Arba'in — Page 126
126 ٭ 2,1 اًذِا َكٰنْقَذَاَّل َفْعِض ِةوٰيَحْلا َو َفْعِض ِتاَمَمْلا on an occasion opportune for argumentation, we are compelled to accept that if someone falsely claims to be a Prophet or an Appointee from Allah, then he will never live up to the same [twenty-three year] period of prophethood of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Otherwise, this argumentation would not in any way be held up as valid nor would there be established any means to make sense of it, because if someone were to impute falsehood to God and make a false claim to being the Appointee from Allah, and proceed to live up to twenty-three years without being destroyed, then a denier would undoubtedly have the right to raise this objection that since this liar—whom you acknowledge to be a liar—lived for twenty-three years or more without being destroyed, then why should we not consider your Prophet to have been like that liar? For a liar to be given a reprieve of twenty-three years clearly shows that every such false person can be given the same concession. How then would the truth of 3 ْوَل َلَّوَقَت اَنْيَلَع become manifest upon the people? Which arguments will be framed to believe in the fact that had the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, forged a lie against God, then he would have definitely 1. In that case We would have made you taste similar afflictions of life and similar afflictions of death ( S u rah Ban i Isr a’i l, 17:76). [Publisher] 2. ٭ Meaning that had this Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, forged a lie against Us, We would have made him taste dou- ble punishment in life and death; that is, We would have destroyed him with great chastisement. Author 3. And if he had falsely attributed even a trivial statement to Us ( S u rah al- Ha qqah, 69:45). [Publisher]