Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 260
260 BARĀHIN-E-AHMADIYYA - PART FIVE under such circumstances what would be the distinction between the Word of God and the word of man? MY ANSWER-As I have written about it earlier, we do not need to go looking for such an example among other Prophets, because even to our Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, some such phrases were contained in the revelations of Allah that had already been uttered by someone else. For instance, this sentence of Quranic revelation: للهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخُلِقِينَ فَتَبْرَكَ اللهُ أَحْسَنُ issued forth first from the tongue of 'Abdullah bin Abi Sarah, and the very same sentence was revealed in the Holy Quran. See Tafsir-e-Kabir, part 6, page 276, printed in Egypt. The actual words are: روى الكلبي عن ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما- ان عبدالله بن سعد بن ابی سرح كان يكتب هذه الأيات لرسول الله صلّى الله عليه وسلّم فلما انتهى الى قوله تعالى خلقا أخر عجب من ذالك فقال فتبارك الله احسن الخالقين فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلّم أكتب فهكذا نزلت، فشك عبد الله وقال ان كان محمد صادقًا فيما يقول فانه يوحى إلى كما يوحى اليه وان كان كاذبًا فلا خير في دينه فهرب الى مكة فقيل انه مات على الكفر وقيل انه اسلم يوم الفتح Translation is that: Kalbi narrates it on the authority of Ibn 'Abbās, may peace be upon him, that 'Abdullah bin Abi Sarah used to take down verses of the Holy Quran; i. e. the Holy Prophet, may peace and bless- ings of Allah be upon him, would direct him to write down the verses as they were revealed to him. And so once when the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, dictated to him the verse that ends with خلقًا أخر another creation'], 'Abdullāh marvelled 1. So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators (Sūrah al-Mu'minun, 23:15). [Publisher]