119. [One Hundred-Nineteenth] Sign

It so happened, in the year 1900, that one of my paternal cousins, Imam-ud-Din, who was bitterly opposed to me, created the nuisance that he built a wall across the front of our house in such a location that the access to the mosque was blocked and the guests who came to see me in my sitting room or came to the mosque were stopped from coming. Thus, my Jama‘at and I suffered great hardship as if we were besieged. Left with no other option, we filed a complaint in the Civil Court of Munshi Khuda Bakhsh, District Judge. After the complaint had been filed, we learnt that this case was not winnable. The difficulty in it was that, with regard to the land on which the wall had been erected, it was established by the decree of some earlier time that Imam-ud-Din, the defendant, had long been in possession of.

This piece of land had originally belonged to another co-sharer by the name of Ghulam Jilani but it had gone out of his possession and he had sued in the Civil Court at Gurdaspur with the plea that Imam-ud-Din was the seizer. That suit was dismissed on the basis of evidence of adverse possession. Since then Imam-ud-Din had continued to be in possession of it. Now Imam-ud-Din had erected a wall on the same land claiming that it was his land.

Thus, after we had filed the suit, review of an old decree placed such an insoluble problem for us that clearly indicated that our claim would be dismissed, for, as I have mentioned, this old decree established that Imam-ud-Din was in possession of that land. In face of this grave difficulty, our lawyer, Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, had advised us to settle the matter through compromise. That is to say, we should appease Imam-ud-Din by offering him some money.

I had reluctantly agreed to this suggestion, but he was not a person who would agree. He harboured a personal grudge against me, and indeed against the faith of Islam itself. He had realized that we had no way to sue him, and therefore became even worse in his mischief. In the end, we resigned the matter to God Almighty. But, as far as we and our advocate were concerned, we knew that there was no chance of success, for the old decree established the possession of Imam-ud-Din. And Imam-ud-Din had such an evil intention that he would resist and hurl abuses in the courtyard in front of our house where our visitors yakkas [horse-drawn carriages] arrived. What is worse, he had also planned that after our case had been dismissed, he would erect a long wall in front of the doors of our house in order to besiege us like prisoners and make it impossible for us to exit our houses or go out. These were days of great anxiety for us, so much so that the situation described in the following verse applied to us perfectly:

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It was a calamity that had appeared out of nowhere. Thus, supplication was made in the court of Allah and help was sought from Him.

Then, after the supplication, I received the revelation which follows. These revelations are not of different times, but were revealed together at one time. I remember that at that time, Sayyed Fadl Shah of Lahore, brother of Sayyed Nasir Shah, an overseer stationed at Baramulla, Kashmir, was kneading my feet. It was noon time when this series of revelations relating to the case pertaining to the wall began.

I told Sayyed [Fadl Shah] that this revelation was about the lawsuit relating to the wall and he should write it down as it was revealed. He therefore took the pen and paper. It so happened that every time divine revelation would come sentence by sentence while a state of drowsiness overtook—as is the way of God—and after one sentence was completed and written down, drowsiness would recur and the next sentence of divine revelation would flow from my tongue, until the entire divine revelation had descended, and had it written down by the pen of Sayyed Fadl Shah of Lahore.2

In it I was given to understand that it is related to the wall that had been erected by Imam-ud-Din, the case pertaining to which was pending in court, and I was made to understand that in the end victory would be ours in this case.

So, I announced this revelation from God to a large number of my followers and informed them of its meaning and the occasion of its revelation. They were also published in Al-Hakam and I told everyone that, though the case appeared hopeless, God Almighty would create the means whereby we would win, for such indeed was the sum and substance of the revelation from Allah.

I will now write the text of this revelation from Allah, along with its translation. It is as follows:

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(Translation): ‘The mill shall revolve and divine decree shall descend’, i.e. the case will take on a new aspect, quite like the revolving millstone when the [visible] part in front, goes back and becomes invisible and what was invisible before, becomes visible in turn. It means that, in the present state of the lawsuit, the aspect of the case as perceived by the presiding judge, which is harmful and damaging to our interest, shall no longer remain so and a different situation shall appear that shall be favourable to us.

Just as the part of the revolving millstone that is in front of the face goes back and the part in the back comes in front of the face, so shall the hidden and concealed matters come in the front of the face and become visible and what are visible shall become inconsequential and invisible.

Then God added: ‘This is the grace of God that has been promised; it certainly shall come; no one can dare to ward it off.’ That is, this matter has already been decreed in heaven that the present condition of the lawsuit which exudes desperation and hopelessness, shall be removed at once and an entirely new situation shall manifest that is helpful to our plaint and of this no one has any knowledge.

Then God Almighty added: ‘Say, “I swear by my God, that this indeed is the truth; neither shall it change at all, nor shall it remain hidden. A matter will arise which will amaze you. This is the word of God who is the God of the high heavens. My Lord does not deviate from the straight course that He practises with His exalted servants and He does not forget those of His servants who are deserving of help. So you will have a clear victory in this case but this verdict is delayed until such time as has been preordained by God.” You are with Me and I am with you. Say, “All matters are in the control of my God” and then leave the opponent in his error, pride, and arrogance.’

This sentence of God’s revelation is meant to provide solace, for after the lawsuit was filed, most of the jurists had come to realize that the plaint was baseless and that it would be certainly dismissed; and Imam-ud-Din, the respondent, had also been informed from every quarter that under the law, the door to our success was closed. For this reason, his arrogance had increased greatly and he confidently claimed that the suit would be dismissed shortly; rather, it was as good as dismissed. The mischief-mongers supported him. Thus, the news had spread almost throughout the entire village that according to our opponents, the case had been virtually decided in their favour. Therefore, God says in this context: ‘Why do you show such pride and arrogance? Everything is in the control of God Almighty. He has dominion over everything.’

Then addressing me He said: ‘The All-Powerful is with you and He knows all that is hidden. Indeed, even matters that are utmost secret and beyond the comprehension of man, are known to Him.’ The sum of this sentence of God’s revelation is that herein too lies a secret which has so far remained unknown to you, your counsel, or the judge in whose court this case is pending.

Then He said: ‘This God alone is truly worthy of worship, there is none else worthy of worship; man should not rely upon anyone else, as if he worshipped him. It is only God who has this qualification. He is the only One who knows everything and who sees everything. And that God is with those who adopt righteousness and fear Him and when they do something good, they attend to all its fine requirements. They do not do good superficially or in a flawed manner; rather, they attend to its most subtle elements and perform it with perfection. Such are the ones whom God helps, because they are in the service of His favoured paths. They tread them and help others to tread them.’

Then He said: ‘We sent Ahmad’—that is this humble one—‘to his people, but his people turned away from him and they said, “He is a great liar, submerged in worldly greed”’; that is, profiting from such tricks he wants to earn worldly gains by such and such machinations. ‘They testified against him in courts to get him arrested and they are falling upon him with their attacks like a strong flood that rushes down from above, but he says, “My Beloved is very near to me;” He is near indeed but is concealed from the eyes of the opponents.’

This was a prophecy that was made at a time when the opponents confidently claimed that the suit would surely be dismissed. With regard to me, they said that they would torment me by building the wall in front of all the doors of my house such as to make me a virtual prisoner. As I have just mentioned, God informed me through this prophecy: ‘I shall bring to light a fact because of which the conquered would become the conqueror and the one who is the conqueror would become the conquered.’

This prophecy had been publicised so widely that some members of our Jama‘at committed it to memory. Hundreds knew about it and wondered how it would come to pass. In short, no one can deny that this prophecy had been widely publicised beforehand, even months before the judgment. Having been published in the newspaper Al-Hakam, its news had reached people who lived far-off in the country.

Then came the day of judgment. Our opponents were jubilant that day that the order of the dismissal of the suit would be announced. They said that, from then on, they would find an opportunity to torment me in every conceivable manner. That indeed was the day when the true import of the statement of the prophecy that ‘it is a matter concealed with which the case would turn around and it will be revealed in the end’, was to be exposed.

It so happened that on that day our lawyer, Khwajah Kamal-ud-Din, thought of examining the index; i.e. the appendix of the old file which contains a summary of the essential orders. When it was examined, what was discovered in it was something entirely unexpected. That is, the certified copy of the order of the competent authority was discovered, to the effect that this land was not under the possession of Imam-ud-Din alone, but also of Ghulam Murtada; i.e. my father.

When this information was presented to the [presiding] judge, he ordered the index to be produced forthwith and, upon consulting it, the truth became evident to him. Therefore, he straightaway passed a decree against Imam-ud-Din with costs. Had that document not been produced before the competent authority, what option would he have except to dismiss the suit and we would have to suffer at the hands of the malicious enemy! Such are the ways of God.

Indeed this prophecy comprises not one, but two prophecies because firstly there is the promise of the victory in it and secondly there is the promise of exposing a secret matter that was concealed from everyone. It is with great pleasure and gratitude to God that we acknowledge that the providence of God also transformed the presiding judge of the case into a witness of the truth of this prophecy. He cannot dissociate himself from this testimony even though he—Sheikh Khuda Bakhsh, District Judge—is our religious opponent. He can testify that my counsel did not present this strong argument despite so many hearings and that it was only at the end of the case that this mystery was laid bare by the sheer grace of God.

Thus, anyone who happens to see the judgment of Sheikh Khuda Bakhsh would at once realize that our counsel relied for a long time on evidence based on hearsay which did not hold water against the judicial verdict. The file which the respondent Imam-ud-Din produced in order to establish his exclusive possession of the land contained only the name of Imam-ud-Din, my father’s name was not included in it. The secret lay in the fact that the original owner of the land, Ghulam Jilani, did file the suit against Imam-ud-Din and only Imam- ud-Din had been named as the respondent in his complaint. And after receiving the news, my father, through his attorney, got his name to be registered as one of the respondents. The purport of it was that both of them were in possession [of the property]. Those documents had been lost through some mishap and only Imam-ud-Din’s name was left as the respondent on the complaint of the plaintiff from which it was understood that Imam-ud-Din alone was in possession of the land.

This, therefore, was the hidden secret to which we were not privy. When God Almighty so willed, this hidden fact was brought to light with the help of the index. As foretold in the prophecy, the millstone turned in a moment. Obviously, with the movement of the millstone, that part of the millstone that is hidden from the eye presents itself to the eyes and what is in front, becomes invisible. The same thing happened of this case.

The issues that were before the judge earlier—namely, that the plaintiff Ghulam Jilani in his plaint had indicated only Imam-ud-Din to be in possession—disappeared instantly with the presentation of the index; and quite like the hidden side of the millstone, new issues presented themselves. The hidden matter which God Almighty had promised in this prophecy to reveal, disclosed itself. The fact of the matter is that the complaint filed by Ghulam Jilani belonged to a distant period over which some forty years had passed; that case belonged to my father’s time. I knew nothing about it. Since only Imam-ud-Din was named as the respondent in the plaintiff ’s complaint and all other documents had been destroyed and thirty years had passed, and meanwhile my father and—after him—my elder brother too had died, I had no knowledge of all these concealed matters.

Now one ought to think how great this prophecy is that is steeped in divine succour. We cannot vouch for the Islam of those who deny even such prophecies. What a pity that these people do not respect even divine succour. There was a time when the Christian ministers alleged, out of their sheer prejudice, that there was no prophecy in the Holy Quran. Muslim scholars did answer them, but the truth is that, to refute the one who denies prophecies and extraordinary Signs, is the task that can be done only by the one who can himself show a prophecy. Otherwise, this matter cannot be settled merely by talk. Thus, when the denials of the Christian ministers reached the limits, God sent me to bring the Muhammadan argument to complete fulfilment. Where are the Christian ministers now to stand up to me? I did not come untimely. I came at a time when Islam was being trampled under the feet of Christians.

O ye blind ones! Who has taught you to oppose the truth? Faith has been ruined; external attacks and internal innovations have wounded all the limbs of the Faith, and twenty-three years of the [fourteenth] century have also passed; millions of Muslims have renounced Islam and have become enemies of God and His Messenger, but you keep insisting that no one has come from God yet the Dajjal [Antichrist] has indeed appeared.

Show me any Christian cleric now who says that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, made no prophecy. Remember that time has long since passed before me. Now the time has come when God desires to demonstrate that the Messenger, Muhammad of Arabia, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, who has been vilified and denigrated and in whose rejection the unfortunate Christian clerics have written and published millions of books in this age, is truthful, and indeed the Chief of the truthful. He was vehemently rejected, but in the end, it was this very Messenger who was bestowed the crown of honour.

I am one of his servants4 and subordinates to whom God speaks and converses and upon whom the gate of the divine mysteries and Signs has been opened. O ye ignorant ones! You may allege it to be disbelief or whatever else you like, but what value can your denunciations have in the eyes of one who, under divine command, is constantly engaged in the service of the Faith and witnesses divine bounties pouring like rain! The same God who descended upon the heart of Ibn-e-Maryam [the son of Mary] has descended on my heart too, but in greater glory; he was a human being and I am a human too.

Just as sunshine falls upon a wall, but the wall cannot claim to be the sun; similarly, the two of us cannot draw any conclusion about the personal merit of our own selves, because that Real Sun can say, ‘What merit do you have apart from Me? Try to go away and see.’ Similarly, ‘Isa [Jesus] said on one occasion that he was the son of God and on another—as alleged by the Christians—he walked behind Satan. Had he possessed any intrinsic light, he would not have suffered this trial. Can Satan ever tempt God? Since ‘Isa was human, he experienced trials peculiar to human beings. His supplications, too, lacked authority. Just like a human being, he merely made humble and respectful submissions to the Divine Majesty. This is why he wept so profusely during his supplication in the garden [of Gethsemane] that his clothes were soaked with tears; yet despite this, according to Christians, that prayer was still not accepted. But I say that it was, indeed, accepted and God saved him from the cross. He merely entered the tomb like Yunus [ Jonah], and, like Yunus, he entered alive and came out alive. His weeping and the melting of his soul was like death itself. Such supplications, like the one offered by Ibn-e-Maryam [the son of Mary] in the garden, are accepted.5

It is not easy to supplicate in that exalted threshold. Supplication is veritable death; so first annihilate yourself, then go for supplication.