Life of Ahmad — Page 488
LETTER TO THE AM i R as 488 of God in the matters of showing mercy, helping those in distress, protecting the poor and the needy, and defending Islam and the Muslims. Regarding the undersigned, when error and corruption prevail, God chooses a man as a reformer so that he may guide those who are astray and give light to the blind and grant the power of action to those who are weak and slumbering. Through them religion is revived and instruction in knowledge and reason is refreshed. In this age of mischief, corruption and apostacy, the same Merciful and Gracious God has commissioned me in the 14th century to reform mankind and leave them no excuse. As the mischief of this age proceeds from Christian priestcraft and the object is to break the Cross, therefore I have been sent in the guise of Jesus to fulfil the prophecy which is generally known as the second advent. The Holy Quran teaches clearly that the dead do not return to this world. It is impossible. The souls of the dead come, of course, in the form of Bur u z , viz. a person is created like the one who is dead. With God his appearance is regarded as the appearance of the one who is dead. That is the way of the second advent, and Sufis call it Bur u z. Otherwise, if the return of the dead were permissible, we needed the return of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa much more than that of