A Present to Kings — Page 52
(132) dangerous error. . As a matter of fact the Holy Quran "when ever it speaks of Jesus, invariably makes mention of his death and what is more curious, is that in the case of no other prophet has such stress been laid on the fact of his death, as in the case of Jesus, which latter has been adverted to in diverse passages, the reason being that God, who is all-knowing, knew that this was a question which at one time would prove the ruin of the Mussalmans. God says: یا عیسی انی متوفیک و عالی و مطهرك من الذين كفروا و جاعل اللذين اتبعوك فوق الذین کفر و االى يوم القيمة ¡Oh Jesus: Myself shall cause thee to die and exalt thee towards Myself, and establish thy purity from those who have this belief and make those who have followed thee dominate over those who have disbelieved, till the day of judgment). In the face of this verse, for a Mussalman to say, that although. Jesus has ascended the sky, still the promise of his death, which in the verse occurs before the promise of ascension, has not yet been fulfilled, would be a serious impudence. No man has the right to change the order of words as fixed by. God. The Holy Quran is a book of law and it is the duty of the Muslims to follow its dictates. Your Highness can well realise what confusion there will result if it be permitted to shift from their places the words of the Holy Quran when one proceeds to interpret the same. No earthly authority would permit such liberties with the sections of its codes, and if any judicial officer should indulge in such tricks, he would forthwith be removed, for he would prove himself unworthy of his place. In your position as a ruler, it is easy for Your. Highness to realise the serious harm that would follow from such shuffling of the words of law without explicit authority of the legislature. How improper then must it be to rashly make the words of the Divine revelation follow one's own views and to say about any instance one pleases, that it is a case of wrong transposition of words. Who can boast of a purer diction than God; who could Himself, if He chose, have altered the