126. [One Hundred Twenty-Sixth] Sign

In Ludhiana, there was a gentleman named Mir ‘Abbas ‘Ali. He was among those who had entered into bai‘at [pledge of allegiance] with me. Within a few years, he made such progress in his sincere devotion that, on the basis of his spiritual condition at that time, I once received the revelation:

Its roots are firm and its branches spread into heaven.

This revelation only meant that at that time he was a firm believer. At that time he displayed signs that supported this. There was no incantation for him besides talking about me, and he used to copy out, in his own hand, every letter that I wrote to him considering them to be extremely blessed, and he admonished and advised other people. Even if there was a dry piece of my leftover bread, he would eat it, considering it to be blessed. He was the one who was the first from Ludhiana to come to me in Qadian. At one time, I was shown by God that ‘Abbas ‘Ali would stumble and draw away from me. Even that letter of mine he copied into his collection of my letters. Thereafter, when he met me he expressed surprise over my vision saying, ‘How can that be, for I am ready to lay down my life for you?’ I replied that whatever is destined for you, shall be fulfilled. Subsequently, the time came when I put forward my claim of being the Promised Messiah. He found the claim unpalatable. In the beginning he was disgruntled in his heart. Later on, at the time of my debate with Maulawi Abu Sa‘id Muhammad Husain in Ludhiana, he had the opportunity of associating with my opponents for a few days. Then the divine decree became manifest and he clearly revolted. He deviated completely, so much so that the conviction of his heart and the light of his face all vanished and the darkness of apostasy became evident. After he had rejected me, he met me once at Pir Iftikhar Ahmad’s residence in Ludhiana and proposed, ‘You and I can settle the matter if we are locked up in a room and remain locked for ten days, then the one who is a liar, shall die.’ I replied, ‘Mir Sahib, why resort to such tests that are opposed to the Shariah? No Prophet tried to test God. However, God is watching you and me. He has the power, on His own, to kill the liar vis-e-vis the truthful. As for Signs from God Almighty, they are pouring down like rain. If you are a genuine seeker of truth, come to Qadian with me!’ He replied that he could not go because his wife was ill or perhaps she was away or something to that effect which I do not recall. I responded, ‘Now just wait for God’s verdict.’ Later, he died the same year and there was no need left for being locked up in any room. This indeed is an occasion to fear [God], as to what the fate of ‘Abbas ‘Ali was! After such [spiritual] progress, he fell into the pit of decadence in an instant. His events demonstrate that even if there is a revelation about pleasure in respect of a certain person, that pleasure is quite often valid only for a particular time; i.e. as long as he does what pleases God1 as, in the Holy Quran, God Almighty repeatedly expresses His anger in respect of the disbelievers, but as soon as anyone of them becomes a believer, the erstwhile anger changes into pleasure. Similarly, divine pleasure at times changes into wrath. That is why it is on record in hadith that sometimes a person performs deeds like those of the denizens of Paradise, so much so that there is a distance of just one hand’s breadth left between him and Paradise. But in reality, he is destined to be cast into Hell. So ultimately he becomes guilty of such a deed or belief that he is thrown into Hell because of it. Similarly, someone is destined for Paradise, but behaves like those who deserve Hell, so much so that there is a distance of just one hand’s breadth left between him and Hell. But ultimately destiny prevails and he begins to perform good deeds. He dies in this condition, and he is admitted into Paradise.

The proof of the truth of this prophecy, which no opponent can deny, is Mir ‘Abbas ‘Ali’s notebook in which he has inscribed my prophecy in his own hand (which has been fulfilled); it is still available. I saw once in my dream after his death that he was dressed in black clothes from head to toe. He was standing at a distance of about 100 paces from me and begged me for something as assistance. I answered him, ‘The time is now past. Now there is a great distance between me and you. You cannot reach me.’