Mirror of Charm and Beauty — Page 57
of the revival of Islam in this the second era of its splendeur. One feels as if, in kashf, the Promised Messiah saw all these holy men in front of his eyes whose remains lie buried almost at every step in and around this historical town; and from a contemplation of these great and holy people, the Promised. Messiah's thoughts must have turned with a great deal of pain to their descendants and followers at the present day, who in ignorance, conceit, and blind prejudice, were rejecting the blessed light, for a glimpse of which generations and generations had passed away from this world in a great and deep yearning. This was the feeling which had made the soul of the Promised Messiah restless with regret over their unworthiness. But it has to be remembered that this state of mind was not one of despair: it was a feeling of regret, of sympathy, of pain, of identically the same kind which has been expressed in the Holy Quran, on the part of God Almighty: "Alas for My servants! there comes not a. Messenger to them but they mock at him” (36:31). In another place in the course of his writings, the Promised Messiah has referred to these feelings of pain and regret, in the following words, which also clearly visulise the great acceptance with which he was to be received in the future: "Indeed at the present day 57