The Guiding Light — Page 349
S u rah al-Baqarah, Verse 255-258 349 and the person for whom he intercedes. Sometimes, it happens that through fear of God or through modesty the intercessor does not make an intercession in the form of a direct request or prayer but simply expresses the relation existing between him and the person for whom he wishes to intercede, leaving the conclusion to be drawn by God Himself. A case in point is that of Noah’s intercession for his son referred to above. Noah as did not actually pray for this son but simply drew God’s attention to their relationship: My Lord, verily my son is of my family and surely Thy promise is true (11:46). These are Noah’s words. It is a clear case of ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ( shaf a ‘ah) although the actual form of prayer is wanting. (3) Thirdly , there is the ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ( shaf a ‘ah) which is neither made in the form of prayer nor expressed in words. It simply consists in the practical existence of the twofold relation necessary for ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ( shaf a ‘ah). In fact, in this case the relationship itself is spoken of ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ( shaf a ‘ah). For instance, the Qur’ a n speaks of the Jews saying ﻻ ﺗﻨﻔﻌﺎ ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ i. e. on the Day of Judgement no ( Shaf a ‘ah ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ) shall avail them (2:124). Here ﺷﻔﺎﻋﺔ ( shaf a ‘ah) is used simply in the