Malfuzat – Volume III — Page 279
279 false prophet, because Elijah has not yet descended from heaven, so how could the Messiah appear? In this case, one would have to issue a verdict in favour of the Jews; our Muslim opponents ought to show us how they will respond to this objection. Our opponents are faced with this predicament because they say that there is no such thing as metaphor. This is the very fact of the matter. The verdict of the Messiah as is true, which is that the coming of Elijah meant that another person would come in his likeness, bearing his nature and disposition. There is nothing to prove otherwise. Go to the east and the west, and bring forth a single example where those who are destined to come again, return in person. If a person gives room in their heart to such a belief, the result will be that Islam is lost completely. It was for this very reason that the Jews branded the Messiah as a liar. Do the Muslims who oppose us also desire to turn him into a liar? Then, another allegation which stems from this entire story is that if the Messiah as gave life to the dead and if he possessed the powers and abilities that are attributed to him, then why did he not just give life to Elijah or bring him down from heaven by his own authority? Before my opponents come to a decision on my case, they must first settle the dispute with which the Messiah as was faced, on which the Messiah as issued a ver- dict in my favour. The fact is that many statements reach us through the Prophets in the form of prophecies, and until they are fulfilled in their appointed time, no conclusive opinion can be formed in regards to them. However, when these things are manifested and the reality is disclosed, the true meaning and purport of the prophecy becomes evident. Moreover, the individual who holds true to the prophecy, or in whose person that prophecy is fulfilled, is granted knowledge of this fact. For example, the Scribes and Pharisees would continuously read the account regarding the second coming of Elijah and they very eagerly continued to await his return. However, they were not given knowledge of the deeper truth and reality of this until the awaited Messiah himself, for whom the coming of Elijah was a sign, appeared. Hence, the Messiah as was granted this knowledge; he came and issued the verdict that the true purport of the advent of Elijah was as has been stated earlier. Similarly, Jacob, peace be upon him, wept for forty years on his separation from Joseph, peace be upon him. Finally, when he was given knowledge in this regard, he proclaimed: p. 255