Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 386
B AR Ā H Ī N-E-A H M ADIY YA — PART F IV E 386. م ھل ھو حی ّ او میّت وقال مالك مات ل قد اختلف فی عیسٰی علیہ الس Meaning that there was disagreement concerning Hadrat ‘ I s a , may peace be upon him, as to whether he is alive or dead and M a lik, may Allah be pleased with him, said that he is dead. And Mu h y-ud-D i n ibn al-‘Arab i wrote in one of his books—which is his last book—that ‘ I s a would indeed come but only in a new manifestation; that is, that some other person of this Ummah would appear in the spirit of ‘ I s a. It is an established creed among the Sufis that some perfect people return to this world in the manner that their spirituality manifests itself in some other person, and this latter person virtually becomes as if he is the same first person. The Hindus also maintain a similar principle and they call such a person an ‘ Avatar ’. As for the belief that a living human being went to heaven or disap- peared, it is also an ancient concept which had a different connotation in remote times, but the ignorant later took it to mean that a person goes to heaven with his body and then returns therefrom. Somewhat similar notions regarding Sayyed Ahmad Barel vi are in vogue among his followers even to this day, as though he too will return like Hadrat ‘ I s a. And they believe that though, like ‘ I s a , he remained unsuccessful in his first advent, he would wield the sword with great strength the second time. The truth is that such creeds were concocted to cover up for those people who left the world in failure and frustration after mak- ing grandiose claims. No one holds such a belief regarding our Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, that he too would come again because in his very first advent he showed such might of his hands to the disbe- lievers that they remember it only too well to this day, and he died after having fully accomplished his mission. It seems that Ibn al-‘Arab i had recanted in his later life from his previous utterances, and that is why his last statement is contrary to the earlier one. There are also other Sufi sects who openly profess the death of Hadrat ‘ I s a. And I have just described that, at the time of the