blessed book that provides a remedy for all of his followers’ spiritual ills and contains all the provisions for his intellectual and moral perfection, and if his follower, for his part, accepts those teachings wholeheartedly without even slightly deviating from them in letter or spirit, then all brilliance and effects that come about as a result of perfect following, will, in fact, be the blessings of the Prophet who is being followed. In the same vein, if a wali manifests something extraordinary, it will be considered a miracle of the Prophet whom he follows.

After these preambles, I write down the arguments for the divine origin of the Holy Quran.

[And we beg Allah for the ability to do so and for His help. He is an Excellent Friend and an Excellent Helper].