The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 298
298 بِمَا لدَيْهِ خُبْرًا 0 212. Essence of Islam-III. That is, 'Dhulqarnain (the Promised Messiah who will be equipped with every means) shall follow another path, (i. e. , he will observe the state of the people of the East) and will discover a people at the place of the rising of the sun of truth who will be so ignorant that they will have no means of protecting themselves from the glare of the sun (i. e. , they will be scorched by the heat generated by their adherence to the letter and their extremism), and they will be unaware of the truth. Dhulqarnain (the. Promised Messiah) will have all the means of true peace and happiness of which We are aware, but the people will not accept them. They will have no shelter against the glare of their extremism-neither houses, nor shady trees nor suitable clothes to protect them from the heat. . In this way the rising sun of truth will bring about their ruin. ”. This is an instance of people who have the light of the sun of guidance available to them, and who are not like those whose sun has set, but they derive no benefit from the sun of guidance; only their skins are scorched, their complexion is darkened and they lose their eyesight. . This division indicates that the Promised Messiah will encounter three kinds of people in the course of his mission. (1) First, he will encounter a people who have lost the sun of guidance and are wallowing in a muddy and dark pool. (2) His second encounter will be with a people who are sitting in the sun stark naked, i. e. , they do not behave with respect, humility, courtesy and goodwill. . They are worshippers of the letter, as if they want to fight 212. Al-Kahf, 18:90-92 [Publisher]