The Shining Lamp — Page 121
Eighteenth prophecy 121 Allah the Exalted states in S u rah al-A‘r a f: َّنِا َنْيِذَّلا اوُذَخَّتا َلْجِعْلا ْمُهُلاَنَيَس ٌبَضَغ ْنِّم ْمِهِّبَّر َو ٌةَّلِذ يِف ِةوٰيَحْلا اَيْنُّدلا َو َكِلٰذَك َّنِا َنْيِذَّلا اوُذَخَّتا َلْجِعْلا ْمُهُلاَنَيَس ٌبَضَغ ْنِّم ْمِهِّبَّر َو ٌةَّلِذ يِف ِةوٰيَحْلا اَيْنُّدلا َو َكِلٰذَك 1 يِزْجَن َنْيِرَتْفُمْلا يِزْجَن َنْيِرَتْفُمْلا Meaning: Those who took the calf for worship, wrath [from their Lord] shall overtake them and abasement in the present life. And thus, similarly shall we punish others who invent lies. And this is also a subtle reference to these calf worshippers, who, in their desire to worship this other calf —that is, Lekh Ram — have gone to the extremes of planning cruelty and bloodshed. Nothing is beyond the knowledge of God Almighty. He was well aware that the Hindus, too, by worshipping Lekh Ram, would turn him into a calf. Hence, by using the expression ذالك ک [ kadh a lik —thus simi- larly], He has directed attention towards the incident of Lekh Ram. It is proven by chapter 32, verse 35 of Exodus in the Torah, that God Almighty cast a death upon the Children of Israel due to their worship of the calf, which was in the form of a deadly epi- demic. At the time of conveying news of this punishment, Allah the Exalted had also informed them that those who would believe would be saved. As Allah states: 2 َو َنْيِذَّلا اوُلِمَع ِتٰاِّيَّسلا َّمُث اْوُباَت ْۢنِم اَهِدْعَب َو اْۤوُنَمٰا َّنِا َكَّبَر ْۢنِم اَهِدْعَب ٌرْوُفَغَل ٌمْيِحَّر َو َنْيِذَّلا اوُلِمَع ِتٰاِّيَّسلا َّمُث اْوُباَت ْۢنِم اَهِدْعَب َو اْۤوُنَمٰا َّنِا َكَّبَر ْۢنِم اَهِدْعَب ٌرْوُفَغَل ٌمْيِحَّر 1. As to those who took the calf for worship , wrath from their Lord shall overtake them and abasement in the present life. And thus do We re- ward those who invent lies ( S u rah al-A‘r a f , 7:153). [Publisher] 2. S u rah al-A‘r a f , 7:154 [Publisher]