Muhammad the kindred to Humanity — Page 2
13 2 if it was the express purEven before he announcness should not come to him except pose of God, that this should be so. ed his claim to being an Apostle of God he had all the qualities, the possession of which constitutes greatness in any human individual. Truthfulness, courage, fortitude, fellowfeeling, kindliness, love, sociability, determination, thoughtfulness, a passion for the advancement of people, in short, all the great qualities which have ever been possessed by any leader of human beings, were together possessed by him singly. He had one and all of those powers which whether he was Apostle or not would have raised him to the leadership of the world. Yet it cannot be said of him that he ever wanted to use those powers in order to achieve personal greatness. He had those powers in an extraordinarily large measure, yet he did not spend his time striving for political, intellectual or economic leadership, but in the contemplation of the true Beloved, in the solitude of the cave Hira. We cannot but admit therefore that the Holy Prophet notwithstanding the possession of all kinds of talents and powers, never strove for personal success or individual greatness. For full forty years he remained in the background, and if after waiting so long, he did come to the fore-front, it can only be due to a constraint and compulsion which must have come from without and not from within him. As God has said, "an Apostle has come to you. . . ' It means that when the. Holy Prophet presents to his people, revelations which he has received from the Divine Being, it is not because he is working for any personal ambition. It is because he has been compelled by God's urgent command to do so. ". Apostles other than Muhammad. In this respect, however, our Holy Prophet is like the other Prophets known to history, so that nobody should find it difficult to understand the distinction which the Holy. Prophet possessed as an Apostle of God. Moses, Jesus,. Krishna, Buddha. and Zoroaster have all been accepted by one people or another, as persons who were constrained to