Precious Pearls — Page 126
128 to any Faith, if he practises the committing of crimes and is seeped in sin and error and is an adulterer, murderer, thief, oppressor, unnecessarily evil-wisher, foul of tongue, and follows evil ways, he should fear it. And if he repents, then even he has no fear. And this calamity can pass away by the people being righteous and following the way of piety. It is not certain. ” 165 Meaning bare, like the sycamore tree during autumn. 166 Meaning this world. 167 Ka’ba is the house of worship built by Abraham. Located in Mecca, it marks the direction towards which the Muslims face during their ritual prayers. 168 Referring to verse 99:2, “ When the earth is shaken with her (violent) shaking ”. 169 Meaning that believing after seeing such a vivid Sign will decrement the value of faith that should have been shown in the Unseen. 170 The following footnote is by the author himself: “It should be remembered that the calamity to which this prophecy points, it has been repeatedly referred to by God in the words of earthquake. Although apparently it is an earthquake and the apparent words do indicate it to be an earthquake but because the metaphors are always present in God’s Tradition, therefore it can be said that probably it is an earthquake or else it is some other life-threatening and unusual punishment that carries a hue of earthquake in it. The need for repeatedly publicising it comes from the fact that the earlier news of the earthquake that was not publicised well, led to the loss of many lives. Therefore, I deemed it fit that the second prophecy concerning the earthquake should be conveyed to the people to the best of my ability so that the hearts tend to reform through repeated publicising. “For this calamity to pass by, it is not necessary for a person to be a Christian or a Hindu or a Muslim or one who gives his allegiance to us. However, it is necessary that people adopt piety and give up criminal activity. ” 171 Meaning that there is also someone else besides God who could conceivably help. 172 The reference to departing here is with respect to the passing away of the author himself. 173 Names being called by the people in the form of invectives and vituperation. 174 Ahmad is another name of the Prophet Muhammad.