Malfuzat - Volume VII — Page 464
Malfuzat - English translation of Urdu Volume 7 464 present, how can we believe that [ Jesus] the Messiah ascended to heaven alive with this earthly body ? If there is any precedent to be found, it is the precedent of the [second] coming of Elijah, which was promised in the Book of the Prophet Malachi. And the issue of his return was resolved by Jesus himself, that John [the Baptist] was the Elijah who was to return—accept it if you will. Now, it is learnt from this precedent that this is, indeed, what is meant by the sec- ond coming, and that such words are used metaphorically. If, even after this, there is doubt about the verdict of death, then first break these arguments and then present a judgement con- tradicting the judgment about of the second coming which was made by the court of none other than Jesus himself. He proved that the one who is promised to come, comes only in his likeness. You say that he used to raise those who had literally died. So if this is true, why did he not resurrect Elijah so that his own prophethood would not be doubted and the Jewish nation would not have been ruined? They had questioned only the prophecy of Malachi. That issue—and not any other—had become the obstacle and difficulty in his path. They did not concede the interpretation given by the Messiah and were adjudged accursed for rejecting him. Sometimes, when our opponents cannot refute this argu- ment, they say that these books have been falsified and altered. I say that they may be falsified and altered, but what will you do about the continuous narrations present among them? The Jews are still present—ask them if they are not waiting for the inevitable return of Elijah before the Messiah. The Christians acknowledge this as well. If they did not acknowledge this why would they accept John [the Baptist] as having come in the like- ness of Elijah? So the Jews and the Christians—despite being mutual