In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful
We praise Him and invoke His blessings upon His Noble Messenger
With the Blessings and Mercy of God

A Note on the Second Edition

This humble person is grateful to Allah the Exalted for enabling me to revise Sirat Sayyidul-Anbiya’, (Chief of the Prophets). The first edition of this book was published in 1939 at the time of the Khilafat Jubilee.1 In the preface of the first edition, I wrote:

I humbly expressed my desire (to compile and publish this book) to my revered teacher, Maulana Maulawi Muhammad Isma‘il Fadil (Retired Professor, Jami‘ah2 Ahmadiyya Qadian, India). He not only agreed with it, but also carefully reviewed this book from cover to cover with great interest and full attention, and contributed significant improvements in the wording as well the content. Further, in spite of the financial challenges he faced, he determined to print this book himself after obtaining permission from the Director, Publications (Nazir Talif-o-Tasnif) of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. May Allah grant him an excellent reward in this world and in the Hereafter!

In the preparation of this book, I drew significant benefit from Sirat Khatamun-Nabiyyin (Life of the Seal of the Prophets), written by Sahibzadah Mirza Bashir Ahmad. With respect to the chronological ordering of the events and the history up to the 5 A.H., it should be viewed as a summary of the book, Sirat Khatamun-Nabiyyin. Further, at various places from the historical perspective, I also benefited from the Friday sermons of Khalifatul-Masih II (ra). I am also very grateful to two revered elders, Sahibzadah Mirza Sharif Ahmad, and Doctor Mir Muhammad Isma‘il, for not only carefully reading the manuscript, but also for providing highly valuable guidance. I truly believe that it is the guidance of these two revered elders that richly enhanced the beauty of this book. May Allah grant them the best reward!

Since the printing of the previous edition, the third volume of Sirat Khatamun-Nabiyyin has been published; therefore, I also kept that in view while revising Sirat Sayyidul-Anbiya’. As a matter of fact, the part consisting of the letters of invitation to Islam from Muhammad (sas) has been reproduced in the original words of Sahibzadah Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra). As a result, this book, Sirat Sayyidul-Anbiya’ can now be considered a summary of Sirat Khatamun-Nabiyyin up to the events of the 6 A.H.

Sincerely,
‘Abdul-Qadir