A Misconception Removed — Page 9
9 disclosure of the unseen, while Nubuwwat means the disclosure of the unseen. Nab i is a word common to both Arabic and He- brew. In Hebrew it is pronounced N a b i and its root is N a ba, meaning to prophesy on the basis of knowledge received from God. A Prophet is not necessarily a law-bearer, but Prophethood is a Divine gift through which matters of the unseen are revealed. Since I have myself witnessed the clear fulfilment of about a hundred and fifty Divine prophecies, how can I deny for myself the title of Nab i or Ras u l ? Since God has Himself bestowed these titles upon me, why should I forsake them for fear of anyone else? I swear by God Who has sent me—and cursed be those who fabricate lies about Him—that He has sent me as the Promised Messiah. Just as I believe in the verses of the Holy Quran, so do I believe—without the least difference—in the manifest Revelation which has been revealed to me, and the truth of which God has demonstrated to me through repeated signs. I am ready to swear in the precincts of the Holy House of God [ Baitull a h ] that the pure Revelation which de- scends upon me is the word of the same God Who spoke to Moses as , to Jesus as , and to the Holy Prophet sa. The earth has borne witness to my truth as has the heavens. Both have proclaimed that I am the Vicege-