Haqiqatul-Wahi (The Philosophy of Divine Revelation) — Page 789
CHAPTER ONE IN AL-ISTIFTA' 789 [of Islam]. They delved deeply into the events of his life on account of their enmity and malice. But in spite of their deep-seated enmity, they did not find any grounds for criticism, fault-finding, or scorn; nor did they find in his actions anything which could be attributed to personal or carnal desires. In his early days he was concealed in a life of seclusion-unknown and overlooked with neither hope nor fear associated with him. He was ignored and was granted no respect. He was not even considered a worthy topic of conversation amongst the general public or the elite. It was considered that he amounts to nothing and the intellectuals avoided mentioning him in their assemblies. During that very period His Lord gave him the glad tidings that He is with him; that He has chosen him; that He has included him among His loved ones; that He will soon exalt his remembrance and raise his status, and will grant him great authority. As a consequence, he will be renowned amongst the people, and will be remembered both in the Easts and the Wests of the earth with goodly words and reverence. His greatness will be spread throughout the entire world by the command of the Lord of the Heavens. He will be granted succour from the Lord of Grandeur, and, like a stormy sea, hosts after hosts [of people] will flock to him by every distant track, so much so that he might well-nigh grow weary on account of their large number, feel constrained by their sight, and be overawed much like the head of a large family who must discharge his responsibilities despite the large size of his household and meagreness of his resources. People will abandon their homelands and will adopt his town as their home because of the attraction God has infused within their hearts for him. They will discard the company of their close friends for the sake of meeting him. Their hearts will be burning with the yearning for keeping his company, and their hearts will grow tender at the sight of his countenance. Godly people will hasten to follow him with the utmost truthfulness, sincerity, and fidelity. They will prefer to endure diverse kinds of hardship for his sake. There will be a group among them