Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 390
Malfuzat - English translation of Urdu Volume 10 390 also the ones who are dear to God. Thus, there are hundreds of thousands from this group who are now with me. After receiving the mantle of prophethood from God, when our Beloved Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, wrote letters of invitation to the kings of his time, one letter was sent to Heraclius, the Emperor of Byzantium. After reading it, he sent out people to search for some Arabs who belonged to the tribe of the Holy Prophet s as. Thus, a few individuals from the tribe of Quraish were brought to him, Abu Sufyan being one of them. The Emperor posed a few questions to them. One of them was whether there had been any other person from the forefathers of this man [the Holy Prophet s as ] who had claimed to be a Prophet. The reply given to it was in the negative. Then they were asked whether there had been any king in his lineage. The answer given was again in the negative. He then asked, ‘Who are the followers of this man?’ In reply to this, it was stated that people who followed him were poor and weak. Then he inquired as to the outcome of the battles with him. The reply given was that sometimes he would triumph and sometimes they would succeed. Upon hearing the answers to these questions, the Emperor remarked that Prophets always come into the world in that very manner. In the beginning, they would always be accompanied by the weak and the poor. With his intuitive foresight, he was able to recognize that this person [the Holy Prophet s as ] was a true Prophet, and that he was undoubtedly that very Prophet whose advent had been foretold. Accordingly, he also affirmed that the time was nigh when he [the Holy Prophet s as ] would become the master of his [Caesar’s] throne. In short, it is indeed an age-old tradition that only the weak and poor people stand with the Prophets. The high and mighty do indeed remain deprived of this blessing. Their hearts