A Ripe Mind

"What my family traditions, my education and my social environment had offered me in the making of my mind, I was from the very beginning of my life, reluctant to rest content with. The bonds of inherited dependance on the past could not hold me under.

The zest of search for truth never forsook me. There is hardly a single conviction in me which has not had to bear the stings of doubt, or a single belief which has not faced the test of denial. I have gulped in poison mixed with every draught applied to my lips, and have also administered to myself Elixir coming forth from every quarter. Whenever I felt thirsty, my parched lips did not resemble the lips of others who were equally thirsty, and when I quenched my thirst, it was not from the same fountain as others did.

Whatever I could gather in this lengthy period of my life in my search of the Qur'anic truth, I have tried to understand to the best of my ability, and spread over the pages of this volume:"

"This is no new tale of fiction, but a confirmation of previous scriptures, and the explanation of all things, and a guidance and mercy to those who believe"

Surah 12(Yusuf) : Ayah 111
The Qur'an

-from the District Jail, Meerut (UP, India)

16th, November 1930

Preface to the 1st Edition,

"The Opening Chapter of the Qur'an"

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad