Malfuzat - Volume VIII — Page 57
27 October 1905 57 The Meaning of Tawaff i There was a great debate in the city of Baghdad regarding the meaning of the word ْ تَوَفِّی ْ تَوَفِّی —[ tawaff i — ‘death’]. In this debate, it was ultimately decided that where Allah the Exalted is the subject [ فَاعِل فَاعِل — f a ‘il ] and a human being is the object [ ٖ مَفْعُوْل ٌ بِہ ٖ مَفْعُوْل ٌ بِہ — maf ‘ u l bih i ], the meaning is always death and nothing else. If you show me any other meaning from the Quran, Hadith, or lexicon, I am ready to accept it even today. The lexicon is also the key to the Arabic language. Show me any example from the lexicon, and I will accept. It is strange that you have confidence in the visions of others, but you have no faith in the vision of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Where did you extract the words ‘physical body’ from [concerning the ascen- sion of Jesus]? If you can show these words somewhere, then bring them. I am ready to accept it even now. Show me the word ْ تَوَفِّی ْ تَوَفِّی [ tawaff i ] being used in the Holy Quran, in the Hadith, in the Arabic lexicon, concerning any Prophet, Companion, etc. , in the sense of going to heaven with the physical body, and I will immediately agree. But why do you ascribe that meaning to a word for Jesus that was never ascribed for any Prophet, saint, Companion, or human being? This is what God Almighty has been telling me for twenty-five years. Then heavenly succour and Signs are with me. Even now, I still believe in the words of God in the same way I believe in the earlier Books. At this point, the same Maulaw i Sahib again interrupted, saying, ‘I can show that ْ تَوَفِّی ْ تَوَفِّی [ tawaff i ] means to die and go to heaven. ’ Maulaw i Sahib was immediately given a Holy Quran. He started to turn over