Please note that, in the translation that follows, words given in parentheses ( ) are the words of the Promised Messiah(as). If any explanatory words or phrases are added by the translators for the purpose of clarification, they are put in square brackets [ ]. Footnotes given by the publisher are marked ‘[Publisher]’.
References to the Holy Quran contain the name of the surah [i.e. chapter] followed by a chapter: verse citation, e.g. Surah al-Jumu‘ah, 62:4, and count Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim [‘In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful’] as the first verse in every chapter that begins with it.
The following abbreviations have been used:
sa — sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, meaning ‘may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him’, is written after the name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(sa).
as — ‘alaihis-salam, meaning ‘may peace be on him’, is written after the names of Prophets other than the Holy Prophet Muhammad(sa) and select other holy personages.
ra — radiyallahu ‘anhu/‘anha/‘anhum, meaning ‘may Allah be pleased with him/her/them’, is written after the names of the Companions of a Prophet and select other holy people.
rh — rahmatullahi ‘alaihi/‘alaiha/‘alaihim, meaning ‘may Allah shower His mercy upon him/her/them’, is written after the names of those deceased, pious Muslims who are not Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(sa) or of the Promised Messiah(as).
aba — ayyadahullahu Ta‘ala binasrihil-‘Aziz, meaning ‘may Allah the Almighty help him with His powerful support’, is written after the name of the presenthead of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad(aba), Khalifatul Masih V.
Readers are urged to recite the full salutations when reading the book. In general, we have adopted the system established by the Royal Asiatic Society for our transliteration.
We have not transliterated some Arabic words which have become part of English language, e.g. Islam, Quran, hadith, Mahdi, jihad, Ramadan and ummah. The Royal Asiatic Society’s rules of transliteration for names of persons, places, and other terms, are not followed throughout the book as many of the names contain non-Arabic characters and carry a local transliteration and pronunciation style.
Acknowledgements
The following people contributed to the publication of this book. Rana Nasir Mahmood Tahir prepared the initial English translation of this book, with the help of Zulqarnain Bharwana. Syed Tanwir Mujtaba performed the initial formatting. Bilal Ahmed Tahir revised the translation, comparing it with the original Arabic text. The book was reviewed and finalized by al-Haj Munawar Ahmed Saeed, Naveed Ahmed Malik, Naser-ud-Din Shams, Hassan Faiyaz Khan, Rashida Rana, Rawan Malas, and Abdul-Wahab Mirza. May Allah the Almighty reward them all for their efforts.