The Heavenly Sign — Page 42
42 Nish a n-e- A sm a n i ruling according to the Holy Qur’an. ' He again said: 'He will give his ruling according to the Holy Qur’an. ' I said to him that the Ulema are the heirs to the Qur’an, why would they reject him?' He answered that the Ulema would strongly reject him. I repeated my question, 'Why would the Ulema deny him when they are the heirs to the Qur’an?' At this he became greatly annoyed and incensed and answered: 'You will see what the Ulema will do. They will oppose him vehemently. ' Then I asked him, "‘ I s a as has come of age, but where is he?" He said, "In Qadian. " At this I said to him, "Qadian is but three leagues' distance from Luddiy a na. Surely there is no ‘ I s a as there!" To this he did not reply then, but at another occasion he did answer my question. I have not been able to relate it earlier because it happened such a long time ago. Now I can recall that in the end he told me several times that ‘ I s a as was in Qadian, which is near Bat a la. When he had said to me that ‘ I s a as was in Qadian, and had come of age, I said, "‘ I s a , son of Maryam as , is in heaven and he is supposed to descend at the Ka‘ba. Who then is this ‘ I s a as who you say is in Qadian and has attained manhood?" To this he answered with great kindness and compassion and said: "‘ I s a , son of Maryam as , has died. He will never come back. I have thoroughly researched this matter. ‘ I s a son of Maryam as is dead, he will not come back. God has called me a king. I speak the truth. I never utter falsehood. " Then, on his own accord, he repeated