Please note that, in the translation given herein, words given in parentheses ( ) are the words of the author. If any explanatory words or phrases are added by the translators for the purpose of clarification, they are put in square brackets [ ]. Footnotes given by the publisher are marked ‘[Publisher]’.
References to the Holy Quran contain the name of the surah [i.e. chapter] followed by a chapter:verse citation, e.g. Surah al-Jumu‘ah, 62:4, and count Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim [‘In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful’] as the first verse in every chapter that begins with it. All Biblical references have also been updated.
The following abbreviations have been used:
sas sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, meaning ‘peace and blessings of Allah be upon him’, is written after the name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(sas).
as ‘alaihis-salam, meaning ‘peace be on him’, is written after the names of Prophets other than the Holy Prophet Muhammad(sas).
ra radiyallahu ‘anhu/‘anha/‘anhum, meaning ‘may Allah be pleased with him/her/them’, is written after the names of the Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(sas) or of the Promised Messiah(as).
rta rahmatullah ‘alaih/‘alaiha/‘alaihim, meaning ‘may Allah shower His mercy upon him/her/them’, is written after the names of those deceased pious Muslims who are not Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(sas) or of the Promised Messiah(as).
aba ayyadahullahu Ta‘ala binasrihil-‘Aziz, meaning ‘may Allah the Almighty help him with His powerful support’, is written after the name of the present head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad(aba), Khalifatul-Masih V.
Readers are urged to recite the full salutations when reading the book. In general, we have adopted the system established by the Royal Asiatic Society for our transliteration.