Arba'in — Page 42
42 are used in prophecies. Moreover, altering and tampering [with the original words of a prophecy] is also a possibility. Therefore, every Prophet or Mu h addath [recipient of Divine converse] who comes as a H akam [Arbiter] , accepts some of the ideas the peo- ple of the time hold, and rejects others. And concerning him, out of all the Signs that those people have appointed for him, some are fulfilled in him and some are not because in these [Signs that are not seen to be fulfilled in his person] some adulteration had taken place or wrong meanings had come to be assigned to them. Therefore, anyone who stubbornly insists that he will not accept me unless and until all the Signs of recognition about the Messiah and Mahdi that are held by Sunnis and Shias are fulfilled in me, such a person is committing a grave injustice. Had such a person lived in the time of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be on him, he would never have accepted him, and if he had lived in the time of Hadrat ‘ I s a , he would not have accepted him either. Thus, the clear and safe way for a seeker of truth is that he should fear rejecting the person in whose corroboration Heavenly Signs have come to pass. The documented a ha d i th that each sect has stockpiled in favour of its own school of thought are in real- ity mere conjectures, having no significance greater than that. Certainty of facts cannot be replaced by conjectures. For instance, it is all conjecture that the Promised Messiah will descend from the heavens. It is all doubtful, speculative, and baseless because it runs contrary to the Quran. And the hadith narrating the Mi‘r a j [Spiritual Ascension] also repudiates it. The Holy Prophet, may