I have only ever sternly addressed my opponents in order to purge them of arrogance. This is not an act of retaliation for harsh words; rather, it is a bitter pill meant to cure them—as the [Arabic] proverb has it: الحق مر (The truth is bitter). However, it is not justified that anyone should feel at liberty to pen such harsh words. The community ought to exercise caution. Each and every individual ought to first delve into their heart and see whether they write such words with pure intention or merely out of obstinacy and enmity.
One should not harbour malevolence against one’s adversaries. Instead, a person ought to pray for such people more than anything else and use other means to reform them.
(Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, Malfuzat, Vol. 1, p. 7)