Invitation to Ahmadiyyat — Page 42
42 and chaste like that of Maryam, the latter part of his life would be akin to that of ‘ I s a —sustained by the Holy Spirit and spent in the task of reformation and in the service of the truth. It would seem that the Muslim scholars of this age have made it unlawful upon themselves to reflect on the meanings of the Holy Quran and to receive from it gems of knowledge and wis - dom. Had they only looked at the knowledge that past divine scholars acquired through their study of the Holy Quran and the lives of the Prophets and then recorded in their books, they would not have been so grossly misled. Hadrat Sheikh Shah a b al-D i n Suhraward i writes in his book Aw a riful-Ma‘ a rif that, aside from physical birth, there is also a metaphorical birth, and in support of this he cites none other than Hadrat ‘Īsā himself. He says: ِ ْر ُ ھٰذِہ ي ِ ۃ ِ وَتَص يَّ ِ بْع َّ الْوَلَد َ جُزْئ ُ الْوَالِد ِ فِی الْوِلَدَۃِالط َّ ْخ ِ کَمَا اِن َّي ْرُالْمُرِیْد ُ جُزْئ َ الش ي ِ یَص َ ْہ ِ لَن ْ یَلِج َ مَلَکُوْت ي ْسٰی صَلَوٰت ُ ہللا ِ عَلَ ي ۃ ً کَمَا وَرَد َ عَن ْ عِ َّ الْوِلَدَۃ ُ اٰنِفًا وِلَدَۃ ً مَعْنَوِی ِ ْر ُ لَہ ٗ اِرْتِبَاط ٌ بِعَالَم ِ الْمَلَك ِ وَبِھٰذِہ ِ الْوِلَدَۃ ي ِ ْن ِ فَبِالْوِلَدَۃ ِ الُْوْلٰی یَص ي تَ َّ م ْ یُوْلَد ْ مَر َّ مَآءِمَن ْ ل َّ الس 40 ْر ُ لَہ ٗ اِرْتِبَاط ٌ بِالْمَلَکُوْتِ. ي ِ یَص The disciple is part of the master, even as in physical birth the son is part of the father. Such a metaphorical birth takes place when, as described by Hadrat ‘ I s a , ‘No one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless he is born twice. ’ The first of these births is the natural birth of this world, but the second birth has to do with the spiritual realm. Allah also says, ‘And thus did We show Abraham the Kingdom of the Heaven and the earth that he might be rightly guided and that he might be of those who have certainty of faith. ’