Malfuzat - Volume IX — Page 267
5 May 1907 267 5 May 1907 Disclosure of the Unseen The Promised Messiah as said: Today, a point came to mind with respect to a noble verse of the Holy Quran: 1 اَّلِا ِنَم ىٰضَتْرا ْنِم ٍلْوُسَّر اَلَف ُرِهْظُي ىٰلَع ٖۤهِبْيَغ اًدَحَا۰۰ اَّلِا ِنَم ىٰضَتْرا ْنِم ٍلْوُسَّر اَلَف ُرِهْظُي ىٰلَع ٖۤهِبْيَغ اًدَحَا۰۰ that Allah the Exalted has declared in this verse that His secret is not revealed to anyone other than His chosen Messengers. Here, the word to ponder over is ْ اِظْهَار ْ اِظْهَار [ i z h a r ]. I z h a r means that the unambiguous and clear unseen is revealed upon some- one in abundance. It can be understood from this that a small amount of the ambiguous unseen is even disclosed from time to time upon others, but it is not decisive in meaning and there is no condition for the recipient of it to be a believer or a k a fir [disbeliever]. People of every religion can sometimes attain the state where they receive a tiny intimation of the unseen that is ambiguous or unambiguous. All this can happen, but the pro- hibition applies only to the i z h a r of the unseen. The word i z h a r indicates to the quality and quantity [of revelation]; that is, the news of that unseen is absolutely clear, and pure from doubt and uncertainty; and secondly, it occurs in such abundance as to show that it is extraordinary and miraculous. It is evident from this verse itself that something or other of the unseen is experienced by people other than Messengers, but their unseen does not rise to the calibre of i z h a r. The word i z h a r manifests a special distinction. 1. S u rah al-Jinn, 72:27–28 [Publisher]