Life of Ahmad — Page 417
as SUN AND MOON DARKENED 417 the moon should cease to give forth light and the stars fall out of heaven, the coming of Jesus as and the giving of the inheritance to the righteous would become impossible. It is clear, therefore, that this prophecy cannot be construed literally and that there is a hidden meaning in it, as is very often the case with revealed words; and that meaning is that the sun and the moon will be eclipsed in those days and meteors 98 will fall in large numbers, and the power of religious leaders over their followers will be weakened, for in religious literature heavenly powers—sun, moon and stars—signify leaders of religion, who 'shine as lights in the world' (Phil. 2: 15) These signs appear at first sight to be very common ones, for solar and lunar eclipses and the falling of meteors are no extraordinary phenomena, and the power of religious leaders has often been shaken before. But on reflection it would appear that these are mighty signs, for although details are not given in the Gospels, these having been compiled a considerable time after Jesus as , Islamic traditions specify a limitation concerning these eclipses which invests them with peculiar value as signs indicating the period when the Messiah would reappear. 98 Harmsworth Universal Encyclopaedia says under Andromedids (remains of the Biela Comet): 'There were notable shower in 1872, 1885 and 1892. ' That of 1885 which occurred on the night between November 27th and 28th was witnessed by Ahmad as himself and God told him at that time that it was a sign of his advent.