The Revelation T W HE ILL by HADRAT MIRZA GHULAM AHMAD THE PROMISED MESSIAH AND MAHDI Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama‘at 2004 ISLAM INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATIONS LIMITED (cid:50)(cid:227)ò(cid:80)¯ا (cid:352) The Will (English rendering of 'Al-Wasiyyat' [Urdu]) © Islam International Publications Ltd Urdu text first published in 1905 Many Urdu editions published since English translation first published in Pakistan First UK edition of English translation published in England in 1997 (ISBN: 1 85372 602 8) Reprinted in USA, The Gambia and England in August 2004 Present Edition (retranslated and revised) published in England in December 2004 Published by Islam International Publications Ltd Islamabad Sheephatch Lane Tilford, Surrey United Kingdom GU10 2AQ Typeset & Title by Shaikh Naseer Ahmad Wakalat-e-Isha‘at, Rabwah Printed in UK at Raqeem Press Tilford, Surrey ISBN: 1 85372 774 1 Table of Contents 1 About the Author iii 2 Foreword v 3 The Will 1 4 Appendix to the Will 35 Minutes of the First Meeting of the Majlis 5 44 Mu‘tamadin Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya i ABOUT THE AUTHOR Born in 1835 in Qadian (India), Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad remained dedicated to the study of the Holy Qur’an and to a life of prayer and devotion. Finding Islam the target of foul attacks from all directions, the fortunes of Muslims at a low ebb, faith yielding to doubt and religion only skin-deep, he undertook a vindication and exposition of Islam. In his vast corpus of writings (including his epoch- making 'Brahin-e-Ahmadiyya'), his lectures, discourses, religious debates etc. he argued that Islam iii iv was a living faith, and by following it man could establish contact with his Creator and enter into communion with Him. The teachings contained in the Holy Qur’an and the Law promulgated by Islam were designed to raise man to moral, intellectual and spiritual perfection. He announced that God had appointed him the Messiah and Mahdi as mentioned in the prophecies of the Bible, the Holy Qur’an and Ahadith. In 1889 he began to accept initiation into his Community which is now established in one hundred and seventy six countries. His eighty books are written mostly in Urdu, but some are in Arabic and Persian. After his demise in 1908, the Promised Messiahas was succeeded by Hadrat Maulawi Nur-ud-Dinra, Khalifatul Masih I. On the death of Hadrat Maulawi Nur-ud-Dinra in 1914, Hadrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra, who was also the Promised Messiah's 'Promised Son', became Khalifa. Hadrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra remained in office for nearly fifty two years. He died in 1965 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Hadrat Mirza Nasir Ahmadrh. After seventeen years of meritorious services he passed away in 1982. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Hadrat Mirza Tahir Ahmadrh as Khalifatul Masih IV who, having led the Community to its present strength and world recognition, passed away on the 19th April, 2003. Hadrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad Khalifatul Masih Vah is the present head of the Community and enjoys the distinction of being the great-grandson of the Founder, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas. v FOREWORD The booklet Al-Wasiyyat (Urdu) written in 1905, gives the glad tidings of the second manifestation of Divine grace in the form of Khilafat and details the institution of the grand scheme of making a testamentary disposition for the cause of Islam and the establishment of a graveyard named as the Bahishti Maqbara1. It was rendered into English, and was first published under the title ‘The Will’ in Pakistan. Except for the first few lines of the original English translation and the translation of the Persian poem, the rest of the book is retranslated by Mirza Anas Ahmad M. A. M. Litt. (OXON), Wakilul Isha‘at, Tahrik-e- Jadid, Rabwah. The translator is extremely grateful to Munawar A. Saeed of USA for his valuable suggestions for the improvement of certain parts of translation and his suggestions regarding the format and style of the manuscript. He is also grateful to him for translating the Persian poem for this edition. Most of the Divine Revelations are taken from the English translation of Tadhkirah2 translated by the late Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khanra. Please also note that the words in the text in normal brackets ( ) and in between the long dashes — are the words of the Promised Messiahas and if any explanatory words or phrases are added by the translator for the purpose of 1 The graveyard of those who are in the eyes of God worthy of Heaven. [Publisher] 2 The book containing dreams, visions and verbal revelations vouchsafed to the Promised Messiahas. [Publisher] vi clarification, they are put in square brackets [ ]. The edition has also been typeset anew. The name of Muhammadsa, the Holy Prophet of Islam, has been followed by the symbol sa, which is an abbreviation for the salutation Sallallahu ‘Alaihi Wasallam (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The names of other prophets and messengers are followed by the symbol as, an abbreviation for ‘Alaihissalam (on whom be peace). The actual salutations have not generally been set out in full, but they should nevertheless, be understood as being repeated in full in each case. The symbol ra is used with the name of the disciples of the Holy Prophetsa and those of the Promised Messiahas. It stands for Radi Allahu ‘anhu/‘anha/‘anhum (May Allah be pleased with him/with her/with them). rh stands for Rahamullahu Ta‘ala (may Allah’s blessing be on him). at stands for Ayyadahullahu Ta‘ala (May Allah, the Mighty help him). In transliterating Arabic words we have followed the following system adopted by the Royal Asiatic Society. at the beginning of a word, pronounced as a, i, ا u preceded by a very slight aspiration, like h in the English word ‘honour’. th, pronounced like th in the English word ث ‘thing’. h, a guttural aspirate, stronger than h. ح kh, pronounced like the Scotch ch in ‘loch’. خ vii dh, pronounced like the English th in ‘that’. ذ s, strongly articulated s. ص d, similar to the English th in ‘this’. ض t, strongly articulated palatal t. ط z, strongly articulated z. ظ ‘, a strong guttural, the pronunciation of which ع must be learnt by the ear. gh, a sound approached very nearly in the r غ ‘grasseye’ in French, and in the German r. It requires the muscles of the throat to be in the ‘gargling’ position whilst pronouncing it. q, a deep guttural k sound. ق ئ ’, a sort of catch in the voice. Short vowels are represented by a for —َ— (like u ِ in ‘bud’); i for —— (like i in ‘bid’); u for —ُ— (like oo in ‘wood’); the long vowels by a for —ٰ — or ِ آ (like a in ‘father’); i for —— or —— (like ee in ى ٰ ‘deep’); ai for —َ— (like i in ‘site’)♦; u for —ُ— ى و (like oo in ‘root’); au for —َ— (resembling ou in و ‘sound’). Please note that in transliterated words the letter ‘e’ is to be pronounced as in ‘prey’ which rhymes with ‘day’; however the pronunciation is flat without ♦ In Arabic words like ﺦﻴﺷ (Shaikh) there is an element of diphthong which is missing when the word is pronounced in Urdu.