Al Fazl, 17 & 20 April 1922
20 March 1922
Knowledge of stars
Maulvi Ghulam Ahmad Sahib Akhtar asked permission to recite some couplets [of his poem]. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II[ra] granted permission. Akhtar Sahib stood up and said [in Punjabi language]: “Budha shaa‘ir aur raati shaa‘iri [old poet and night poetry].” Then, he said that the accounts he was about to present were not his own and he had only penned some of the discussion being held in the sky at night.
There were some astrological terms in the poem. At the end of the poem, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih said to Maulvi Sahib, “Are you also acquainted with the knowledge of stars?” Maulvi Sahib replied that he was Akhtar [the star of one’s fate and fortune] only by name [and had no proper knowledge of astrology]. Then Huzoor[ra] said:
“I have only read about it in English, which is basically the modern research, and not the ancient knowledge. However, the books of the Promised Messiah[as] show that he knew the ancient knowledge [of stars].”
Effects of stars
On the mention of good and bad effects of stars, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] said:
“The fact is that people generally understand the point when it reaches the conclusion. Understanding something in the middle [of a discourse] is not possible for everyone and is only the work of the scholars whether it is a religious matter or worldly. Therefore, the people take matters to the extreme for their own understanding and take them according to their own comprehension. The stars impact in certain ways, but unless someone or something does not possess the ability to accept that effect, they cannot cause any good or bad effect on anyone. It is for this reason that the prophets are not negatively affected by them.
“Medicine causes an effect, and eating bread and curry also cause an effect. All these things have an impact on health. Now a simple-minded person will wonder why medicine is taken if bread, food, etc., also affect health. Likewise, the question may arise that when the body automatically revives its strength and removes the disease, then what is the need for treatment. The fact of the matter is that if the body overpowers the disease, then the disease is automatically defeated and it goes away. The same is the case with medicine and food; if the body accepts their influence, it will prevail, otherwise the disease will prevail.
“Regarding disease, we observe that when two people come into contact with a sick person, it affects one but not the other. It is also wrong to say that a disease is contagious by nature because if someone does not have the ability to accept its effect, a contagious disease will not have an impact. It is said that a doctor drank a bottle of cholera germs but it did not cause any effect on him.”
The reality of the works of the sufis
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] said:
“The key to knowledge has been lost by people. We are surprised how they ascribe the concept of wahdat al-wujud [unity of existence] to sufis, even though the origin of the ideas is not found in their books. In the book Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, I have observed that the refutation of the said ideas is found in every single chapter. However, it is also true that there is not a single chapter in that [book] which does not cause doubts in the minds of the people. I have come to the conclusion that the example of those kind of works of the sufis is that just as an animal has a habit of regurgitation, that it takes the eaten fodder out of its stomach and tastes it again, so is the habit of a human being. That is, when he gets some intellectual pleasure [from somewhere or something], he repeats it again and again and enjoys it. In the same way, sufis, when they come back after visiting the court of Allah, enjoy mentioning their accounts again and again in the gatherings. Consequently, sufis have expressed some points according to the extent of their abilities. However, they did not know that there would be a time when their books would fall into the hands of every able and ineligible person because of the press, where their meanings would be taken out of context. They would have thought that no one would study their books except for their close devotees.”
Goodly remembrance of Syed Abdul Qadir Jilani
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] said:
“The books of Syed Abdul Qadir Jilanirh leave very little room for doubt. It is for this reason that if the Promised Messiahas has been likened to any of the saints, it is Syed Abdul Qadir Sahib Jilanirh. He used every word very careful and wrote very little about his inner feelings. After him is the rank of Shah Waliullah Sahibrh and the special thing in his books is that his works are zu-ma‘ni [open to two interpretations].”
Attributes of a mujaddid
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih [IIra] said:
“Some people say that the attributes of a mujaddid [reformer] presented by the Promised Messiahas that they should be such and such, as are mentioned in the Persian poem of his book, Tiryaq-ul-Quloob, must be present in each one [of the mujaddids]. However, in these writings, the Promised Messiahas was referring to himself. Likewise, the accounts and ranks written in the book, Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya are in fact his [Hazrat Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi’srh] own accounts on which he urged his disciples to attain.”
How Maulvi Burhanuddin Sahib taught a lesson to a fortune-teller
At the mention of astrologers and fortune-tellers, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] said:
“Maulvi Burhanuddin Sahib Jhelami was a very good-natured man. He recounted an incident that once, a fortune-teller appeared in his neighbourhood. He used to tell people about their fate. Maulvi Sahib wanted to stop him and intended to somehow teach him a lesson so that he would stop coming. One day, Maulvi Sahib, who was not very tall, sat down with a veil over himself and showed him his hand and said, ‘Please have look at my fate.’ The fortune-teller considered him a woman and said that, ‘Your luck is very bad. Your husband who is abroad has married another woman and now he does not intend to return.’ He [Maulvi Sahib] made a weeping face and said to him, ‘Then tell me a way out of it, what should I do now and how do I get rid of this bad patch of mine.’ The fortune-teller asked for some clothes, etc., that if he would be given them, the husband would come back soon, otherwise he did not intend to return at all. Upon this, Maulvi Sahib immediately lifted the veil from his face and showed his long beard. Holding the hand of the fortune-teller tightly, he said, ‘Will he never return now?’ After going through that situation, the fortune-teller was so embarrassed that he never came to that neighbourhood again. In fact, he might have announced in his whole community that no one should go there, and therefore no one came to that neighbourhood again.”
Maulvi Burhanuddin Sahib’s first meeting with the Promised Messiah
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] said:
“His (Maulvi Burhanuddin Sahib’s) first encounter with the Promised Messiahas was also quite amusing. He said, ‘I went to Qadian but the Promised Messiahas was in Gurdaspur. So, I went to the house where the Promised Messiahas was staying in Gurdaspur. On one side of it was a garden. The late Hamid Ali Sahib was sitting at the door. He did not allow me to enter, but I snuck in through the garden and reached the door. I slowly opened the door and saw the Promised Messiahas pacing and taking long strides. I immediately turned around and understood that this person was honest who was walking fast. He must have to reach a distant destination and for that he is moving at a fast pace.’”
Huzoor[ra] said, “Being a Wahhabi, it is strange for Maulvi Sahib to think like that because these people are usually conservatives.”
(Translated by Al Hakam from the original Urdu published in the 17 and 20 April 1922 issue of Al Fazl)