The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 379
Punishment in this World 379 at all possible that a person should fabricate lies against. God and should claim to be a prophet and should put forward his own compositions as the word of God falsely and yet God should grant him respite like the righteous and should bestow upon him wide acceptance by people. [Toḥfah Qaisariyyah, Rūḥānī Khazā'in, vol. 12, p. 258]. Has an impostor ever been granted respite for the propagation of his lies as God Almighty grants to the true recipients of His revelation? Has God not affirmed that false claimants of revelation and impostors would be seized? The Torah affirms that a false prophet shall be slain and the Gospel sets out that an impostor would soon perish and his followers would be scattered. Is there a single instance that a false claimant of revelation should have been granted respite over a period which has been granted to me since the publication of my claim of being the recipient of Divine revelation? If there is any such instance then let it be put forward. I claim emphatically that there has been no single instance of it since the beginning of the world. Is there anyone who should fear. God Almighty and derive benefit from this firm and conclusive reasoning? I do not claim that an idol worshipper or an atheist or a claimant of Godhood is not granted long life, because these errors and such misguidance would be punished in the hereafter. But I do affirm that he who falsely poses as the recipient of Divine revelation is soon seized and his life is cut short. The. Torah, the Gospel and the Holy Qur'ān bear witness to this and so does reason. An opponent cannot set forth a single instance to the contrary from history. [Ayyām-uş-Şulḥ, Rūḥānī Khazā'in, vol. 14, pp. 267-268]