Yet in spite of all that, he single-handedly shoulders the whole task. He stands alone among the people of his age: few are those who help him, while many abandon him, envy him, and rejoice at his misfortunes!

When a man of this caliber, in these times, rises to so momentous and perilous a mission, shall he be reproached: “Why do you refute the Ahmadiyya? Why do you not distribute equitably? Why do you enter the courts of the rulers? Why do you show favor (1) to Zayd and ʿAmr?”

Does a servant of Allah not feel ashamed to cite such petty particulars in the face (2) of so crushing a burden? Were the man to be interrogated about these details, one would find sound textual proofs, sound aims (3), and sound intentions—matters that escape feeble minds, indeed even the keenest of them, until they have heard them explained.

As for his rebuttal of such-and-such a faction (5)—O you negligent wanderer who knows not what he says—can the religion of Muhammad ibn ʿAbd-Allah, sent down from heaven, be upheld except by exposing their errors? How can truth appear if falsehood is not subdued? None utters such words but someone bewildered, senile, or envious.

Likewise, his apportionment ⦗115⦘ rests on valid ijtihād and on considering the benefits that follow (6) from giving to some people rather than others, just as the Messenger ﷺ favored the freed captives (ṭulaqāʾ)