Life, Teachings and Work of the Promised Messiah

Illustrious Prince! (May God open your heart to the acceptance of truth!) the Prophet of this age was born and lived at Quadian, in the District of Gurdaspur, in the Punjab, and his parents gave him the name of GHULAM AHMAD (on him be peace and the blessings of God). Like Jesus he was born into a highly connected family, which traced its descent from the Moghul and Persian Royal Houses, and had settled in India, only a few generations back. Unlike the family of Jesus, however, his family had not been reduced to absolute poverty, although it had lost the greater portion of its ancient pomp and prestige.

During the Sikh anarchy his grand-father lost his estate fighting with certain Sikh confederacies, and although Maharaja Ranjit Singh subsequently released a portion of the family estate and appointed his father to a high command in his army and thus restored the latter to a position of earthly prosperity, God had appointed work of a far different nature for the son. So He destroyed the Sikhs and established British rule in the Punjab, and with the advent of the latter the power which this family had wielded for several generations also came to an end. The representatives of the British Government resumed the whole of their estate and after repeated representations only the proprietary rights of one village and talukdari rights over three villages were released in favour of his father.

It has, however, been God’s way that a family destined for spiritual honour and eminence is always endowed with the spirit of faithfulness. Therefore, in spite of the fact that his father had suffered great loss at the hands of the British Government, he always remained true and loyal, and in times both of peace and war, served this Government faithfully as he had served the Sikhs.

During the Mutiny when the whole country, especially the old families, were disaffected, he helped the Government to a degree beyond his means. He provided the Government with a force of fifty horses and his eldest son (that is, the elder brother of the Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement) who had volunteered his services and fought under General Nicholson, rendered such effective help to that officer in breaking up the mutineers at Trimu Ghat, that he had to acknowledge that in their part of the Province the Quadian family had proved foremost in their loyalty to the Government.

The Promised Messiah (Peace and blessings of God be upon him!) was born in 1836 AD. and from the moment of his birth till the moment of his death his life was one continuous manifestation of the power and glory of God.

He was born on a Friday and was a twin, the other child being a girl.

His birth was a sign in itself, for it had been written that the Promised One would be born a twin. The significance of his being born on a Friday lay in this that being the messenger of the latter days chosen by God for the guidance of mankind, he occupied the position of a second Adam, and the day of his birth, therefore, corresponded with the day of Adam’s birth.

Just about the time of his birth the followers of different religions had begun to look for the Promised One, and God had in different parts of the world revealed to many tidings of the approach of the Saviour of the world; so that by the beginning of the nineteenth century both in Europe and in Asia men of diverse races and religions had begun to expect the Promised One and many began to utter warnings such as, “Behold, the Promised One is nigh, arise and prepare, lest he find you asleep.”

Such men appeared in England also, and one of these of Edward Irving, a minister of the Presbyterian Church. He began to preach in London in 1821, and within three months the number of his hearers rose from 50 to 1,500, among whom could be counted men like Brougham, Canning, Mackintosh and Wilberforce. He preached that within twenty years Jerusalem would be swept clean of all iniquity, and that the Millennium was at hand. His disciple, Mr. Baxter, relates that once during prayer he unconsciously and involuntarily uttered the words “The hour of the coming of the Messiah is nigh and at his coming the living saints will be gathered together and the dead saints will be brought to life.” This Edward Irving was the founder of the Catholic Apostolic Church.

Similarly, the Adventists have been waiting for the Messiah since the beginning of the 19th century and have clung to their belief in the face of persecutions, and some of them are still engaged in propagating their views in America and other parts of the world.

Besides these, hundreds of thousands of Christians and Jews believe that this is the time appointed for the coming of the Messiah and they have written books and published literature on the subject.

Among the Muslims also the belief was current that the Messiah would appear towards the end of the thirteenth or the beginning of the fourteenth century of the Muslim Era, and this belief had been strengthened by certain dreams, visions and revelations which had been vouchsafed to divers holy men.

Thus from the very moment of his birth the Promised Messiah acquired a resemblance to him under whose name he was destined to guide the world, for at the time of the first Messiah’s birth also some persons were informed of the event, the only difference being that on that occasion the attention of men was arrested by the appearance of a star, and in these days the attention of non-Muslims was drawn by means of dreams and inspirations, and that of Muslims by means of visions and revelations.

During his youth his father’s financial position began to grow worse, for anarchy followed on the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and with the introduction of British rule into the Punjab practically the whole of the family estate was resumed. This left a deep impression on the father’s mind of the transitoriness of the world, and the son’s mind was also thus early imbued with the sense of the vanity of all earthly things.

That age was not one of learning, but his father engaged a private tutor for him and he received such instruction as might have been considered adequate at a time when education was not looked upon with favour by the nobility, but which amounted to very little when compared with modern University education.

In later days his opponents, finding themselves helpless to contend against him in matters spiritual, were wont to say that he could be no divine as he had not studied at any College or University, just as the Jews used to say of Jesus, “Is not this the carpenter’s son?...Whence then hath this man all these things?”1

From his very childhood he showed his love for veneration and truth, and old men who observed him as a child relate that whenever he heard a person telling a lie, or observed any one inclined to mischief or engaged in mimicking his tutor, he forthwith left his company. He was ever engaged in literary pursuits and never showed the slightest inclination for evil.

When he grew up, his father desired to give him a training in worldly affairs, but he paid no attention to these and was ever engrossed in matters spiritual. He held very little intercourse with men and led a life of seclusion and contemplation. Whatever food was sent him he divided with the poor and the needy and himself partook of very little. Whenever his father asked him to take up some occupation, he was wont to reply, “I have chosen my work; have no fear for me.”

His father experienced great anxiety on his score and often expressed it to his friends saying, “I fear me, this son of mine will have to depend upon his brother for his livelihood.” Occasionally, however, he was pleased and would say, “Real work is that which this son of mine is engaged upon.”

And it so happened in those days that owing to the taunts of his relatives, he temporarily left Quadian and went to Sialkot where, in order to earn his livelihood, he got himself employed in the District Court.

At this time God opened for him the gates of heaven, and angels began to descend upon him, and God began to disclose to him things hidden which were fulfilled, each at its appointed time. Seeing this the followers of different religions who knew him began to be impressed with his piety and sanctity and all felt that his life would prove a unique one.

And it so happened that God manifested many signs and wonders concerning him seeing which Hindus and Muslims alike marvelled and their faith in God increased manifold.

One night he was sleeping in a room in company with certain Hindus and Muhammadans, when suddenly he woke up and heard a faint ticking from which he concluded that the roof was about to fall down. He aroused his companions and warned them of the danger, but thinking that this was only a fancy of his they again went to sleep. He again aroused them and asked them to leave the room, but they refused to listen to him. A third time he heard the same sound and he felt under divine inspiration that the roof was only waiting for him to leave the room before it fell down. He then forced his companions to vacate the room and made them leave it before him, himself being the last to come out. As soon as he stepped out, the roof fell in and his companions believed that if he had not been there, or if he had not insisted upon their leaving the room before him, they would all have been buried under the roof. From that day forth they held him in still greater reverence and looked upon him with wonder.

He was yet at Sialkot when his mother fell severely ill and his father, partly on account of her illness and partly because he thought that by this time he must have gained sufficient experience of life to make him turn his attention to worldly affairs, summoned him back to Quadian and entrusted to him the management of his estate.

His purity and love for God, however, continued as bright and untarnished during this period of management as they had remained undimmed at Sialkot during the period of his service, and the cares of the family estate affected his pursuits as little as the duties of his office had interfered with them. He worked along the lines indicated by his father but his heart was always with God, and His worship and remembrance were his constant companions.

This is well illustrated by the following incident. He was one day attending court in prosecution of a case and the time of afternoon prayers arrived before the case was called. Some friends told him that it was not safe to leave the court premises as his case might be called up at any time. Nevertheless, he went away and got engaged in prayer. The case was called up while he was thus engaged but he continued his prayers calmly and by the time he had finished his prayers, the hearing of the case had been concluded.

Another and a similar incident which occurred in those days reveals the extent of his connection with God. He had gone to Lahore for prosecuting a suit in which valuable rights of his father were involved. He was staying with a friend. On the day when the case was decided he returned from court looking very pleased. His friend concluded that he had won the case, but on enquiry he found that he had lost it and his pleasure was due solely to the anticipation that he would be left in peace for some days to worship his Lord.

In these days he illustrated by his manner of living how a man could serve both his parents and his Maker, and that in order to please the latter it was not necessary to disregard the former.

He was about 40 when his father died and this was the day when he received revelation for the first time and the Lord of Heaven and Earth spoke unto him, saying, Behold, thy father shall depart at sunset.

Learning this he felt a momentary anxiety as to his future, inasmuch as the greater portion of the income of the family consisted of a personal pension enjoyed by his father which was to cease with his life. The Lord then spoke unto him again saying, “Is not Allah sufficient for His servant?”

From that moment his condition became quite changed and every hour it was altered and the Glory of God shone brighter and brighter every day, and lo! if the secrets of heaven and earth were disclosed to him, and he was told many things that were yet in the womb of the future, and those who heard him were filled with wonder and exclaimed “Strange are the ways of the Lord.”

His goodness and righteousness were so patent that even those who were opposed to him acknowledged them, and whoever had a dispute concerning any property with any member of his family, was always willing to leave the decision of it to his arbitrament.

When people found that he was anxious that every one should get his due, they marvelled how God manifested Himself in him.

Whenever he found that any man was unjust and trespassed against others, he would go to him and counsel him to be just and to render every one his due. He particularly exhorted his elder brother, who managed the estate of both, that he should suffer loss himself rather than deprive another man of his right and thus was it fulfilled that the Son of man shall fill the earth with righteousness and justice.

When he attained his fortieth year, he began to receive revelation in unbroken succession; and he received commands to the effect “Islam is undefended and is despised by the world; arise and defend it and establish its greatness and glory in the hearts of men.”

He, therefore, wrote a voluminous book in the defence of Islam and called it the “Baraheen-i-Ahmadiyya.” In this book he demonstrated the truth of Islam and its superiority over all other religions, and invited the followers of every religion and faith to put forth the excellences of their revealed books, in a similar manner, as opposed to Islam, but repeated challenges failed to bring anybody in the field, and the greatest divines of the country expressed their belief that this book could not have been written without divine aid, for they knew that the author had not studied at any college nor had he read with any learned tutor.

Before this book was completed, God told him that he was now required for another service and he was entrusted with the spiritual reform of the Muslims. After this he proclaimed that those who were desirous of taking the oath of spiritual allegiance to him were welcome to do so.

From this moment, opposition to him became active. Christians and Hindus disliked him already for his championship of Islam, and now the Muslims began also to oppose him. Their priests, who were the representatives of the Scribes and Pharisees, could not contemplate the idea of people transferring their allegiance from them to him, for they knew that those who joined him would be liberated from the bonds which the priests had devised and would brook no rule but that of God.

He, however, went on working silently as he had been commanded but God had not yet fully revealed unto him what place he held in His sight, just as in the early days of his ministry the first Messiah did not know that God had made him the Messiah, as is written that in the second year of his ministry, he asked his disciples saying, Whom do men say that I the son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven….Then charged He His disciples that they should tell no man that He was Jesus the Christ.2

So was it with the Second Messiah that for two years after he made his first disciples, he did not know that he was the Messiah, but towards the end of the year 1890 God’s angel descended upon him and revealed the whole truth unto him, that is, that he himself was the Messiah whose advent had been foretold in the Scriptures and concerning whom it was written that he would come to guide the world, and that Jesus, like all other prophets, had died a natural death at a ripe age, and like his brethren, the prophets, who had gone before, had returned to his Father in heaven, and that this that had been written that he would come again meant only that another would come in his spirit and power.

As soon as he proclaimed this, an unprecedented storm of opposition arose and swept the country from one end to the other. Christians and Muslims alike took up the cry and Government too began to look upon him with suspicion. He claimed also to be the Mahdi, and this name was so intimately connected with bloodshed, that Government was bound to be alarmed at the mention of the name and to look with suspicion upon the bearer of this name and his followers.

Nothing daunted, he continued to proclaim what God had told him and began to call men to God and to invite all mankind to enter the kingdom of God.

The following is the substance of what he preached to the world in writing and by word of mouth:

“The only religion which can now redeem mankind and lead them to salvation is Islam, and the last divine word by which man can find God is contained in the Holy Quran, and the last Divine Law-giver is Muhammad (peace and the blessings of God be upon him!).

“The Lord of Heaven and Earth has sent me to bring the world back to God and His word and His Prophet, whom they had forsaken, and to preach His word to the nations and to lead them back into His kingdom and to bring back those that had become separated from Him; and to give faith to the faithless, eyes to the blind and ears to the deaf; and to heal those whose bodies had been corrupted by leprosy; and to raise the dead; and to awaken those that slumber; and to conciliate those that are disaffected; and to reform those that are corrupted; and to raise those that are fallen; and to look after those that are helpless; and to open the gates of the kingdom of heaven unto those that are rejected.

“Ye men, whatever your religion, the gates of God’s mercy are open unto you; believe in the one God and obey Muhammad (on whom be peace and the blessings of God!) and the heaven shall shower its blessings upon you and the earth shall bring forth its abundance.

“Ye, who call yourselves Muslims, think not that ye shall please God by your name. God is not pleased by words but by the righteousness of the heart and by your actions. Purify your thoughts and watch over your actions, for these are the things for which a man is honoured by the Lord. Say not unto yourselves: We are the chosen of the Lord, He will not punish us, but will destroy our enemies. He will destroy you before your enemies and condemn you before them, for ye knew His will and they did not, and ye were in the Light and knew truth from darkness but they being in the dark knew not.

“Ye Muslims and sons of Muslims! remove the hardness of your hearts and adopt humility for His sake and draw not your swords for the faith; for thus are ye not the elect of the Lord but are condemned by Him, for ye dishonour God and His Prophet and His Book and His Faith to fulfil your own desires and to gain spoil for yourselves; and to feed yourselves you cut the throats of others; and you disgrace the name of the Lord and seek honour for yourselves.

“Think ye that the word of God stands in need of robbery and murder to be justified and honoured? Does not even the word of man extort deserved praise from the mouths of men? Why then must ye kill and plunder to compel men to praise the word of God? Ye hard of heart, what ye call a holy war and crusade is no more than robbery and rapine, and by it ye have not served the Faith, but have estranged every gentle and good man from the true faith, and now ye are answerable for the sin of every man whom ye have thus caused to turn away from Islam.

“Ye scribes and priests, was it not enough for you to seek the will and pleasure of God? Nay, was this not the only thing worth seeking? But ye have set yourselves to please mankind and ye look towards their faces and listen to their words, but the will of God ye have forsaken and ye listen not to His voice. Ye have gained what ye had set yourselves to acquire, but ye have lost the pleasure of the Lord, and He shall require it of you.

“Ye men, ye cannot find happiness in goods and money; but he that looks after the poor and the needy will find happiness, and he that succours the helpless will be helped by the Lord; and he that protects the weak will be guarded in heaven, so that when he sleeps God will keep awake for him, and when he is unguarded God will watch over him; and when he is not aware of his enemy God will fight for him, for out of his limited means he helped God’s poor creatures and saved them from destruction. Shall the Lord, then, be miserly with him and shall He shut him out from His unlimited treasures?

“And speak not that which is not true, for untruth is a poison, and God accepts the righteous alone. Be honest and shun dishonesty.

To the Christians he said:

“Ye were told not to look at a woman with evil intent, but I tell you that the lord Muhammad (on him be peace and the blessings of God!) hath taught that thou must not look at a strange woman at all, neither with good intent nor with evil, except it be by chance, for thy heart, like thy house, hath many doors and it were unwise and foolish to leave the doors open for thieves to enter.

“Ye were told not to drink to excess, but I tell you that the Lord among the Prophets (on whom be peace and the blessings of God!) has taught that ye must drink no wine at all, for wine is a poison that destroys the finer faculties of the brain and unfits a man for converse with his Lord; it is a dragon which draws a man into regions where he desires not to go.

“Ye were told not to be angry without cause, but the Lord among the righteous (on whom be peace and the blessings of God!) hath taught that not only must thou not be angered without cause, but thou must keep others from being angry and must exhort them to show mercy, for if thou art not angered thou savest thine own self, but if thou seekest the pleasure of the Lord thou must save others also.

“Ye were told not to divorce your wives except for fornication, but I teach you (according to Islam) that fornication is not the only evil and that there are evils besides it for which, if thou find that there is no other remedy, thou canst put away thy wife. If thy wife oppresses God’s creatures or looks after other men, or has no shame or modesty, or cheats or deceives and does not mend her ways, she is not from thee but is a rotten limb which thou shouldst cut off, if thou hast no remedy for it.

“Ye were told not to swear, but I teach you, according to Islam, not to swear falsely, nor to swear without cause or occasion, nor to swear by those things swearing by which does not fulfil the object of an oath, but according to thy need thou canst take an oath, for in the affairs of men and in the governance of them an oath is a necessary proceeding.

“Ye were told not to resist evil, but I teach you (according to Islam) that it is neither wise nor salutary to forgive on all occasions. The recompense of evil is evil like unto it, except where thou seest that by forgiveness thou canst reform the evil-doer or canst effect more good than by punishing, in which case forgive and punish not, for if thou punish in such case, thou wilt spread evil and not check it.

“Ye were told to love your enemies, but I teach you (according to Islam) that you must have no personal or selfish enmity. Let thy enmities be for the sake of God and His Prophet and His Book, and although thou pray for such an enemy and seek guidance for him, thou must not love his doing nor tolerate it but thou must destroy it as quickly as it be within thy power, and cleanse the world of evil, for evil is harmful both for thee and for him who doth it. Be thou the well-wisher of the evil-doer but be thou the enemy of evil.

“Ye say, Humility is our garment and love is our habit. Why say ye that which ye do not? Did not the Scribes and Pharisees do the same which ye do, and did they not believe in Moses and the Prophets? and yet were they destroyed. Then wherein are ye better than they, that ye should enter the kingdom of heaven merely by virtue of the humility of your tongues and the words of your mouths. Let your deeds be in accord with your words, that God may guide you to righteousness and disclose the truth unto you.

“Ye teach men to turn the left cheek when smitten on the right, but ye smite others without being smitten, and if any smite you then ye leave him not till ye have compassed his ruin. Ye give not the cloak to him who asks for your coat, but on whomsoever ye see a cloak ye desire to divest him of it and of the coat also.

“Ye teach men to love their neighbours, but which of your own neighbours is pleased with you? Ye compass to destroy your neighbours, and sitting over their graves quaff goblets of wine, and carousals in their ruined homes, and hearing the cries of their widows and orphans ye laugh and exclaim. ‘They only deserved this.’

“Ye teach men not to act for show, but every act of yours is for show. Do you not love the display of your works, and is not the whole of your progress based on this that you proclaim from the housetops all that ye claim to have done?

“Ye teach men to do good for the sake of good, but ye take good care to do nothing yourselves except that which brings you political or financial gain, so much so, that ye preach what ye deem to be the Word of God with the object of consolidating your political strength and establishing your power, for most of you have no faith in God or His Works.

“Ye preach the kingdom of heaven and call men to it, but ye yourselves have not accepted the Comforter concerning whom Jesus has said, ‘He will teach you the whole truth,’ although he appeared over thirteen hundred years ago. Not only have ye not accepted him but ye hate him. Ye love him that came as the Son, and hate him who came in the name of the Father, and ye forget that a sin against the Son may be forgiven but not one against the Father. What has come to you, that ye love the branch but destroy the tree?

“And your greatest sin, in comparison with which all your other sins and failings fade into nothing, is that ye dishonour Him who is the Creator of Heaven and Earth, and who is the God of Adam, the God of Noah, the God of Abraham, the God of Ishmael, the God of Isaac, the God of Joseph, the God of Moses, the God of David and the God of Jesus. Ye read that the Lord is One and we also read that the Son received everything from Him, and you also read ‘Thou shalt have no other God beside Him,’ and then ye deem Jesus to be really His son whereas he was only a servant of His and one of the prophets and was only called the Son of God in the sense in which those to whom the word of God came were called Gods, and ye worship him and pray to him, and honour him as God alone should be honoured, and in the same breath ye say, ‘Thou must not set up other gods beside God, for this is an evil thing and hateful in the sight of the Lord’ Are you not afraid of the consequences of this abominable sin?

“Verily, I say unto you that Jesus himself shall testify against you before the Father and shall disown you; for he always preached that thou must honour the Father above all things, and he always taught that God alone has the knowledge of things hidden, and He alone has power, and all signs are with Him, and He alone will judge, and He alone is the Master and He alone is the Giver. But ye have cast aside his words and while professing to love him ye act like enemies and calling yourselves his disciples ye have destroyed the work of his life-time; and then you are pleased that he will come back and reward you.

Ye misguided people, he will not reward you but will prove your guilt. Behold! I have been sent in his name to point out to you the error of your ways and to warn you of the day when the heavens shall be shaken and the earth shall tremble, and that which a man’s hands fashioned and which appeared goodly in his sight and of which he was proud will compass his ruin, and his own handiwork shall destroy him and the fruits of his labour shall kill him, and that which a man rejoiced in will push him into the grave.

“Repent, therefore, before that hour arrives and accept him of whom ye were told by the Messiah in his first advent, and to whom he calls you in his second. If ye accept him, I shall testify it of you before the Father and shall declare your righteousness unto Him, and ye shall find His pleasure and realise His Mercy.

“Ye say that Jesus died on the Cross and thus ye proclaim him who was innocent accursed, and bring him who suffered travail for your sakes into contempt. For it is written in the Scriptures that he who dies on the Cross is a false prophet and shall be accursed. By your mouths do ye then acknowledge his falsehood and cause his enemies to laugh at him. Curse means estrangement from God, then how say ye that Jesus was the beloved of God, and yet was he estranged from Him. The wicked alone turn away from God and the transgressors alone hate Him. Then why do ye hold Jesus accursed, who was the beloved of God?

“Do ye not read, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas! For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’3 Then, did Jonas enter the belly of the whale dead, that the son of man should have entered the heart of the earth dead also? Did Jonas remain three days and three nights in the belly of the whale dead or alive? Then, why should the son of man remain three days and three nights in the grave dead?

“Understanding, why do ye shut your eyes and proclaim your master a sinner that ye may be proved righteous? Jonas entered the belly of the whale alive, remained there alive and came out alive, so did the son of man enter the heart of the earth alive, remained there alive and came out alive, and Jerusalem was shown how the Lord of Life and Death had the power to take His servant down from the cross alive, and to save him from death before the very eyes of his enemies, and to justify His words by the doings of their own hands.

“You read that after leaving his tomb he went secretly about in Jerusalem and Galilee and showed his wounds to Thomas and said to his disciples, ‘Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.’ And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet,4 and they gave him meat and he ate it, and yet ye do not believe that God saved him from the accursed death of the cross and showed the sign of the prophet Jonas by causing him to appear as one dead and sent him to seek the lost sheep of Israel and to give them the tidings of the Kingdom of God.”

In short, this prophet spoke of these things and expressed them in many ways and preached them to the people in writing and by word of mouth, and spoke many other words of wisdom and invited people of other faiths to the Truth and made plain the error of their ways, and preached the Word of God to them.

When he wrote or spoke, so many words of wisdom issued from his pen and tongue that the people marvelled and some were afraid in their hearts and said, All his words are Truth; and many followed the priests and divines and said, “He speaks not from himself but some men teach him that which he speaks,” and thus admitted that the words that he spoke were beyond his own power to utter; but they strove to cast doubts on them and increased in their rebellion.

When the priests saw that his words had power over men and that those who heard him were affected, they said to the people, “Listen not to his words, nor read his books; for he hath all this from Satan and turneth the hearts of men by magic and causeth falsehood to appear as truth.”

The Christian missionaries strove to turn the Government against him by saying, “This man dishonoureth Jesus,” and the Muslim priests strove to excite the multitude against him by saying, “This man blasphemeth,” for they were afraid that if they did not oppose him, the people would follow him and leave them.

Then the chief priests caused a decree to be prepared in which they abused him and his followers and said that he was an unbeliever and deserved death, and enjoined the people to cause him loss and injury and not to let his followers be buried in the graveyards of the Muslims.

Then the followers of every religion condemned him and considered not that which was written in the Books of God and had been spoken by His prophets. Everywhere those who accepted him were persecuted and the people in their blindness believed that they served God by persecuting them; and yet it was not so, for they served not Him but served the priests.

When the priests saw that their efforts were of no avail, they invented falsehoods concerning him, and circulated handbills in which they abused him in the most offensive terms, and discovered new and ingenious modes of persecuting him, such as had not been thought of by the enemies of previous prophets.

Some of them not satisfied with abusing him in handbills, for the British law did not permit of the publication of obscene language, invented safer and yet more virulent methods of venting their ill-nature and sent him unpaid letters full of language so foul that it cannot bear publication or repetition. He paid the postal dues for thousands of such letters only to find a store of vituperation with which they overflowed.

These things, however, did not interfere with him and he went on working as God commanded him and ever prayed to Him humbly to open the eyes of mankind so that they might look upon His face and be not shut out from His palace for their enmity of him.

He preached during the day and prayed during the night, beseeching God to have mercy on mankind and to reveal His face unto them. Thus day followed day and week followed week and month followed month and he went on praying and preaching and suffered not a day to pass without calling men to God. Those who observed him at work sometimes grew impatient and those who had the honour of assisting him in his work, though they did so only in turns, sometimes felt weary and were spent, but in spite of his old age and weak health, he neither tired nor grew weary and went about the Lord’s work ever cheerful and happy. He heeded not the opposition which was offered to him nor the abuse which was heaped upon him, and returned a stern answer only when he was afraid that truth would suffer without it and even then his object always was to correct and not to inflict pain.

When his enemies, proud in their strength, imagined that they would grind him to powder, the Mighty Lord, Who had sent him to require His rights of men, gave him repeated assurances of His favour and support and comforted him, so that he was neither afraid nor daunted, and with ever increasing emphasis, he put forth the promises which God had made him, some of which were:

“God will maintain thy name in honour till the world come to an end and will cause thy message to reach the uttermost corners of the earth,”

“I shall raise thee and call thee away to Myself, but thy name shall never be erased from the earth, and it shall come to pass that those who desire to humiliate thee and strive to bring about thy failure and to compass thy destruction shall meet with confusion and die in utter failure and God shall give thee complete success and shall fulfil all thy desires.”

“I shall multiply thy faithful and devoted servants and shall bless them and their goods and shall give them of My abundance, and they shall be ever victorious over the other Mussalmans who are jealous of thee and are thy enemies. God shall not forget them nor forsake them and they shall receive their rewards according to their faith.”

“Thou art to Me as the prophets of Israel, thou art to Me as My Unity; thou art in Me and I am in thee.”

“The hour is nigh, nay it approacheth, when God shall cause kings and princes to love thee, in so much that they shall seek blessings from thy garments.”

“Ye unbelievers, if ye doubt My servant and deny the grace and favour that I have bestowed upon him, then bring forth a sign of mercy and truth like unto the one that I have bestowed upon him, if ye are righteous; and if ye do not this (and ye never shall do it), then fear the fire which awaits the rebellious, the liars and the transgressors.”

“Thou wilt appear as one vanquished but shalt triumph in the end and thine shall be the final victory.”

“I shall lift from thy back the burden which has well nigh broken it.”

“God hath willed to spread thy uniqueness, thy greatness and thy perfection.”

“God shall reveal thy face and shall lengthen thy shadow.”

“Lo! a warner hath appeared unto the world and the world hath rejected him, but God shall accept him and shall establish his truth by mighty attacks.”

“He shall be given a great kingdom and vast treasures shall be opened to him. This is God’s grace and marvellous in your eyes.”

“I shall show My signs in you and around you.”

“Thy word shall be established and victory shall be manifest."

“Do they say, We are a mighty people? they shall surely turn their backs and run away.”

“I shall not forsake thee though men may forsake thee, and I shall save thee though men may not save thee.”

“I shall flash My light and raise thee by the manifestation of My power,”

“Peace on thee, O Abraham, I have chosen thee for My friendship. God shall crown all thy undertakings with success and shall grant thee all thy desires.”

“Thou art to Me as My Oneness and Unity, God shall not leave thee, until He sever the bad from the good.”

“He shall increase thy greatness and multiply thy seed, and thy family will henceforth be called after thee.”

“I shall glorify thee unto the corners of the earth and shall exalt thy name, and shall cause men to love thee.”

“I have made thee the Messiah, the son of Mary, Say ‘I have come in the footsteps of Jesus.’ They will answer, ‘We have not heard this from our ancestors.’ Say, God knows, and ye know but little. Ye are content with words and the truth is hidden from you.”

“God will prepare means against thine enemies. Some shall be guided and others will deserve punishment: these are those that shall devise means against thee and God shall also devise and He is the best planner.”

“They laugh at thee and despise thee and say: ‘Has God made this man a prophet?’ Say: ‘Ye unbelievers, I am a righteous man, wait for a time for my signs.’ We shall certainly manifest Our signs in them and around them which shall be a testimony for all time and shall bring victory.”

“God shall judge between you: God will not guide the transgressor and the unrighteous to success.”

“They desire to extinguish the Light of God with the breaths of their mouths, but God has willed to establish His Light, however much the unbelievers may dislike it.”

These words seemed to the people at that time no better than the ravings of a maniac and they laughed at him and said: “Behold this man, the whole world is opposed to him, men of all religions attack him he has no following, only a handful of men believe in him, his name is barely known, his life is nearly spun out, and he claims that he will be victorious, and that multitudes will believe in him, and that God will proclaim his name unto the corners of the earth, and that he will achieve his object and bring back to God those who have become estranged from Him.” But today, after forty years, the fulfilment of these prophecies fills men with wonder. His name is proclaimed unto the corners of the earth and hundreds of thousands have believed in him.

As these words were published, his enemies became still more violent and called them blasphemies. On the one hand they told the Government that he was disloyal and was only waiting for a fitting opportunity to appear in his true colours, and on the other they strove to incite the people by saying that he was a sycophant and held Jehad as unlawful.

In the early days of his ministry he undertook certain journeys, the significance of which lay in the fact that God meant him to acquire a resemblance to Jesus. Wherever he went, opposition to him was aroused and every day his house was surrounded by multitudes who were waiting for an opportunity to do him harm, but who could find none owing to their fear of the law.

First he went to Ludhiana, and the people of this place became violently excited as the result of the efforts of several priests who had gathered there from the neighbourhood, and the situation was only brought under control when the Deputy Commissioner ordered their leader to quit the town.

Next, he went to Delhi, which is now the capital of India, and he challenged the leader of the Indian Maulawies to take an oath in the Jum‘a Masjid that Jesus was still living. At the appointed hour thousands gathered in the Jum‘a Masjid, many of them armed with stones, sticks and knives, and raised a clamour that this man who claimed to be the Messiah should not leave the mosque alive.

And it so happened that like Jesus, he had only twelve disciples with him at that time, but they exhibited enviable firmness and devotion and every one of them was only too ready and anxious to lay down his life for the Prophet of God. When the multitude, instead of calling upon the Maulawi to take the oath, threatened to attack and destroy the prophet of God, his twelve disciples formed a ring round him and these lion-hearted champions of God were daunted neither by the numbers nor by the arms of their opponents.

At this stage the Superintendent of Police arrived with a force of a hundred constables and opened a way for him through the crowd and with great difficulty escorted him home.5

But he was not safe even in his house, for the people were uncontrollable and sometimes entered the house by violence and sometimes obtained entry in the disguise of police officers.

He, however, went on preaching, saying: “God has sent me to deliver the captives, and to comfort those that are heavy laden and to relieve them of the burdens which men have put upon their backs. I have come to cleanse mankind from the leprosy of sin and to lead them back to God: I have come to remove hatred, jealousy, envy and strife and to establish peace, goodwill and love.”

While thus engaged he was constantly interrupted by the people and some stood up and reviled him, at which he would stop till the interruption had ceased, and would start preaching again. Those who heard him marvelled, for what they saw was quite different from what they had been told. Wherever he went he restored sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf, and the lepers were made clean, and the sick were healed, and the dead were raised, and those that were thus restored to new life did not depart for their homes but so loved him that they could not bear separation from him, and were ever ready to shed their blood where his sweat had fallen.

After this he went to Lahore, and thence to Sialkot and thence to Jullundhur and thence a second time to Ludhiana, and thence he returned to Quadian, and in all his journeys he preached the word of God.

He had to undertake these journeys for God had willed that he should acquire a resemblance to the first Messiah who had been sent to seek for the lost sheep of Israel and to gather them; otherwise he resided generally at Quadian and preached the word of God by means of books, pamphlets and handbills or by sending his disciples into the world to preach and call men to God, for it had been written that the son of man, in his second advent, would not go about preaching but “he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”6

In the year 1893 he held a great controversy with the Christians which lasted for a fortnight.

On this occasion the Christian missionaries gathered together a number of the blind and the lame in order to present them to him and to ask him to heal them if he was indeed the Messiah, thinking thus to put shame on him. But on seeing them he said to the missionaries: “It is your books that speak of the blind being restored to sight and the lame being made to walk, and they also say that if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall heal the sick with the touch of your hands. It is well that you yourselves have brought these men together; now heal them therefore, to prove your faith.”

Woe unto these people that they failed to understand from that which had been written concerning the prophets and even Jesus himself that the Scriptures often speak metaphorically; for if that were not so, then what mean ye when ye say that Jesus cast out devils and evil spirits?

Similarly, the Christians once devised another plan to bring confusion on him and asked him to read a writing enclosed in an envelope. He replied that he was willing to do so, if a number of Christian missionaries should give him an undertaking in writing that if he succeeded in doing it they would all accept Islam. On this they held their peace.

Thus he journeyed to many places to preach the Truth and was persecuted by the priests. They reviled him and threw stones at him, and attacked the house in which he was staying and sometimes they followed him for long distances hoping to find an opportunity to destroy him.

But God brought all their machinations to naught. The more his enemies strove against him, the more emphatically he declared that God had promised to guard him, and that he would not let him be seized by them and that unlike the enemies of the first Messiah, they would not obtain even an apparent triumph.

Hearing this, his enemies put forth still greater effort to compass his destruction, and on several occasions they sent hired men to Quadian to kill him, but on each occasion their plans were frustrated. On some occasions their secret leaked out, on others the assassin failed to find a favourable opportunity for the deed, on others the man employed for the purpose confessed his guilt, and in some cases he was so overcome by the power and glory of his intended victim that instead of killing him he accepted him and was henceforth willing to lay down his life for him. In short, his enemies were confounded at every turn.

Seeing that these people prevented men from coming to him and listening to him, the Promised Messiah invited the champions of all religions to demonstrate the truth of their respective religions by seeking the testimony of God in support of the truth of their religions, and he proposed that this might be done either by prayer, or that men who were anxious to see the testimony of God should come and stay with him for forty days, and that if during those forty days they saw the testimony of God they and their companions and followers should accept the Truth, and that if they saw no sign during that period they would be at liberty to reject him as a false prophet.

But as his enemies desired not to know the truth but wished to cast doubts on it, they did not agree to either of these proposals, for they feared that if they agreed they would have no answer left for the people and the latter would all accept him. Thus they evaded every criterion put forward by him.

In the year 1896, God vouchsafed him a special opportunity of demonstrating the truth of his claims. In that year a Conference of Religions was held at Lahore, and the advocates of all religions were invited to explain the teachings and doctrines of their respective religions with regard to certain specified questions. The Promised Messiah was also invited by the conveners of the Conference, and in spite of bad health, he wrote a paper to be read in the Conference, concerning which God informed him that it would prove superior to all other papers which were to be read in the Conference.

This prophecy was published in Lahore before the Conference was held. When this paper was read in the Conference, men of every religion listened to it with rapt attention, and their eagerness may be judged from the fact that the programme of the Conference had to be extended by one day in order to enable the reading of the paper to be concluded. It was acknowledged on all hands that this was by far the best paper read in the Conference, and it was commented on in most eulogistic terms by the press.

Sign followed sign and wonder followed wonder in quick succession, and men’s faith increased and the righteous came from all quarters and swore spiritual allegiance to him.

Seeing this, his enemies were sore troubled in their hearts and resolved upon a new mode of persecution. They felt that the failure of their previous efforts was due to the fact that owing to the fear of the law they had not been able to carry out their design openly. They, therefore, now hit upon the device of putting the machinery of the law in motion against him and thus making the very law the instrument of their vengeance.

The missionaries were the first to drag him into court thinking that the courts of a Christian Government would surely show favour to them. A Christian missionary made a report that Ahmad (peace and the blessings of God be upon him!) had sent a man to kill him, and by wiles and machinations induced a vagabond to state that he had in truth been sent by the accused to procure the death of the missionary. On this, men of all religions became violently excited and sided with the missionary, and the Prophet of God was left to contend single-handed against an hostile world.

God had, however, informed him beforehand that he would experience trouble in a matter in which the Government would be concerned, but that there was no real danger behind it, and that in the end he would be ‘acquitted.’

The case was tried by the District Magistrate, Captain Douglas, who subsequently became Chief Commissioner of the Andaman Islands. His enemies rejoiced that now would “this self-styled Messiah” be punished and disgraced. But, as in the case of the first Messiah, God had disclosed the truth to Pilate, so did He now open the heart of Captain Douglas, who, after hearing the statement of the principal witness, expressed an opinion that the case appeared to him to be a concoction and that the witness was a liar.

He directed the Superintendent of Police, who was a European, to make a full investigation into the case and to submit his report. The latter, seeing that the witness lived in the mission compound and was under the influence of the missionaries, sent for him and himself recorded his statement. The man stood so much in fear of the missionaries that he again repeated the same statement which he had made before the District Magistrate. On being assured, however, that he would not be sent back to the missionaries, he fell to weeping and confessed that his statement had been extorted from him by the missionaries, under threat of a prosecution, and that the accused was wholly innocent and had never talked to him.

At last, as had been foretold, he was acquitted with honour, and the District Magistrate told him that he was at liberty to prosecute the witnesses if he so desired, but he replied that he desired to prosecute nobody and forgave them.

The leaders of other religions also tried their utmost to secure his conviction in this case, but they were utterly confounded. On the contrary, his righteousness shone forth still clearer, for not only was he acquitted as he had prophesied, but people were also impressed by his magnanimity. He forgave those who had persecuted him, and forbade his counsel to put a question in cross-examination to one of the prosecution witnesses who was also a big priest, which related to the mother of the witness and the answer to which would have humiliated him. “For,” said he “I do not desire to put shame on him.” This endeared him still more to the people.

After failing in this case, his enemies instituted several cases against him one after the other, in some of which he was put to great trouble and inconvenience owing to the hostility of the presiding Magistrates. He had to stand for hours in Court, in spite of his age and infirmities, and on some occasions he was not allowed to sit down or drink water when feeling faint with sickness. But in every case he was honourably acquitted and in each case the result was foretold, and those Magistrates who had treated him so inhumanly were very soon overtaken by Divine punishment and thus served to confirm the truth of his claim.

As men witnessed these signs, they joined the Ahmadiyya Movement in large numbers, and one phenomenon contributed very largely towards the spread of the Movement. When the plague appeared in India, he proclaimed that very few of his followers would be stricken with it and that Quadian, his own village, would be protected against destructive plague, and that not a single individual residing within his house would die of it.

He also challenged his opponents to proclaim a similar immunity for themselves if, as they claimed, they were God’s elect, but very few dared to do so, and those who did, were very soon carried off by the plague.

His own prophecy was, however, fulfilled to the letter. Not a single individual, not even a rat, died of plague in his house, in spite of the fact that for four years people continued to die of the plague in neighbouring houses. Again, Quadian was protected from its destructive attacks, and very few of his followers died of it. Even in places where its attacks were most violent, his followers were conspicuous for their immunity from the plague and seizures were very rare among them.

People marvelled greatly at this and hundreds of thousands joined his Movement as a result of it.

Now the time arrived for God to call him away and to let his followers carry on the work which God had appointed for him.

He received repeated revelations that his end was near and sometimes the time and sometimes the day and sometimes the manner of his death was disclosed to him.

On this he wrote and published his Will in which he mentioned all those revelations which he had received concerning his own death, and he stated therein that after his death God would maintain and succour his community in the same manner in which He had succoured the Muslims after the death of the Holy Prophet (on whom be peace and the blessings of God!) i.e., by means of Khaleefahs.

This Will was written two years and five months before his death. After this, successive revelations indicated that the hour of his death was approaching and these revelations were published regularly along with the other revelations received by him, in the papers and journals of the Movement.

At last, he had occasion to undertake a journey to Lahore. He was repeatedly told that his death would occur during the course of this journey. He grew very weak in Lahore, but this did not interfere with his work and he continued to preach to, and call to God those who came to see him. He also started writing a paper which was to be read publicly in Lahore, and when he had almost completed it, his end arrived. He died at Lahore on the morning of the 26th May, 1908. His body was brought to Quadian and was buried there on the 27th and thus were these revelations fulfilled which had been published many years before: “An occurrence on the 27th concerning us,” and “They have brought his body wrapped in a shroud.”

He was so zealous in the propagation of the true faith that he wrote and published eighty books for the purpose, besides hundreds of leaflets, and spent several hours daily in instructing those who came to see him.

His whole pleasure lay in his work, insomuch that for months together those who lived with him could not find out at what time he rested. He had only one object and was dominated only by one idea, namely, that the world should make peace with its Maker and that men should obtain salvation; and he spent his life in working for this end.

Some men have died for God and others have been crucified for His sake, but the Promised Messiah was one of those who suffer death for their Maker every day of their lives, for he ever sacrificed his own rest and comfort for the salvation of mankind. Up to the evening of his last day on earth he was engaged in writing, so that his death was for mankind as his life had been for them.

His enemies, who had persecuted him throughout his lifetime, were guilty of shameful deeds on his death; but in spite of all that they strove to do, that which God had foretold was fulfilled and all their expectations disappointed.

The Movement which he had founded continued to spread rapidly under the guidance of his first successor Hazrat Maulawi Noor-ud-din Sahib (may God be pleased with him and shower His blessings on him!)

Six years later when the Maulawi Sahib died and I, Mirza Basheer-ud-din Mahmud Ahmad, became the second Khaleefah of the Messiah, the Movement began to spread still more rapidly, and every day that dawns contributes towards the fulfilment of the Divine revelation:—“I shall proclaim thy name unto the corners of the earth and shall increase the number of thy followers.”

Your Royal Highness! heaven and earth shall pass away but these words shall not pass away; for he hath not spoken them of himself but God hath spoken them and the word of God cannot pass away.