Urdu Poem

Why do you not, O people, heed the truth?
Your condition constantly worries my heart.

My eyes are tearful and heart in anguish.
Why are your hearts covered in the dust of remissness?

My heart is aching due to constant distress;
To which desert shall I retreat and vent my woes?

I am totally overpowered with grief;
I have gone through a veritable death; but you are totally unaware.

Heaven is keen to show its glory—
O negligent ones! Behold, if you are in your senses.

Faith has been ruined due to the assaults launched by disbelief;
How long shall Almighty God, who is jealous of His honour, remain quiet?

The twentieth year of this [Hijri] century is in progress;
The world has been ravaged by idolatry and innovation.

Why do you think so ill of me? Why have you forgotten God?
How long do you think falsehood can last?

My Lord, who recognizes the worthy ones,
Is bringing a whole world to me [to accept me].

Accursed is he who tells lies:
And an accursed person is never granted the pre-eminence that has been bestowed upon me.

Another point that has not been mentioned before and which must be mentioned here is that when my friend, Syed Muhammad Sarwar Shah, presented my book, I‘jazul-Masih, which I wrote in Arabic, at the debate in Mudh as a Sign—saying it was a miracle and that the opponents had failed to produce a befitting response to it—Maulawi Sanaullah referred to Maulawi Muhammad Husain of Batala and said that he had prepared a long list of the errors found in I‘jazul-Masih. I accept that he may have prepared one, but such a list would be similar to the last time the said maulawi raised an objection to one of my statements, wherein he claimed that the preposition lam [

] cannot be used alongside the Arabic word ‘Ajaba, and he had indeed laid much stress upon this. But when he was shown couplets written by a number of classical writers and poets from the pre-Islamic period, and indeed he was also shown some ahadith as well that contained the preposition of lam he became so embarrassed that none of his learned friends were able to help him out of the mortification he suffered. This happened during those days when a prophecy was made about the humiliation he was going to suffer and it was published later in an announcement that the prophecy was fulfilled in two ways:

First, it was proved that Maulawi Muhammad Husain’s attitude was hypocritical. He assured the government that no such person as the Mahdi would appear, that all ahadith in this regard were flawed and unreliable, and that there was no question of the appearance of such a Mahdi and of the Messiah who would come from Heaven to help the former. The fact of the matter is that all these statements are baseless and it appears as if he hopes to receive a large reward by making such statements. If he had denied the coming of such a Mahdi and warrior Messiah from his heart, I too would have been much pleased with him, for the one who truly speaks his heart deserves respect. Then, if the government had given him some land in Lyallpur or handed him the town of Batala as his estate, he would surely have been worthy of it. But I can never accept or reconcile with the fact that a person should present to the government, merely out of hypocrisy, a list of weak or inauthentic ahadith regarding the Mahdi and thus seek to impress upon the government that the Muslims are not waiting for any Mahdi or ‘Isa [Jesus] who would launch a fight against the Christians, or tries to reassure the government that at least he personally believes that no such Mahdi will appear who wreaks havoc by spilling blood, nor will any Messiah appear who descends from Heaven to help the Mahdi; however, on the other hand, to his own people such a person says that it is an act of disbelief to deny the appearance of such a Mahdi. What is even more surprising is the fact that he believes his honour has not been harmed by this kind of action on his part, nor has the prestige of his followers been undermined for that matter.

In short, this was the disgrace Maulawi Muhammad Husain had to face, which was shared by Ja‘far Zatalli and the like-minded of his followers. Whether they become shameless and choose not to feel it, is now up to them.

The second disgrace that was heaped upon them was in terms of their intellectual standing. They erroneously propagated among the people that the preposition lam is not to be used alongside the word ‘ajaba. Nevertheless, it seems that Maulawi Sanaullah underestimates the above-mentioned instances of disgrace and is keen to experience some other kind of disrepute. What is more, they announce happily that he was awarded land, although that very land is testifying to his disgrace and bearing a categorical testimony to his hypocrisy. As long as he maintains possession of that land, his hypocrisy will be seen as fruit borne by the land itself, or vice versa. By launching an investigation into this matter, you will find that all his success in this regard is based on his hypocritical conduct. If one is interested in learning the hidden beliefs of these people, one ought to peruse the books written by Siddiq Hasan, who, in those books, even holds, God forbid, Her Majesty the Queen, answerable before the Mahdi, attributing to her extremely insulting and disrespectful titles, which are impossible for me to reproduce here. Anyone who is interested can see those books for himself. I am referring to the same Siddiq Hasan, who Muhammad Husain considers to be a Mujaddid [Reformer]. How is it possible, and in what way could this happen that he should entertain an opinion different from the opinion of the person he considers to be a Mujaddid? This could never be. It is indeed a commendable act to help the British government and erase from the minds of the people the incorrect understanding of jihad and deny that a bloodthirsty Mahdi or bloody Messiah would appear. But, if Muhammad Husain had been truly sincere in articulating such beliefs before the government, I too would have viewed him with much respect. But, his conflicting books, whereby he preaches different viewpoints before the government and his religious fellows when they are behind closed doors, serve only to establish his hypocritical behaviour. And, a hypocrite is viewed with contempt by both God and His creation.

As a matter of fact, these people are faced with serious difficulties. A number of their beliefs are anti-government. Hence, they are not left with any choice but to act hypocritically.

In a nutshell, it is not today that I became convinced of Maulawi Muhammad Husain’s ‘knowledge’ of the Arabic language; rather, I have been a confessor of it since the very day he proclaimed that the preposition lam cannot be used alongside the word ‘ajaba. I am not going to deny if such a ‘learned scholar’ has prepared a long list of errors found in my book, I‘jazul-Masih. He must have made one. However, Maulawi Sanaullah must be aware that the foremost addressee of my challenge to write a discourse in Arabic was the same learned scholar to whom I had written, that I could offer him as many as five rupees per error that he might be able to identify, provided he first proved himself to be a scholar of the Arabic language. And, how he ought to do this is that he should sit side by side with me and pen the commentary of a verse of the Holy Quran, in the length of a Juzw1 or two in eloquent Arabic. After this, I never heard anything from him. Everyone can understand that to point out a mistake is the prerogative of the person who has first established his ability to do so; otherwise, a mere claim to have done so is nothing but an absurdity. For instance, if a person who knows nothing about architecture says that the masons in this country make mistakes while doing their work, will he not be worthy of the retort: O ignorant one! You cannot set even a single brick perfectly in its place; why do you then object to the masons who have already erected so many buildings with their hands?

Returning to the subject being discussed earlier, it now has to be remembered that I have published around seventeen books of unparalleled excellence in Arabic, in contrast to which my opponents have not published even a single book over a period of the last ten years. Nevertheless, it occurred to me today that the books mentioned have been written not only in eloquent and expressive Arabic, but are also filled with numerous profound points of wisdom from the Holy Quran. It is therefore possible that my opponents would say that they are unaware of such profound points of wisdom and that if only a poem had been written in eloquent Arabic, as a qasidah is ordinarily composed, they would surely have produced the like thereof.

It also occurred to me that if I only seek a match of I‘jazul-Masih from Maulawi Sanaullah, he is sure to ask how it can be proved that the book was written in no more than seventy days; and to say that if he were to argue that the book was actually completed in two years’ time and he, too, should be given two years to produce the like thereof, it will be difficult for me to furnish clear proof before him that I wrote it in seventy days. For these reasons, it was considered appropriate that a supplication be made before Almighty God that He may support me by the Holy Spirit to produce a qasidah wherein I should speak of the debate at Mudh, so that it is not difficult to understand as to how many days the qasidah has taken to be prepared. So, I prayed: ‘O Omnipotent Lord! Enable me by way of a Sign to pen a qasidah of this kind.’ So, this prayer of mine was granted and I was bestowed extraordinary support from the Holy Spirit, enabling me to finish the qasidah in only five days. If there had not been any other engagement occupying my attention, I would have finished it in only a day. And then, if the printing had not been delayed,2 it would have been published by 9 November 1902.

This is indeed a great Sign—to which Maulawi Sanaullah himself is a witness, and as it is proven from the qasidah itself—that it was composed after the debate, which was held 29–30 October 1902 and the qasidah was begun to be composed on 8 November 1902, after my companions had returned, and was finished on 12 November 1902 along with this Urdu text. Since I know it with heartfelt conviction that it was a great sign of divine help to bring disgrace upon my opponents and silence them, I therefore present it before Maulawi Sanaullah and his cohorts, promising a cash prize of 10,000 rupees. If they succeed in publishing a similar qasidah within this time, i.e. within five days, along with a similar length in reply to the Urdu essay, which, in fact, is a sign in itself, I will forthwith hand over 10,000 rupees to them. I hereby also grant them one additional week to publish it. This makes the total number of the days twelve. They will also have two more days to post the material to me. Hence, if starting from the date on which they receive my qasidah and the relevant Urdu essay, till the 14th day, they manage to publish the couplets in eloquent and articulate language and in the same number, neither more nor less than the ones written by me, I will present to them an award of 10,000 rupees. They will be entitled to seek help from Muhammad Husain—or anyone else for that matter. In fact, another reason why they should try to publish the qasidah soon is that, in an announcement issued by me, it has been foretold by way of a prophecy that by the end of December 1902, an extraordinary sign will appear. The Sign has already appeared in certain other ways; however, if Maulawi Sanaullah and others of my addressees fail to pen or dictate their response to the qasidah and the relevant Urdu essay within the given time frame, it will be seen as the fulfilment of this Sign. So, it is incumbent upon them that if they consider my mission to have been planned by man,3 they should come out to confront me and prevent the fulfilment of the sign. But you ought to pay attention to the fact that I say it under oath that if they, alone or with help from others, publish a qasidah and the relevant Urdu essay within the given time frame, with the same number of couplets, and then dispatch it to me by post within twelve days from the receipt of my qasidah, I will not only award them 10,000 rupees, but also be proved a liar, as they will have achieved victory over me. In this case, Maulawi Sanaullah and his friends will no longer need to make false accusations against me and will win against me without having spent a single penny. Otherwise, he will have no right to call me a liar or reject my signs. Behold, making the heavens and the earth my witness,

I would hereby like to state that beginning the count of the days from today, I put my reliance in this very sign. If I am true in my claim—and God is well aware that I am true in my claim—it will never be possible for Maulawi Sanaullah and his cohorts to compose a qasidah like the one I have in five days and refute the essay written by me in Urdu. For God will cause their pens to break and their hearts to become inept. Maulawi Sanaullah shall find no way to state that I had already composed the qasidah, for he ought to open his eyes and see that it makes mention of the ‘Debate at Mudh’. If, in his opinion, I had composed it already, then he ought to confess that I have knowledge of the unseen. Nonetheless, this too is a sign rendering them unable to flee in any direction. Today has been fulfilled the revelation whereby God had said:

The Powerful One has manifested His affair;
Those who called [me] a disbeliever have been seized.

And, let it be clear that three Signs will appear in my favour through Maulawi Sanaullah:

Since Maulawi Muhammad Husain has lavished much praise on Sa’in Mehr ‘Ali of Golra for his scholarship, and since ‘Ali Ha’iri, who is a Shiite, is also unable to control his joy over the praise showered on himself, I therefore also invite them for a competition with me. Their tongues are quite skilled when it comes to hurling abuse and mocking me; however, this time around I hope to see how much help they will be granted by God. I have also spoken about these people to some extent in my qasidah, so that I may stir their sense of honour. This is going to be the final battle, so the Shiite should seek help from Husain, and Golarhi from some of his own elders. As for Maulawi Sanaullah and his associates, they already like to be called by the title of maulawi. In short, all these people are free to do their level best in this regard.

What I have written in the qasidah about Imam Husain, may Allah be pleased with him, or about Hazrat ‘Isa [Jesus], peace be upon him, is not based on human understanding. Evil indeed is he who speaks foul of God’s perfect and righteous servants based on his own selfish notions. I believe firmly that no one can survive even for a night after having spoken impertinently about such righteous people like Husain and Hazrat ‘Isa. Instead, according to the wa‘id 4

[He who is at enmity with a friend of Mine] such a person is quickly seized.

Therefore, blessed is the one who recognizes the wisdom behind heavenly actions and ponders over the ways of Almighty God. It is not only the 10,000 rupees that I have promised to hand over; rather, every such mischief-maker who does not desist from hurling abuse and ridicule and does not refrain from his blasphemous practices and denies my Signs in every gathering, should show within the stipulated period of time the like of the Sign shown by me; otherwise, the curses that I am going to invoke below will also continue to pour down upon him from Heaven forever; i.e. until the time the world has ceased to exist. Here, I mean to address Maulawi Sanaullah in particular, as he has claimed unilaterally that my writings fall short of being a miracle. He ought to fear, lest by being silent he is squashed under the curses I am going to invoke. And, the curses are as follows:

Now, putting my trust in God, the Omnipotent and Benevolent Lord, who is Holy and Jealous for His honour, I hereby record the qasidah and I seek help from my Helper and Benefactor and pray, ‘O my dear Lord, the Almighty and Knower of the secrets of the hearts, pray help me and act in such a way as this Sign of Yours should shine forth in the world and no opponent should be able to produce the like thereof within the appointed time limit. O my Beloved, do You cause this to happen exactly in this manner and cause many to be guided aright by this sign and this essay of mine. Amin, again amin. And that qasidah is as follows:

1 A juzw comprises sixteen pages. [Publisher]

2 Another reason for the delay was that I had to go to Batala to attend the court of the honourable judge on 7 November 1902. The actual time required to compose the qasidah was just three days and two extra days were due to this inconvenience. (Author)

3 Since their abuse and rejection has reached extremes, which is evident from the documents I keep with me preserved in a large bag, and since these people repeatedly reject, in their announcements, the Signs shown in the past and ask for more Signs to be shown, I therefore present this very sign to them. Similarly, the Christians, too, repeatedly addressed me, saying it is recorded in the Gospel that false Messiahs would appear. Hence, they have thus declared me to be a false Messiah, despite the fact that among them a false Messiah by the name of Piggott is living in the city of London at this very moment. He claims to be God as well as the Messiah and is thus fulfilling the prophecy recorded in the Gospel. However, if in the future, someone wishes to declare me to be false in my claim, such a person shall be obliged to do so by confronting my signs. Among Christians also many who renounced Islam claim to be maulawis. If Christian clergymen are true in their rejection of my claim, they should have such maulawis compose a qasidah like this within five days, and obtain from me 10,000 rupees and spend the money on the cause of the Christian mission. He who makes empty claims only after the appointed date, or even produces a literary work for that matter, his work will be worthy of being thrown into a filthy drain. (Author)

4 See Tadhkirah, edition 3, p. 890, Islam International Publications Ltd. [Publisher]

5 The word la‘nat (curse) is short for the prayer, ‘may the curse of Allah be on the liars.’ [Publisher]