Claims and Teachings - Ahmad The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 346
346 is to 'say, without borrowing from the light of the' Holy Prophet/ the seal of prophethood in -him would have been falsified. To guard against both these evils, Almighty God has so ordained that the gift) of wpure, perfect and Holy Divine revelation is granted to such of the followers of the Holy Prophet who attain the highest stage of a complete annihilation in the prophet and the veil which keeps him hidden from strangers is entirely re- moved. Thus the condition of being a true follower of the Holy Prophet is fulfilled in them in a most -perfect sense, for their own personality entirely vanishes away, and the image of the personality of the Holy Prophet appears in the looking-glass of their absorption. On the other hand, they are granted a most perfect gift of Divine revelation like the prophets of God and thus deserve to be called prophets. . It was in the manner pointed out here that some indivi- duals from among the followers of the Holy Prophet gained the title of a prophet along with that of a follower, for a prophet- hood in their case is not independent of the prophethood of Muhammad. A deep reflection at once reveals the fact that their prophethocd is really the prophethood of Muhammad which appears in a new garb. Such is the significance of the phrases in which the Holy Prophet described the Promised Messiah, of whom he said that he is ^ ) ur^ and ^ ^ I* ) i. e. , "a Prophet of God. ' 5 and, "your leader from among your- selves. " This means that he is a follower as well as a Prophet. A. stranger (i. e^ one from among the Israelites) cannot stand in this position. Blessed is he who understands this point for he will not perish. Almighty God brought death upon Jesus as He plainly says in the Holy Quran (v : 117). This verse read with the preceeding and subsequent verses indicates that God will ask Jesus on the day of judgment if he had told