Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 243
POSTSCRIPT-SIGN NUMBER 2 243 Cross; that is, he would eradicate the belief in the Atonement from this world through heavenly Signs-a due recompense for the damage done; no cause for complaint. 2. [SECOND] SIGN―The following hadith is recorded in Sunan Dār Qutni that Imam Muḥammad al-Baqir says: إِنَّ لِمَهْدِينَا أَيَتَيْنِ لَمْ تَكُونَا مُنْذُ خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ. يَنْكَسِفُ الْقَمَرُ لِأَوَّلِ لَيْلَةٍ مِّنْ رَّمَضَانَ وَتَنْكَسِفُ الشَّمْسُ فِي النِّصْفِ مِنْهُ. Translation: There are two Signs for our Mahdi, and ever since God created the heavens and earth, these two Signs have never appeared in the time of any other Appointed One or Messenger. One of them is that in the time of the Promised Mahdi, during the month of Ramadan, the lunar eclipse will take place on its first night—i. e. on the thirteenth [night]—while the solar eclipse will take place on the mid- dle of its days-i. e. on the twenty-eighth day of the month of the same Ramadan. Such a phenomenon has never occurred at the time of any Messenger or Prophet since the beginning of the world. It is destined to occur only at the time of the Promised Mahdi. Now, all English and Urdu newspapers and all astronomers are wit- ness to the fact that the lunar and solar eclipses of this particular descrip- tion did take place in my time about twelve years ago during the month of Ramadan, and just as is reported in another hadith, these eclipses have taken place twice in the month of Ramadan—first in this country and then again in America. Both times, they took place exactly on the dates indicated by the hadith. At the time of these eclipses there was no claim- ant to being the Promised Mahdi anywhere in the world except me, nor did anyone claim these eclipses as the Sign of his being the Promised Mahdi and publish hundreds of announcements and booklets in Urdu, Arabic, and Persian to support his claim; therefore, this heavenly Sign is specifically appointed for me. Another supporting argument for the same is that twelve years prior to the manifestation of this Sign, God Almighty