The Heavenly Sign — Page 7
7 And his justice is the fortress for one and all. This monarch of mine will have seven ministers Each will be an excellent administrator. In the hands of this Cup-bearer of Tau hi d , I see a sweet and delicious wine. I see the rusted swords of the iron-hearted champions Blunt and discredited. The wolf and the sheep and the lion and the deer I see them all grazing in peace and without fear. I see that the wary and the vigilant Turk are slack And their enemy is inebriated. I see Ni‘matull a h sitting smug in a corner, Aloof and indifferent to everything. Here Munsh i Muhammad Ja‘far Sahib insists that the couplet ' The vigilant Turk …' actually contains a prophecy that people would deny me. But, as any sensible and fair- minded person, who is disposed to thought and reflection, can perceive, this couplet is found in the latter part of the poem, and it is obvious from the sequence of the verses, that first the Promised Messiah as was to appear, and then an event was to take place that would show that the vigilant Turk had slackened and his enemy was inebriated. It is obvious that no one besides me has claimed to be the Promised Messiah as in this age, therefore, not even a simpleton can consider me to be the 'Turk'. The correct interpretation of this couplet is that, after the advent of this Messiah, the Turkish Empire will become weak and its enemy—Russia—will also not gain much from its victory.