The Light of the Holy Qur'an — Page 83
T H e J O u r NA l—F AT e H M A S IH T H e J O u r NA l—F AT e H M A S IH 83 When the epistles of the Holy Prophet were dispatched to the kings, the Byzantine Emperor heaved a sigh and said that he was in the clutches of the Christians, and that if he could escape from that place, he would consider it an honour to present him- self before His Holiness and occupy himself in the washing of his feet in the manner of slaves. On the other hand, the vile and foul-hearted king, the Chosroes —the ruler of Persia—in his rage, dispatched his soldiers to arrest him. They arrived close to the evening and submitted that they had been ordered to arrest him [the Holy Prophet s as ]. Ignoring this preposterous statement, he told them to accept Islam. At that time he was sitting in the mosque with only a few of his companions, yet both soldiers were trembling like a cane due to his divine awe. Ultimately, they asked what the reply of His Holiness [the Holy Prophet] was with regard to their ruler’s command; i. e. his arrest, so that they could at least convey a response. The Honourable Prophet of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, told them that they would receive its reply the next day. When they presented themselves the next morning, the Holy Prophet s as said that the one to whom they kept referring as ‘lord and lord’ is not the Lord. The Lord is the One Who is never overtaken by death and destruction, whereas their ‘lord’ was killed the night before. He informed them that his true Lord had given Shīrūya [Sheroe], the son of the one they referred to as their lord, dominion over him and thus their lord had been killed by Sh i r u ya that night. This, indeed, is the reply. This was a great miracle. Having witnessed it, thousands of people of that country accepted Islam, for Khosrow Parvez —that is, Chosroes —had indeed been killed that very night. It should be kept in mind that