Arba'in — Page 23
Number Two 23 Days—whose other title is the Promised Messiah—it is absolutely essential to have both these attributes in perfect form because he is a reflection of both. For, as it is under- stood from this Quranic verse, the depraved condition of the age demands that whoever comes as the Imam of the Latter Days in these evil times should be a Mahdi from God, and in religious matters he should not be a student or a disciple of anyone else. He should receive general knowledge and cognition from God Himself. He should not have been taught religious knowledge by anyone, nor should he be a disciple of anyone in ascetic disciplines. Likewise, he should be found with the support from the Blessed Holy Spirit and possess the capability to remove every kind of spiritual illness from among all the illnesses the Lord of mighty powers. The stage in the category of receiving help from the Holy Spirit—which is lower than the Lord of mighty powers— is the special quality that has been conferred upon the Messiah [‘ I s a bin Maryam]. And both these special qualities are clear from the Holy Quran: The appellation given to the Holy Prophet is Ummi Mahdi [‘the Unlettered, Guided One’], and: ٗهَمَّلَع ُدْيِدَش ىٰوُقْلا ۰۰ [ The Lord of mighty pow- ers has taught him ( S u rah an-Najm, 53:6). And the Messiah is said to be a recipient of the support of the Holy Spirit, as a poet has also said: ارابزدمدرفامی ادقلس روح ویبن � ی ف� یح�اےمرکد مس� ہچن ٓا اکردننک ں ٓا ہمہ د Those who receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, Do the very work that as was done by the Messiah. ’ And it was in the prophecies of the Prophets that both these attributes would be combined in the Imam of the Latter Days. This indicates that he would be half Israelite and half Ishmaelite. Author