I received a telegram from a true friend of mine and a very sincere devotee, Seth ‘Abdur-Rahman, merchant of Madras, that he was suffering from carbuncle; that is, from a deadly pustule caused by cancer. I was much concerned and anxious on account of his illness because Seth [‘Abdur-Rahman] is a devotee of the foremost rank. It was about 9 AM and I was sitting in this state of grief and anxiety when I was abruptly overtaken by a light slumber and my head bowed down; suddenly I received a revelation from God, the Lord of Honour and Glory:
‘Signs of life’
Afterwards another telegram was received from Madras that the condition was better and there was no cause for worry.
Later another letter written by his brother, the late Saleh Muhammad, arrived to the effect that Seth [‘Abdur-Rahman] suffered from diabetes before it. Since the carbuncle in diabetes is almost incurable, grief and anxiety dominated again and this grief reached an extreme. This grief was because I had found Seth [‘Abdur-Rahman] to be extremely sincere and he had practically demonstrated, to the highest order, his sincerity and he had been helping our Langar Khanah [the Community Kitchen] with thousands of rupees only out of the sincerity of his heart with no interest other than earning the pleasure of God. He was so moved by sincerity and devotion that he would always send a large monthly sum for our Langar Khanah.
His faith was so steeped in love as if he were totally lost in love and sincerity. It was therefore but proper that I should have prayed a great deal for him. Ultimately my heart was overwhelmed to pray for him in a manner that was extraordinary and I continued to pray for him day in and day out with extreme concentration. It was then that God Almighty also brought about an extraordinary outcome and delivered Seth ‘Abdur-Rahman from such a deadly disease as if he were granted a new life.
Thus, he writes in his letter, ‘In response to your prayer, God caused a great miracle to happen, for there was no hope for life at all; after the operation, the wound began to heal. Close to it, a new boil appeared which once again had put me in great fear and panic. But later it was found that it was not a carbuncle. In the end, after a few months, I recovered completely.’
I know it for certain that this is, indeed, bringing the dead back to life. Carbuncle and then diabetes and old age with it! Doctors are only too well aware that recovery from this terrifying condition is virtually impossible. Our God is Most Benevolent and Merciful, and among His attributes is the attribute of Revival [of the dead]. Last year, on 11 October 1905, a sincere friend of mine, Maulawi ‘Abdul-Karim of blessed memory, died of the same disease—carbuncle, that is, malignant tumour. For him too I had prayed fervently, but not a single revelation held out any hope for him. Instead the following revelations were received repeatedly:
1. Was wrapped up in a shroud.
2. Forty seven years of age. Surely to Allah we belong and to Him shall we return.
3. The arrows of death do not miss.
When supplication was made even after this, I received this revelation:
4. Meaning that, O people! You should worship the God who created you; that is, deem Him alone as the Doer of all your tasks and trust Him.
5. Do you adopt the worldly life?
The point here was that considering a person to be so indispensable that his death will cause irreparable loss is tantamount to shirk [associating partners with God] and to be so desperate for his life is a kind of worship. After this, I kept quiet and realized that his death was inevitable. So, he died on Wednesday at ‘Asr time, on 11 October 1905. But God did not forget the anguish which rocked my heart during my prayers for him and was pleased to replace one loss with another success. For this Sign, He selected Seth ‘Abdur-Rahman. Although He took ‘Abdul-Karim away from us, He returned ‘Abdur-Rahman back to us. He was afflicted with the same disease; he recovered through the prayers of this very servant, 
[So Allah be praised for all this].
It is my experience of hundreds of times that God is so Benevolent and Merciful that when, in His wisdom, He does not accept a prayer, He accepts some other similar prayer in its stead. As God Almighty says:
1 Whatever Sign We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than that or the like thereof. Do you not know that Allah has the power to do all that He wills? (Surah al-Baqarah, 2:107) [Publisher]
