Lecture Lahore — Page 65
65 Note One, H ak i m Mirza Mahmood Ir a n i , in his letter dated 2 nd September, 1902, has asked me to explain the meaning of the verse: 38 First of all, let it be clear that this verse holds so many se- crets that it is impossible to encompass them all, and under the apparent meaning of this verse lie meanings that are not so easily understood. The meaning which God has disclosed to me is that when this verse is read along with the preceding and following verses, it constitutes a proph- ecy about the Promised Messiah and specifies the time of his advent. To elaborate this point, let me say that the Promised Messiah is also Dhulqarnain, because the Ara- bic word qarn connotes a century, and this verse indicates that the birth and advent of the Promised Messiah will span two centuries. And this clearly applies to me, for I have lived in two centuries according to every calendar I know of, be it Islamic, Christian or Bikrami, and my birth and advent have not been confined to a single century, and, in this sense, I am Dhulqarnain. In some Traditions, too, the Promised Messiah has been called Dhulqarnain in this very sense. 38 "He found it setting in a pool of murky water. " —Al-Kahf, 18:87 [Publishers]